NCPR Executive Council Meeting Minutes 7/23/14

Appreciation

1)      Ellen discussed key station changes/activities for FY15: Nora Flaherty will be leaving for a new position in Maine. Her position (digital content editor) will be reconfigured so that there is equal collaboration between the digital and news teams. NCPR’s Knight Project and has ended, but our Next Generation effort will continue.   Ellen is in the process of determining the best direction for the project and is exploring opportunities for major giving and foundation grants.

2)      New report:   Martha Foley provided the news department update (see summary materials.) Of particular note were the following personnel changes:   Zachary Hirsh, one of the original Knight Interns, will be moving to Plattsburgh to establish a new bureau. A search is underway to replace Joanna Richards, our Watertown reporter. Sarah Harris replaced Julie Grant. Martha discussed the huge impact the Knight grant had on our team. Through that grant NCPR found and trained Natasha Haverty, Sarah Harris, and Zach Hirsh and we’re hoping that the Next Generation Fund will continue to inspire new talent. Martha expressed pride for Brian Mann, Natasha Haverty and the Prison Time project. She reviewed the awards received by the news team. Mr. Glitz and Mr. Cramer asked about the pattern and competition for the awards. Martha said that NCPR generally sweeps all of the small station awards, and is very competitive at the national level. The press club awards this year were our first. She also mentioned the fact that Public Media was very strongly represented at the Murrow awards this year which speaks to the quality of content, ethics and more.   Alan McLeod shared that he felt our reporting on the Lac Magantic rail disaster was far superior to the CBC coverage because of the way we told the stories—as opposed to simply giving technical details.   Martha mentioned that the Doheny/Stefanik debate was a great partnership with Cathy’s station and that we’re looking to see how we can build even more partnerships in the future. Ellen informed the council that the Morning Edition clock is changing.   We are not yet sure how this will impact the schedule of the 8 O’Clock Hour.

3)      Underwriting:   Sandy Demarest reviewed her report with the council (see summary materials). She stated that underwriting income was down this year and that she started FY14 with the loss of several big contracts. She said she expects to be on the road more.

4)      Production:   Joel review his report (attached)

5)      Engineering/Programming: Ellen reviewed the written reports for Bob and Jackie (see summary materials). We will have a transmitter in Elizabethtown by the end of the year. Rob asked about the very long station IDs.   It was mentioned that we are exploring a way to do this through a tone or signal.

6)      Digital:   Bill reviewed his report with the council (see summary materials). He discussed traffic changes, the fact that our digital content is getting better and deeper resulting in an increase of 17% to news content. We’re also having greater success with social media and are learning more about how/when to boost content in a successful way. Dale has revamped the newsletter so that it offers curated news from NCPR and NPR. In the coming months Bill will release the new website. It will have a more responsive layout and richer digital content. Cathy Pircsuk asked if the increase in traffic would result in more money.   Not yet. We are working on developing new models for raising funds digitally.

7)      June Peoples reviewed the FY13 budget (see summary materials.)

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Action item:   Cali & Ellen to provide copy of Knight Report to EC

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