Public Radio seeks a breath of fresh air

PUBLIC RADIO SEEKS A BREATH OF FRESH AIR
[SOURCE: The Boston Globe, AUTHOR: Alex Beam]
Like newspapers and television news, public radio has a graying audience. "We have learned in focus groups with younger listeners that they are interested in many of the topics that NPR covers, but often find the programming boring or staid," a perhaps too candid confidential NPR document states. This same NPR memo calls the network "a national institution of weight, merit and immeasurable value to our democracy" -- a heady self-assessment to be sure. Enter "NPR Zack: A New Space for Younger Listeners." "We thought Zack is exactly the kind of name NPR staffers would give their male children," one NPR-nik explained to me. Its radio namesake is slowly taking shape at NPR headquarters in Washington, and in New York. Originally envisaged as a full-blown, 7 a.m.-to-10 p.m. alternative public radio channel, Zack now has more modest ambitions. The first shows, which had been scheduled for next month, will go on air in the fall. Zack is one of several interesting initiatives on the public radio horizon. Minnesota-based Public Radio International may try to duplicate the success of its WGBH-BBC coproduction, "The World," by teaming up with The New York Times and the BBC to produce a new morning news hour out of WNYC in New York. This was not a subject that spokespeople for the Times, PRI, or WNYC were willing to discuss. Starting in May, Chicago Public Radio plans to launch a brand-new alternative station, emphasizing audience involvement, user content, and , of course , the Internet, which is becoming a powerful distribution system for radio.
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/living/articles/2007/03/19/public_radio...