Friday, April 24, 2015

BEHIND THE JUDGING: PRNDI TALK SHOWS (DAY TWO)



Public Radio News Directors (“PRNDI”) hosts an annual awards competition called The PRNDI Awards as part of its yearly conference. The 2015 PRNDI Conference is being held [LINK] Wednesday 6/24 – Saturday 6/27 in Salt Lake City.

I am leading the judging for the talk show category.  I am aware that going behind the scenes of awards judging is a risky endeavor. The purpose of my reporting is to inform people who might be entering any kind of media competition about -- best practices and what not to do.  I assure that I will maintain complete confidentiality and objectivity.  I always appreciate feedback on my work [publicradio@hotmail.com].

THE FIRST ROUND

• FIRST JUDGES MEETING

I prefer to have the first meeting of the judges in person.  I started in person meetings back in the days entries were on cassette.   It made more sense than mailing the tapes.

Now with online judging it is much easier to work alone but still prefer in-person first meetings because it gets all of the judges on the same page.

At the first meeting I go over the basics of the task ahead.  I share the PRNDI judging guidelines, talk about the number of entries and when we need to deliver the results. I also add my own suggestions such as:

Imagine someone in [the entrant city] listening to this alone. Will this story resonate with that listener?

Does the content of program advance the story? Are there takeaways?

Trust your gut.  Avoid getting too analytical. Ask yourself: Would I listen to this?

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

I ask the judges to be upfront about any conflicts of interest (or perceived conflicts) they might have with an entry or entrant.  In my years of judging I have had judges recuse themselves two times.

I know some people might fear one of the judges might fall prey to Friends With Benefits to sway their opinions.  This has never happened to me – I tell the other judges to notify me if it happens to them. People should know I Speak Truth to Power and I’ve been doing it all my life.

ENTRY TIP: Make use of the online introduction space provided next to the link to the audio.  I am surprised by how many entrants don’t say anything, or (even worse) fill the space with long-winded background details. The best blurbs are like on-air promos – to the point and create interest in the entry.

• LISTENING TO THE ENTRIES

I ask the judges to take notes while listening and give a ballpark rating. One purpose of the first round is separating the contenders from the wannabees. We try to give each entry ample listening time. But occasionally there are obvious flaws.

ENTRY TIP: Things to avoid in your entry:

Poor audio quality

Inconsistent microphone levels

Too much cellphone audio

Extraneous material before the entry program begins (Scope or delete
newscasts and promos)

These clunkers seldom happen with PRNDI entries.  During some other competitions the judging room sounds like The Gong Show.

Next post: The process moves to the Second Round.

• THE ONE THING YOU SHOULD NEVER DO

Do not provide an open bar for the judges.

I experienced an open bar for judges once. Back in the 1970s. I was in the ad agency business. I participated in quite a few local and regional American Advertising Federation (“AAF”) competions.  Their awards are called The Addys.



I was asked to be on a judging panel for a regional contest in La Crosse, Wisconsin.  When I arrived at the hotel where the judging was occurring I went to the meeting room.  10:00am on a Tuesday. A full open bar was in the room.

Men in suits resembling Harry Crane (Mad Men) or Herb Tarlek (WKRP) were standing by the bar drinking Bloody Marys and eating pretzels. I didn’t imbibe.

The Binge Judging began and we made it through the category Local TV Spots – Thirty Seconds or Less by time for lunch. The hotel served little wieners in red sauce and deep-fried cheese curds, all washed with a local beer.

Judging slowed down in the afternoon. People began to nod off during the radio ad categories.  The plan was to have a light dinner and keep judging in the evening.

But before that came Happy Hour.  Free hard drinks, beer and wine with delicious jumbo shrimp. If you’ve seen the movie Cedar Rapids you can guess what happened next. Youngish hipsters on expense accounts were let loose in a City of Sin. I skipped the bar crawl.

The next morning, the judging continued.  We were under pressure to get it done because many of us had flights to catch. The quality of judging deteriorated. I promise this won’t happen with the PRNDI Awards.

Thursday, April 23, 2015

CONTEST JUDGING: BEHIND THE SCENES


I am currently leading the judging for one category for the upcoming public radio news directors  PRNDI Awards. The awards ceremony is part of the annual PRNDI Conference [LINK] Wednesday 6/24 – Saturday 6/27 in Salt Lake City.



I’ve been a friend (and sometimes a member) of PRNDI since the early 1990s when I was Director of News at Public Radio International (“PRI”). Since I started my own business in 1997, I have supervised the judging for Category 102 – station-based talk shows.

Over my years in the biz I’ve judged many competitions: student contests, festivals and lots of advertising awards. (I loved the plot line about ad awards a couple of years ago on Mad Men: Next we have the nominees for the best floor wax ad.  Seriously, this really happens.)

I have promised the folks at PRNDI that I will not identify the entrants, their stations or their programs. I will not reveal the names of the other two judges.  Of course I won’t tell anyone the winners.  I am doing this to provide guidance for folks running and entering these competitions.

FIRST: START WITH THE BASICS

We are judging Category 102 – Call-in Program.  Here is how the category is defined:

Call-in Program - One news/public affairs program with a call-in component.


There are three sub-categories: 102A – The biggest newsrooms; 102B – Medium size newsrooms; 102C – The smaller newsrooms.

On note about the category’s name, over the past few years I have advised PRNDI to change the name of the Category to Interview & Talk Program.

In February, I reported on the major decline in call-in talk shows in the past 10 years [LINK].  The number of call-in talk shows between Morning Edition and ATC on NPR News stations decreased by 37%.  The trend is towards magazine shows with interview segments or network programming such as Here & Now.

SECOND: REVIEW THE ENTRIES & DETERMINE THE PLAN OF WORK

Most of the entries are in Category 102A, the big shops. This year there are around 30 entries and I know many will be really, really. So category A will be time consuming.

Categories 102B and 102C have fewer entries – about half a dozen in each group.

TIP: Look for categories with a history of fewer entries.  Odds are, you have a better chance of winning.

THREE: FOCUS ON THE DELIVERABLES

The judges’ task is to winnow down the entries in each sub-category and determine First Place and Second Place winners. We’ll pick up the story here tomorrow.

2014 WINNERS

102 – CALL-IN PROGRAMS


CATEGORY A

FIRST PLACE

WLRN & MIAMI HERALD
The Florida Roundup
Examining Child Deaths Under the Dep’t of Children & Families

The Florida Department of Children and Families – “DCF” – has been under scrutiny for many years.  A Miami Herald investigation uncovered the recent deaths of 16 children who were involved with DCF.  Host Tom Hudson explores years of mismanagement and neglect, cuts to DCF’s already limited funding and resistance to inquiries by Governor Rick Scott, who saids he is protecting patient confidentiality

Hudson’s guests, including the Herald reporter who broke the story provide the details, but is the callers are unforgettable voices the program.  They share first hand experiences working at, or being clients of, DCF.  The program does not place blame.  The goal is to raise awareness.  As one caller said: "Is anybody here not outraged?"

SECOND PLACE

IOWA PUBLIC RADIO
River to River
The Crime of Stalking

Host Ben Kiefer focuses on stalking, which became a crime in Iowa in 1994.  Kiefer interviews two victims of stalking who had very different experiences after reporting their situation to authorities.   Stalking is often an “invisible crime” – hard to investigate and even harder to stop. 

This program is great radio and notable public service.  The most gripping moment is a caller who was convicted of stalking and is now trying to make amends.  His honest depiction of how he evaded arrest adds to the takeaway for listeners.  Even listeners who have not been stalked learn the impact of the crime.

CATEGORY B

FIRST PLACE

WGCU
Gulf Coast Live
Writing About Parenting Children With Down Syndrome

Host Amy Tardiff interviews two local moms who have children with Down Syndrome and are nationally known bloggers on the subject.  Tardiff uses each woman’s personal story to show the difficulties families in this situation have finding resources and support.

The judges praised the focus on solutions.  Tardiff takes a sad subject but never lets the discussion slide into a “pity party.”

SECOND PLACE

WJCT, Jacksonville
First Coast Connect
Crisis In Cairo

Host Melissa Ross demonstrates solid enterprise by combining the developing unrest in Egypt with local analysis and perspective, including a Jacksonville resident who now lives in Cairo.  Ross is skillful at getting foreign policy experts to make their comments conversational, not academic or bureaucratic. A few callers make it on the air and they are brief and prepared. Extra credit goes to an excellent call screener.

CATEGORY C

FIRST PLACE

WUOT, Knoxville
Dialogue
I’m Still Here: My HIV Life

In October 2013, WUOT journalists Matt Shafer Powell and Leslie Snow produced I’m Still Here: My HIV Life – a documentary about five East Tennesseans living with HIV.  Immediately following the broadcast of the doc, WUOT aired this special edition of Dialogue featuring two of the people profiled during the doc who talk about their HIV-positive lives.  

Powell gently guides the conversation.  The two guests have haunting, urgent voices and tell their stories in a candid manner.  Powell rightly acknowledges the courage of the participants to go public. Callers are well chosen and expand the scope of the conversation.

SECOND PLACE

WCAI, Cape Cod
The Point With Mindy Todd
Preventing Breast Cancer: The Latest Research

Here is a terrific example of taking a topic from the day’s news and making it vital for local listeners.  Mindy Todd interviews two breast cancer experts about Angelina Jolie's decision to undergo a double mastectomy because genetic testing showed she carries a defective gene that put her at high risk for developing breast cancer.

Mindy and her guests examine possible causes for higher rates of the defective gene occurring in women living on Cape Cod.  There is plenty of takeaway and the judges praised the hopeful tone of the program.
 

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

THE HARDEST WORKING FOLKS IN NONCOM MEDIA: JOE RICHMAN & "RADIO DIARIES"


I am in awe of Joe Richman and RADIO DIARIES [LINK]. For years they have brought me (and probably you) actual Driveway Moments. RADIO DIARIES segments on ATC are trips through place and time. I still get chills when I think of the first time I heard Strange Fruit: Voices of a Lynching [LINK] while waiting in line at the auto bank.



Not only is Richman & company providing consistent high quality audio storytelling, they are prolific.  They remind me a little of the Beatles – the hits just keep on coming.  And so does the praise:

• AUDIE AWARD NOMINEE: MANDELA: AN AUDIO HISTORY [LINK]



The Audie Awards are the Oscars of the audiobook and spoken word industries. The Audio Publishers Association (APA) sponsors the annual contest.  Winners will be announced May 28, 2015 in New York.

• FEATURED PRESENTERS AT BOSTON’S BAM RADIO LOVE FEST

THE MOTH and RADIO DIARIES present Don’t Look Back: Stories of the Teenage Years May 6, 2015 at the BAM Harvey Theater [LINK]. Two diarists will appear live with Molly Ringwald.  I would do anything to be there.

SUCCESS COMES FROM SMART SUSTAINABILITY       

An important part of RADIO DIARIES is their ability to ride the tides of foundation funding.  It is like living on a financial roller coaster.  As a free agent, I live that way too – it is not for the faint-of-heart.

I reviewed the 2013 IRS 990 for RADIO DIARIES. In 2013 revenue was around a quarter of million bucks.  Nobody is getting rich but people are getting fairly paid.  Almost all of the revenue goes for the work, not fundraising promotions. 

RADIO DIARIES is expanding their podcast services while keeping visible to public radio fans via The Moth and ATC. These folks make me glad I work in public radio.
JOE RICHMAN • KEEPER OF THE AUDIO FLAME

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

JARL MOHN LIGHTS A SPARK AT NPR NEWS STATIONS


When I recently posted the Nielsen Audio listening trends for the five major noncommercial format groups [LINK] I noted that the three-month trend was up for NPR News stations. The gains in listening are due, in part, to Jarl Mohn, the relatively new NPR CEO.


JARL MOHN, NPR PRESIDENT & RADIO GURU • PRPC 2014

At the September 2014 Public Radio Programmers Conference (“PRPC”) Jarl laid out a plan to grow the NPR News audience using inexpensive forward promotion techniques.  The key is to get all of the stations to implement an aggressive schedule of tune in promos for the next upcoming Morning Edition.  The plan became known as SPARK.

SPARK is a collaborative effort by NPR and the participating stations.  The first results are in and they look promising. 

On Monday 4/20 Jody Evans, President of PRPD, released a station-by-station analysis of the first six weeks – two books – and most stations had seen growth in listening to ME.  Here is the chart courtesy of PRPD and RRC:





Monday, April 20, 2015

UPDATE: TWIN CITIES TRIPLE A RADIO BATTLE


89.3 The Current seems to be doing well despite a head-to-head challenge from commercial station Go 96.3.  Check out my March 19 post Triple A Radio Battle Is On in the Twin Cities [LINK].  According to the March topline Nielsen Audio PPM report, The Current gained in AQH share – Go 96.3, despite spending big bucks to promote themselves, declined during the same time period: (The Current is KCMP; Go 96.3 is KTWN.)


© Nielsen Audio – Chart courtesy of Media Confidential

Of course, one book doesn’t make a trend. But, this early report card should cause concern for the folks at Go 96.3.

RADIO GRUDGE MATCH

Go 96.3 is an unusual commercial station – local owners with a grand plan to combine Minnesota Twins MLB coverage (they also own the Twins) with modern rock/Triple A music.  Most of all it is grudge match between two stations that, really, really don’t like each other.

Go 96.3 is programmed by former Cities 97 folks. They are still grieving over the loss of the Coolest Rock Station Crown. Now they seek to re-take the hipster Crown but the fundamentals aren’t in their favor.

PROBLEMS WITH THE Go 96.3 PLAN

1. People like The Current. Twin Cities’ listeners have no reason to tune away and go (pun intended) to Go 96.3.  Go 96.3 and The Current play many of the same artists and both reflect the same music scene. But, there is no advantage for Go 96.3.

2. The Minnesota Twins suck again this year. Part of Go 96.3’s plan is to use the popularity of the Twins to increase station awareness.  Because the Twins are loosing, the baseball tie becomes a skink hole for listening.  Unless the Twins make a miraculous turn around, the play-by-play and other coverage will repel music listeners.

3. Go 96.3’s new gadget – GoTV [LINK] – exposes the flaws in the plan. GoTV is essentially a studio camera mixed with music videos. I tuned to GoTV before writing this post.  What I saw and heard was pre-game sport’s talk – boring, pointless and totally uncool.

WILL Go 96.3 BECOME Gone 96.3?

The Twins come first for the owner of the team and the station. Go 96.3 is the latest in a string of formats they have tried. If things continue the way they are now, a year from now Go 96.3 may be Gone 96.3