This is nonsense. Public radio news consumers are more astute than your average nightly news watcher. What they want is a mix of national and local news. At WBFO that used to be about a 70/30 mix in any given hour. Now it’s more like 95/5. They want regular, well-produced radio reports from experienced journalists. BFO now is staffed by a bunch of kids. Other than Jay Moran there are no veteran news people left. The rare times I do hear local news it’s typically a reader citing another outlet as the source. Some of what I hear in top of hour newscasts is worth no more than a blurb in the local Bee. The assumption that pub radio listeners don’t want the bread and butter news of the day that you get in the first 5-10 minutes of an average local TV newscast is a total fallacy. The people who run public radio stations need to overcome those snooty preconceived notions. Listeners want that AND the more in-depth stuff. Good newsrooms do both.
Bravo! I’m so glad that there’s someone on this board who echoes what I’ve been arguing for the last year-and-half. Newsradioguy is spot on!
Listen, there are some good things happening at WBFO. The radio production of “It’s A Wonderful Life” was certainly worthy of praise. I heard a couple of nice holiday-related features. But for the most part, I really wonder if those in charge of WBFO know what they’re doing. The latest example! I was listening in my car a couple of weeks ago. At 12:01pm, during 1A, I heard what I presumed was a recorded newscast from Jay Moran. Fine! Bringing back a local presence during the noon hour is commendable. The programmers, however, botched the execution. The local newscast at 12:01 pre-empted the most important stories of the day from NPR News. Then, at 12:04, the NPR newscast is picked up in progress. A disembodied voice, with no identification, begins reading national news of lesser importance. Then there’s 30 seconds of fill music at 12:06, followed by the start of the 1A discussion. The way it should work is you begin with NPR News at 12:01. Then you provide the local newscast at 12:04. Finally, you join 1A at 12:30:30. You might accuse me of quibbling, BUT THAT’S THE WAY IT’S DONE AT EVERY PUBLIC RADIO NEWS STATION THAT PROVIDES LOCAL NEWS! Sorry for shouting. But it needs to be said! And I agree with every single point Radionewsguy outlined in his post.
indeed, I will go to my grave arguing you CAN cover the top local stories of the day while doing in-depth reporting. I did it for 18 years from 1992 through 2010. For half that time, we had a full-time reporting staff of two, including me. We got that up to three in the 2000s. That, combined with help from quality hosts and some talented part-timers and interns, resulted in WBFO earning more statewide AP awards, including two grand prizes, during that period of time than WBEN and WNED-AM. I point this out, not to brag, but to show what can be done when you put your mind to it and with the help of talented staff. And I will acknowledge the WBFO newsroom became even better after I left full-time employment under the direction of Eileen Buckley, Jim Ranney and Brian Meyer, winning even more awards!
But it all came crashing down in April 2022 when management began its gutting of the WBFO news department. I realize I’m making the same arguments I’ve made plenty of times in past threads. Apologists will argue management felt it was important to go “in another direction.” And, admittedly, the ratings have stabilized in the 3 to 3.5 share range, which isn’t bad for a public radio station. Still, one wonders if WBFO would be seriously challenging WBEN with a 5 or more share if management hadn’t decimated its news product to such a degree.
