Start practicing that soothing yet knowledgable NPR tone because National Public Radio is looking to hire someone to record all of those announcements that let the people know that they are listening to NPR and not, say, religious programming (we can’t be the only ones who have made that mistake, right?).
“Heard by millions of people each week, you’ll get to say, ‘This is NPR” each day,’” reads the job listing. Read More
In the beginning there was radio, and everyone tuned in collectively. Satellite radio changed the equation slightly as listeners moved to create their own sound experiences, free of commercials and all those unwanted stations. Then, along came podcasts, and it seems there’s one for every listener these days. Now you can personalize your own aural Read More
NPR recently announced they would cease broadcasting Talk of the Nation in June, thus pulling off one of the most bald-faced betrayals since Judas in the Upper Room or Dylan in Royal Albert Hall. The betrayal cut along many lines and was felt, by this reporter, acutely.
The reason given for the cancellation was the clamor of member stations for “a magazine-style news show at the middle of the day, something along the lines of Morning Edition and All Things Considered.” But it seems to me Talk of the Nation was meant to give voice not to the Torey Malatias of the world but to the grain farmers of Nebraska, the taxi drivers of Detroit, the P.E. teachers in Denver. It was, that is, Radio for the National Public. No matter what reason given, that NPR is cancelling one of the only shows that did this directly cannot be seen as anything but treachery. Read More
NPR’s Planet Money—which was born out of the Peabody award-winning This American Life episode about the financial crash in 2008, “The Giant Pool of Money”—is the financial news digest of choice for plenty of people who enjoy their finance explained to them in a generalist, Ira Glass-approved tone. Now, the show and Davidson are coming under fire for some perceived standards and ethics breaches. Let’s break this down. Read More
Per Deadline, Donald Sutherland has signed on to a comedy pilot at Fox set in the rollicking world of NPR. While it’s purportedly a pilot focused on a father-son relationship, we’re sure the setting will have some impact upon the plotlines, especially since Fox’s Read More
THIS THING SOUNDS LIKE THAT THING LOOKS
There’s the old expression “face for radio,” and then there’s this. Read More
Rookie editor Tavi Gevinson played NPR’s jokey news quiz show Wait, Wait Don’t Tell Me this weekend. During the pre-game banter, host Peter Sagal laid into some informed teasing about Ms. Gevinson’s nostalgia for culture that predates her existence, which she took like a champ.
In return she provided Mr. Sagal some tips for talking to his Tavi-aged daughters. Read More
The Authors Guild was honoring NPR’s Fresh Air interviewess Terry Gross with a prize–just after Ms. Gross’s network had come under attack by a Republican House of Representatives, which threatened to cut NPR’s funding.
Garrison Keillor, Ms. Gross’s fellow NPR contributor, wasn’t overly concerned about the war over NPR. “It was a skirmish. There’ll be Read More
The Peabody Awards–so much more staid and trustworthy than those flashy Emmys!–announced the recipients of their prizes for excellence in media this morning, and the list is deliriously familiar, if worthy: PBS’ Great Performances, American Masters, and American Experience, C-SPAN’s online library, HBO’s The Pacific. All very worthy recipients! But the more lowbrow Read More
State Budget: Cuomo links property tax cap with rent regulations. [Thomas Kaplan]
State Budget: Koch’s call for a Legislative Budget Office moves forward. [Liz Benjamin]
Public Cuomo: “[T]he governor twice tugged on the back of Senate Minority Leader John Sampson’s suit jacket as the senator gave opening remarks.” [Michael Read More
