S-Town, the new narrative podcast
from the folks who brought you This
American Life (TAL) and Serial, debuted in late March with over
16 million downloads, a record for the launch of a new podcast podcast.
According to the latest Podtrac estimates, S-Town
(a/k/a “Shit Town”) was major factor for a 52% increase in Unique Monthly
Audience by the Serial Productions cluster.
S-Town is the first series released
under the Serial Productions banner.
 |
| Brian Reed |
Brian Reed, a
producer for TAL, is the host of the
seven-episode documentary series. S-Town tells
the story of a rumored murder in his rural Alabama town and the
investigation into the son of a wealthy family who had been bragging that he
got away with murder. According to Reed, the storyline continues and "Someone else ended up dead, and
another story began to unfold–about a nasty feud, a hunt for hidden treasure
and the mysteries of one man's life.”
Podtrac reports
that all ten of the top podcast publishers saw an increase in Unique Monthly
Audience between February and March 2017. NPR, the New York Times, American Public Media, WBUR and The Moth all had one-month double-digit increases
of Unique Monthly Audience.
Though there are
limitations with Podtracs’ data, their charts are becoming an industry
standard. They do not publish audience estimates for publishers who are not
affiliated with Podtrac. Also, according to Podtrac CEO Mark Mccrey, metrics
from month-to-month can vary by as much as 20% because of a number of factors.
Seven of the top
ten publishers are affiliated with noncommercial stations. The New York Times,
a commercial publisher, has consistently increased their estimated Unique
Monthly Audience.
PRNDI CONFERENCE EXAMINES
ISSUES WITH LICENSEES
When the Public
Radio News Directors, Inc. (PRNDI) chose Miami as the site for their 2017
annual conference, little did they know the gather would be at “ground zero”
for a major confrontation between WLRN and its licensee, the Miami-Dade School
District. We reported on the situation in late February [link].
For the past three
decades, Friends of WLRN, a nonprofit
group, has operated WLRN FM/TV with considerable success. Recently a power
struggle between the district and the Friends
of WLRN has erupted over the question of who is directly responsible for
news coverage. The District want reporters to become employees of the District
and have the newsroom follow the District’s policies. The dispute has yet to be resolved.
The PRNDI
Conference meets at the Newport Beachside Hotel & Resort on Friday 6/23 & Saturday 6/24. Pre-conference
training will take place June 21 & 22. Complete information about the
conference is here.
Conflicts Between Newsrooms and Station
License Holders, Saturday’s
main conference meeting, will be held from 8:30am – 9:45am.
In addition to the
conflict regarding WLRN, the recent firing of a reporter at WUTC, Chattanooga will
be discussed. Yet-to-be-named panelists will look at station’s firewalls between
the newsroom and the license holder. The session will explore navigating
conflicts with licensee and strategies newsrooms can employ to protect their
independence.
A complete agenda
for the PRNDI conference is here. Other sessions that look interesting to me
include:
Real News in a Fake News Era
Friday 6/23, 9:00am – 10:15am
 |
| Michael Oresekes |
Keynote Address by Michael
Oresekes
Friday 6/23, Noon – 1:30pm
Senior VP of News
and Editorial Director for NPR, Michael Oresekes discusses the importance of
editors, the challenges journalists are facing in the current media environment
and how stations and NPR can continue to strengthen their collaborative
relationship.
 |
| Al Tompkins |
Reporting on Guns with Al
Tompkins
Friday 6/23, 3:15pm – 4:30pm
Poynter’s Al
Tompkins will address some of the most common mistakes journalists make when
reporting on firearms.
What’s the difference between a rifle and a
shotgun? What’s a “semi-automatic” rifle? And what does
the “AR” in “AR15” mean? In public media, very few of us own guns. We talk often
about firearms in our reporting, so this session will provide you with a better
understand of guns and the gun culture.
 |
| Elana Newman |
Managing Mental Health in the
Newsroom: Including Your Own
Saturday 6/24 2:45pm – 4:00pm
Elana Newman,
Research Director of the DART Center for
Journalism and Trauma, will tell you the signs of potential depression
among colleagues.
During this session, you will learn how to respond in a supportive and appropriate
manner when trauma and tragedy seem overwhelming. If you are feeling any low
level stress from covering a relentless news cycle soaked in negativity, this
session is for you.
 |
| Al Letson |
PRNDI AWARDS CEREMONY
Saturday 6/24 7:00pm
Reveal host Al Letson will emcee the annual awards banquet featuring
winners of over a dozen news categories. Also announced will be the winner of the
National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE) Consumer Financial Reporting
Award. The winner received a cash prize of $1,000 from NEFE.
Andrea DeLeon, NPR
Bureau Chief, will be presented with this year’s Leo C. Lee Award for
extraordinary contribution to public radio news.
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