Within the radio industry exists a magazine for its radio management sector, Radio Ink, "a radio-industry trade publication that is published bi-weekly". It provides information, tips, and ideas for operation radio companies. Radio Ink creates a medium which practices convergence by presenting radio issues through a printed magazine and online news articles and blogs. Additionally, it promotes these practices by sharing the stories of success or failure of other companies which employes them.
By distributing a reliable, constant source of the industries development Radio Ink creates "change within the radio industry through the exposure of fresh ideas and leadership". Promotion these practices is what ignites innovation and growth which is much needed in today's ever evolving radio presence.
works cited
Radio Ink - Radio's Premier Management & Marketing Magazine. (n.d.). Retrieved January 22, 2015, from http://www.radioink.com/Article.asp?id=934909&spid=28011
NPR focuses on "great storytelling and rigorous reporting". The foundations of its mission are to provide a medium of unbiased, insightful, invigorating, quality reports and stories to its listeners. Many times in large companies their products are based around the requirements of the companies that sponsor them. Since NPR's funding comes mainly from the listeners, they produce products simply for the listeners with no third party compromise.
"Dues and fees paid by our Member Stations are the largest portion of NPR's revenue."
This is how I believe most media should be, though sadly it's not. What is consumed in the majority of media is largely influenced by its funders, and many times those funders are not the consumers; consequently, creating a product which is looking to take advantage of the consumers rather than insight them. NPR has a platform which ensures that the listeners truly get what they want and deserve. This platform should be implemented to many more companies.
RadioLab has emerged in an era of blind media consumption. It's unusual for a one hour program which demands conscious consumption to be so successful in the radio business during these times where most turn on their radios simply for background noise.
So why is it that Radiolab has been so successful in engaging such a large audience with their "unconventional approach to both the medium and the message of radio?" Radiolab through their productions aspire to create thoughtful, timeless shows that that acoustically seduce the listener. Their productions actually stimulate and move the listener in ways that others don't. And this is what separates them from conventional radio. They don't simply provide programs for revenue, for a large audience to hear, and then be forgotten about; they aim to create a product that transcends time. They thoroughly believe that "the value of a media product does not come from being fast. It comes from being timeless."
The concept behind their production changes their listeners consumption of their media. "This approach — a smaller number of shows, painstakingly assembled and treated more like small movies than like regularly scheduled programs — addresses a different tension, around new habits of media consumption." Since Radiolab programs require attention, require the listener to thoughtfully process information, it is more commonly consumed in the form of podcasts rather than on aired radio shows. In this form, the listeners can more attentively listen to quality productions full of ideas and concepts that generate a greater understanding of the world and oneself.
Yes, radio drifts by or washes over you when it comes out of a box on the other side of the room — but remember, a majority of “Radiolab” listeners actually take in the show via podcast, and there’s something different going on when it enters your head through earbuds at the exact moment you have chosen to hear it, while you’re commuting with nothing else to think about, or cleaning the kitchen, or lying down for the night.
On ‘Radiolab,’ the Sound of Science
Walker, R. (2011, April 9). On ‘Radiolab,’ the Sound of Science. Retrieved January 9, 2015, from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/10/magazine/mag-10Radiolab-t.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
