This past Thursday, March 4, I presented a presentation about how National Public Radio (NPR) has developed. It has influenced the changing technological and wireless world and has also been shaped and influenced by the other media forms.
Starting in 1980, NPR faced the challenge of getting an audience with televisions becoming more common. They really focused on the working class hoping people would listen at work and on their commute to and from work. Their material really focused on the working class with programs done by the working class. Their audience quickly grew, as did the radio. They began to create different formats and programs that were more personal to certain people. There was a wider variety of programs for the listeners to choose from.
Today National Public Radio has changed tremendously from the one program broadcast, to a narrowcasted, multi-medium format. They currently have programs available through their webpage, mobile phones, iPods, radio, text and podcasts. They also give access to art, music and entertainment. All these changes are focused toward a digital age of technology while still holding true to their original
“everyday person” content. Almost anyone in the United States has access to these public broadcasts and narrowcast anytime they desire.
Radio and National Public Radio has set a template for the developing wireless media world. Specifically, they were the first to offer a message transmission to multiple audiences across a broad area of people. This paved the way for broadcast television and soon an internet signal. Radio also was the first wireless media to reshape and focus on specific audiences through the creation of formats and individual genres. The internet, radio and television today still focus on individuals and individual groups of people. So although radio may be considered an old media, it is still in the game and has just reshaped the face of their programs to adapt to the changing digital age.
For more information I am posting a link below to the NPR website. This gives access to their programs, downloads, streaming videos, art, music and more. I really encourage you to look at what they offer.
I am also posting the link to the YouTube video I presented in class that gives a tour and a look at the redesign structure of the NPR.org webpage.
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