Who does Adirondack News at NCPR?
A comment by two anonymous Adirondackers on a recent In Box post, expressing concern that NCPR's Adirondack focus was looking a little thin to them (especially given the generous investment in our Adirondack news endowment), led me to comb through our news database to see how we were covering the Adirondacks, and who was doing the coverage. The comment noted the absence of one of our Adirondack stringers (Jacob Resneck, who has been out of the area for an extended period) and the fact that Brian Mann, our Adirondack Bureau Chief, is reporting on a lot of stuff that has little to do with the Adirondacks.
The assumption, I think, is that if the story is not by Brian Mann or Chris Knight or Jacob Resneck, it isn't part of NCPR's Adirondack beat.
In fact, we are a small news operation, but that means that at times, the Adirondack region is everyone's beat. Here's what the numbers show, looking at NCPR audio stories that are keyed to the Adirondacks:
Brian Mann is clearly leader of the pack, posting 852 stories. But Todd Moe, whose primary beat is arts and culture, has posted 346 Adirondack features. Next is our Adirondack stringer Chris Knight, with 249 features. Following him are David Sommerstein, with 146 stories, Jonathan Brown with 115, Martha Foley with 104, Karen DeWitt with 41, and Jacob Resneck with 38. In addition, there are 342 Adirondack audio features posted by other reporters and contributors.
Brian Mann is also the most prolific contributor to the In Box blog, with many Adirondack news theme posts to his credit. Our Community Calendar is heavy with Adirondack events, and Adirondack listeners keep us well supplied with Photo of the Day contributions.
All in all, my opinion is that NCPR's commitment to Adirondack news is stronger than ever, in this, the tenth year of the Adirondack News Bureau.
posted by Dale Hobson @ 9/21/2009 04:04:00 PM
5 Comments
5 Comments:
I can't imagine anyone who'd say your Adirondack news is a little thin really listens to your station. The truly regional character of your news is what makes it so unique and worth listening to.
Could you please put those numbers in context: over what period of time were those stories filed? And what does "keyed to the Adirondacks" mean? Thanks.
A couple of points:
First, those numbers (which go back about eight years) represent most but not all of the stories that deal with Adirondack issues.
A simpler way to describe the Adirondack bureau's production might be to say that I produce between 3-5 stories a week.
Of those, 2-4 are focused on the Adirondacks, or at least treat significant Adirondack issues.
One notable change is that we're actually doing more stories about a much broader slice of the Adirondacks.
I used to be very Tri-Lakes focused. Now, my stories range more frequently into other regions of the Park.
A final note: Chris Knight has moved from WNBZ to the Adirondack Enterprise.
That transition has muddled our freelance situation a bit, but Chris (and other journalists) will be back on NCPR's air soon.
-Brian, NCPR
I was curious who (not the individuals, but the sort of the individuals) is objecting to the level of coverage of the Adirondacks? I've been listening to NCPR for over 25 years. I remember the coverage given to the Adirondacks way back in the day - it wasn't bad considering the miniscule shoestring budget NCPR had to work with then but the coverage was pretty limited. I couldn't imaging living without public radio in general and NCPR specifically then... and soooo much more now. The increase in Adirondack coverage is many fold and the quality is terrific... and that's without considering the relatively small budget that NCPR still works with. Although that budget is much bigger than it was 25 years ago it's still relatively small for the quantity and quality of the coverage. Most of the political stories relate directly or indirectly to our lives here in the Adirondacks... and besides, I like to hear one or two of our own (Adirondackers) thoughts on some of these bigger political issues. The addition of The In Box has been wonderful. Is NCPR perfect?... obviously no and I've not held back when I felt a need to criticize and it has always been well received. I'm just trying to imagine who could possibly be whining about a lack of Adirondack coverage especially when considering all the factors!?
Mark, Saranac Lake
Thank you, Mark. You rock.
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