Three Things for May 7, 2021
This week: Is public radio the solution to the local news crisis? Plus, a new non-profit news model to watch and my observations of NPR at 50.
Welcome to the May 7th edition of the Three Things newsletter for public media leaders from the Public Impact Group. This week we explore a couple of items regarding public radio’s place in the local news ecosystem and offer some thoughts on NPR at 50.
THING ONE: Public Radio As The Solution to the Local News Crisis
The past ten days have shed some interesting news on the local news front and where public media fits into the evolving landscape of work to address the local news crisis. Last week, the American Journalism Project announced its first grants to public radio outlets with pilot investments to Louisville Public Media and WFAE in Charlotte. These two multi-year grants ($655,000 over three years for LPM and $590,000 over two years for WFAE) will be used for fundraising positions at both organizations.
This is so smart if you think about the long-term impact for both organizations. If the results from these grants, at a minimum, generate 3-4 times in annual revenue over the costs, the net should lead to several sustainable content-related positions - which is obviously the goal of the funding. In addition, one hopes that the learning from these investments can be used as a model for others in public radio to emulate to grow revenue from outside of our traditional revenue streams.
A couple of further observations about these two organizations:
Governance: Both stations are community licensed NPOs with active and engaged civic leaders making up their Board of Directors.
Licensee Type: Both stations are radio-only operations. LPM operates three services (news, classical, and AAA) and WFAE operates a news/info service with two HD Radio streams (jazz and Public Radio Remix).
A Culture of Collaboration: Both organizations have been intentional about collaborating with other news outlets and reaching diverse audiences via multiple platforms. These strategies are a secret sauce to finding new investments from grantors.
In a larger sense, the AJP’s decision to fund two public radio organizations is a shift from some previous comments made by the organization’s leadership about its role in funding local journalism. As more potential funders seek to support local news, it’s essential that public radio have a seat at the table, which is a big deal for stations.
THING TWO: A New Non-Profit News Model to Watch
Another big deal was announced on Monday with the creation of the Colorado News Conservancy by the National Trust for Local News and The Colorado Sun. This new model provides local ownership for The Sun and added two dozen suburban newspapers around Denver in an acquisition.
This deal in Colorado makes the local news ecosystem in Denver a fascinating example of how nonprofit news is filling the holes left behind by faltering newspapers. The creation of the Colorado News Conservancy coupled with Colorado Public Radio’s rapid expansion of its local news operation over the past few years and the emergence of The Colorado Independent through the Colorado News Collaborative make the Denver market a place where nonprofit news is setting the pace.
The creation of the NTLN, which was quietly announced by CEO Elizabeth Hansen Shapiro and Board Member Marc Hand last fall, is one to watch for public media leaders. Elizabeth and Marc, along with others on the NTLN board, have strong ties to public media, so they know our model. Furthermore, the mission of NTLN is so aligned with public media’s that there is the potential to make this a natural alliance - perhaps as governance questions or challenges arise for institutional licensees of public radio and television outlets.
”We at the Trust are investing in building sustainable local and community news organizations that are owned by entities in the communities they serve. We are so grateful for the opportunity to work with this incredible group of funders, owners, and journalists as our first transaction, to keep this network of newspapers in local hands, and to help write the next chapter for quality local news and information in these communities,” said Elizabeth Hansen Shapiro, CEO of The National Trust for Local News.
Seed funding for the NTLN’s nonprofit operations includes support from the Google News Initiative, Democracy Fund, and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, which also supports the Lenfest Institute and the American Journalism Project. NTLN also received early support from Democracy Fund.
Ultimately, these types of investments will strengthen communities by creating a more competitive environment for local journalism. But, it’s incumbent that public radio (media) establish itself as the solution, if not one of the solutions, to solve the crisis in local news in cities and towns across America. The work of Louisville Public Media and WFAE helps lay the groundwork for this. Still, it’s urgent that many other organizations, particularly in small and medium markets, position themselves as the local solution.
THING THREE: NPR at 50
This week has been a joy to observe the celebration of NPR’s 50th Anniversary on- and off-the-air. The anniversary provided the opportunity to share the brilliance of Bill Siemering’s original Mission Statement and to hear the memorable voices and stories, which has been a dream come true for the Public Radio Nerd.
I found the CBS Sunday Morning piece (watch it below) to be a nice snapshot of the history without sugar-coating it entirely with nostalgia. NPR TV critic Eric Deggans, when asked by correspondent (and Wait Wait … Don’t Tell Me panelist) Faith Salie if a lot of Black Americans listen to NPR, responded with a blunt “No… no they don’t.”
Deggans adds, "I think Black folks, we have a highly-developed sense of when our culture is included in programming. NPR is not that." Deggans has more to say in the story about how NPR is trying to catch up but still has a long way to go.
Another interesting juxtaposition in the CBS Sunday Morning report1 was a screenshot of one of Siemering’s memorable quotes from the Mission Statement followed later in the report by mentioning that “most of NPR’s funding comes from corporate sponsors.”
National Public Radio will not regard its audience as a “market” or in terms of its disposable income, but as curious, complex individuals who are looking for some understanding, meaning and joy in the human experience.
Finding that middle ground between the revenue that sustains the company and the beauty of the mission statement that Siemering wrote in 1971 is an interesting challenge for a company that initially was almost entirely funded by CPB.
Is there a slippery slope of relying on the commercial business of podcasting and maintaining the public service mission that has brought NPR to the place it is in American life?
It will be up to the board and leadership to ensure that the company stays the course on its values while growing revenue.
There’s no crystal ball on where the next 50 years will take NPR, but here’s a couple of additional questions for the immediate future aside from the clear need to serve a younger and more diverse audience while also diversifying its revenue stream.
How can NPR continue to build upon its competitive advantage with its local-national network when other news organizations, such as Axios, are expanding into that space?
While the last year has been a challenge for many stations, the influx of additional CPB funding and, for some, PPP dollars have helped many smaller stations in the network. How can NPR use this moment in time to provide opportunities for those stations to scale up their local service to meet the needs of audiences that are quickly moving away from radio to on-demand?
Or another question might be: is it even NPR’s role to do that?
On the large station front, can meaningful collaborations come to fruition with the network’s most significant stations, which, for many years, have had aspirations far beyond NPR?
And on the subject of collaborations, will new leadership in NPR Development and the “coalition of the willing” stations results in moving the needle with major gift philanthropy for NPR and member stations?
As with most anniversaries, looking back, like a throwback photo, is great therapy. Moreso, it also provides a treasure of lessons that we can apply going forward.
If you work in public radio, you have to have some level of optimism given that we give our product away with the belief that those who “use the service will support it.”2 So despite all the challenges ahead, I’m bullish on the next 50 years for NPR and its member stations.
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It’s worth noting that the CBS Sunday Morning piece was produced by Jay Kernis, a founding producer of Morning Edition and former SVP of programming for NPR
How many times has that been said on the air during a pledge drive?)