I had long been a print reporter with a serious crush on audio. But until the opportunity to host a podcast fell in my lap, becoming someone who was lucky enough to make audio stories seemed like an elusive dream. Read more
Ever since the invention of the transistor radio, audio has been a portable, personal medium. As early as the 1970s, Panasonic was making audio wearable, with an AM radio designed to be worn as a bracelet. The Walkman, the iPod, … Read more
On midterm election night last year, NPR carried out its usual live coverage, coordinating stories from its reporters and from member stations across the country. Most of the audience followed along via these stations’ broadcast signals. But those not … Read more
While podcasts and smart speakers generate buzz, radio—AM/FM, over-the-air, old-fashioned radio—reaches more Americans than any other medium. And technological and regulatory change is still pushing the medium in new directions, one of which is low-power FM. Low-power … Read more
When “Tell Me More,” NPR’s talk show about diversity, was canceled in 2014, NPR’s then-ombudsman Edward Schumacher-Matos observed that Latinos (16 percent of the U.S. population) hold only 5 percent of newsroom jobs at NPR … Read more
When I hear the “All Things Considered” theme, I hear vegetables sizzling in a pan. I think about being 6 years old and playing with toys at the kitchen table while my mom cooked dinner and caught up with … Read more
‘Digital journalism could not be the sole domain of breaking news and blogging, and it had to be more than the repository of electronic reprints.’ Read more