Back in the last millennium, the mission of a public radio station was relatively easy to define. It broadcast to the general public within a specific region. It’s service focused on the inhabitants of its listening area, providing them with information and entertainment related to where they were, and serving as a conduit to them for information and entertainment from around the world. In turn, this geocentric focus defined how the service got supported. Those among the local listeners who were so inclined provided the station (after some cajoling) with financial support. The technological reach, the mission, and the funding model were all more or less all in line with one another.<\/p>\n
But now, new forms of media (aka the Internet) and more specifically, social media, have altered all three of these factors–and continue to do so at an accelerating pace. We now “broadcast” to hundreds of thousands each year around the globe, by means other than radio. As a result, an additional mission falls within our scope. Instead of just being the lens through which our audience receives the world, we are now also a lens through which the world sees our region.<\/p>\n
While this is a fantastic opportunity, as well as a privilege, it is also a challenge. While our reach and mission have expanded, our resource base remains largely unchanged, based on turning on a microphone, and asking radio listeners to contribute support. In discussing the growing investment the station is making in new and social media, both in cash and time, a staffer put the question in a nutshell, “What does it matter if 40 million people look at a picture of boats that gets circulated in the anonymous web-o-sphere, if those people have no awareness of NCPR and no realistic likelihood of developing loyalty to our organization?”<\/p>\n
So we have the new technology and an added new mission that is well within our wheelhouse. How do we sustain it? To date, it has been largely supported by the same core group, living within or invested in our region, who tune us in on the radio. What is the value to the North Country in having the world discover it through the lens of NCPR? What is the value to the world? And how do we get those who are served by this new mission to support its continued existence? Got any anwers? More questions? Let us know in a comment below.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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