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The state of public radio
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by Carl Jaeger
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
A panel of experts met with students Tuesday evening to discuss current and past issues surrounding the world of public radio. The panel consisted of University of Wisconsin journalism professor and former director of Wisconsin Public Radio Jack Mitchell, WPR News Director Michael Leland and WPR announcer Randall Davidson. The discussion centered on public radio's importance in modern society, its alleged political bias, censorship, history and its future. Mitchell said public radio will play a more significant role in the future, as for-profit journalism continues to suffer from budget cutbacks. "[F]rankly, the future for quality journalism is in not-for-profit entities that don't have to worry about the bottom line," Mitchell said. "Public radio, in a sense, could be a model for what happens to other media in the future." The future of public radio, according to Leland, is changing to accommodate listeners. "There are a lot of people who still listen to radio, but there are a lot of other ways to get radio that involve not having to be at a certain place at a certain time" said Leland, suggesting alternatives such as podcasting and streaming radio online. Another aspect of the future of public radio involves gaining new listeners. Davidson said attracting new, younger listeners "will be a big challenge" but regardless, he believes the future looks optimistic. "I see people walking around this campus listening to headphones, and I'm pretty sure they aren't listening to radio, especially WPR," Davidson said. "[But] as people age and grow out of their commercial radio station, they will find us." In responding to a question involving the government and its control over information, Mitchell seemed skeptical. "They don't tell you much, and what they do tell you, you can't believe," Mitchell said. As far as control over the news content on public radio, Davidson said the government plays no role. "The government doesn't tell us what to put on the air," he said. "We use our editorial judgment and take viewer wants into consideration." In Davidson's opinion, public radio has no political agenda, and, at some time or another, succeeds in "offending everyone." "The agenda is to bring people news that makes them better citizens," Davidson said. Radio censorship was also discussed and the panel agreed that self-censorship plays a larger role due to massive violation fees from the Federal Communications Commission. "The people who are setting the standard are the people who are the most easily offended," Davidson said. Mitchell said public radio is a unique form of media, as it is able to go further and deeper into issues than other mainstream outlets. "What we do have is more content [and] more explanation then other forms of media — more quality, depth and understanding," Mitchell said.
Anonymous (February 21, 2007 @ 10:19am):
Let liberal radio, i mean public radio, die.
Anonymous (February 21, 2007 @ 3:01pm):
I find it curious that content driven journalism (NY Times, NPR) is always labeled "liberal" by conservatives, while fluff and garbage journalism (Fox, Limbaugh, Washington Post) are consistently right leaning.
Perhaps conservatives don't like content and debate, they just enjoy slander and noise?
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