Innovation Will Help Define Future of Public Media, Executives Say
The public media industry must work to be more innovative and inclusive to expand its influence in the digital world, public media professionals said Tuesday at a Free Press event. One of the biggest challenges for public broadcasters is defining what public media looks like in the digital age, said Josh Stearns, Free Press associate program director. The need for public media couldn’t be bigger and support couldn’t be broader, “but we're still spending pocket change,” said Craig Aaron, Free Press president.
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The foundation for a better public media system exists due to the network of TV and radio stations and hardworking journalists, Aaron said. It includes noncommercial websites, low-power FM stations and other platforms, he said. Aaron urged public media to involve its audience in the creative process: Audience involvement should go beyond asking supporters to give at pledge time and asking them to contact Congress when things are really dire, he said. “What if we treat them, not as consumers, but as creators?” If they're shown the best innovative ideas, “I think we should challenge them to come up with better ones,” he added.
The threat to public broadcasting in the U.S. is similar to what the British Broadcasting Corp. is facing, said Caroline Thomson, BBC chief operating officer. BBC is facing pressure to keep the license fee flat, and this month the BBC announced a $1 billion cut to its budget, she said. The threat “must be addressed seriously if we're really going to make the case for public broadcasting,” she said. While there’s an enormous range of choices and voices, some of the content is insufficient, she said. Looking deeper, “is it really producing a promised land of complete media freedom and services for our audiences?” she asked. “Where there is news, much of it is recycled” or lifted from news releases or other publications, she said.
Public media institutions should avoid complacency by establishing the right values and ethics, Thomson said. The approach to news also should be forward-looking and flexible, she said: “You must move with the audience” and its demands for information.
The industry is entering a moment where the level of diversity and complexity has increased, said Jake Shapiro, CEO of Public Radio Exchange. The public media role “has to be accelerated into the digital world,” he said. Like Apple, Google and other corporations controlling the Web space, public media should create a space that treats people as citizens who can contribute to the public media mission and values, he added. More than 60 percent of members of the Association of Independents in Radio are working “to diversify their craft and move across platforms,” said Executive Director Sue Schardt. The association began a program, Localore, to help stations build new capacity by “going outside the building to the far corners where people don’t know what public radio is,” she said. The program encourages stations to blend digital media tools with traditional broadcasts, she added.