Oregon Media Insiders

I want to thank you all for the support you're giving Rebecca! (Disclaimer: I am her daughter...) As a member of the ipod generation, I just want to put my two cents in regarding radio's obsolescence. I was weaned off of NPR when I moved to Canada, but most of the US ex-pats here podcast their favorite stations and NPR shows. I even streamed my mom's newscasts in Rwanda this summer when I got homesick! Canadians my age have an enormous amount of pride in CBC-Radio Canada. New media are taking their place in our culture, but radio is an extremely flexible medium and it has adapted just fine. The advent of podcasts etc. are helping radio enormously, because listeners now have access to programs that air all over the world, and can listen to them at any time. Stations like NPR and BBC World have probably seen listenership rise (Colbert-esque gut feeling analysis) because of ipods and the internet. No one is going to listen to or podcast bland robot-DJ music interrupted by 6 minutes of commercials and a weather report when we can get music so easily online. So, the radio that will survive the transition to the internet-dominated future is the radio that delivers actual information and stimulating discourse. My generation and people a few years younger than me are targeted by advertisers who think that we care mostly about superficial issues, but in fact we find that condescending. We are the most media-savvy and connected demographic, and I truly believe that a growing proportion of us care about real news, and we have no problem podcasting BBC or checking out our local student-run radio station to get it. Radio is versatile and personal, much more so than a newspaper, so it is well suited to make this transition. People will increasingly have access to more options, and they'll turn away from the junk, leaving advertisers with no choice but to change the format.