Radio Sweethearts

I just got off the phone with Kerry; she’d left in a huff after writing the previous post, full of vitriol and good points.

She took the just-announced cancellation of NPR’s “The Bryant Park Project” personally. I suppose that’s good; it means I didn’t do something horrible right before waking up.

You see, Kerry works in New Media, like the BPP does. The problem with working in New Media is that it hasn’t been new since 1996. Or 2001, depending on how long you think things can stay “new.”

The luddites don’t realize it’s not new anymore.

It is critical for “traditional” media to adapt, not merely to the existence of the Internet, but to adapt to the new ways people consume information via the internet.

The Bryant Park Project gets it.

They never seemed like they were making an effort to blend radio reporting, blogging, Twitter, and podcasting, but they did so, effortlessly and naturally.

Meanwhile, you can’t podcast anything but individual stories from Morning Edition or All Things Considered - if they’re already the most emailed from the day, or if they’re determined, by some mysterious cabal, to be the story of the day.

Steve Inskeep doesn’t maintain or contribute to a Morning Edition blog.

The point of my post - and Kerry’s earlier - is not to just spew vitrol towards people who might not deserve it. The blame really lays at the feet of the economy, and the drying-up of underwriters who are too short-sighted to see that their investment will return greater profits by helping a program like the BPP.

Some small actions can be taken. I don’t know if they’ll save the BPP. It sounds like the axe has already fallen, but we might be able to keep NPR from dropping something so great in the future.

Kersten Upmeyer tweeted some phone numbers that friends and supporters of the BPP should be calling:

• NPR media relations: 202-513-2300
• NPR listener service: 202-513-3232

Please call and let them know how you feel about their decision to cut the brightest, boldest, and most successful New Media experiment on the radio.

Just, uh, try to be polite.