WTJU - Enough with the stereotypes

A fair amount of ink, both virtual and real, was spilled celebrating College Radio Day. That's fine. But in a Washington Post story featuring a quote from WTJU's station manager, we were there under the broad characterization that's haunted the station for years.

Quirky, loud and unpredictable, college radio has dwelt for a half-century at the left of the dial, a youthful counterpart to public radio. 

Well, in WTJU's case, that's a very small part of the story.

I have hosted a classical music program (albeit, quirky) on the station weekly since 1984. And it's not an anomaly of programming, either. WTJU has aired classical music from 6-9 every weekday morning (and Sundays, too) for over 15 years.

We've air a complete opera every Sunday evening (again, for almost two decades now). And we have aired classical music in the evening for about the same length of time, with one of our hosts, Ann Shaffer presenting "A Time for Singing", an opera singer showcase, for over twenty years.

One quarter of our total airtime has consistently been devoted to classical music, just as one quarter of our airtime has been given to jazz programming. And the jazz programming has been of the same high quality as our classical programming. Ditto with our folk (which also includes world music) programming, which also occupies a quarter of the schedule.

We have had trained professional musicians, musicologists, published authors and recognized experts in the field programming and hosting classical, jazz and folk music on the station on WTJU for over a decade. Classical programming has been running every weekday morning from 6-9AM for decades. Jazz programming has always run from 9-noon every weekday for the same stretch of time.

But what is the public's perception of the statiion?

WTJU is an FM free-form radio station licensed to the University of Virginia and operating on 91.1 FM.
 - The CVillepedia

To me, that says I have no idea what the hell I'll be hearing if I tune in -- probably something loud and quirky. It doesn't say that if you tune in any weekday morning, you'll hear classical music. Every weekday morning, always from 6-9.

WTJU, U.Va.’s freeform, volunteer-run radio station, is special to many
- UVA Magazine

And if you read this article, you'll be under the impression that WTJU only does free-form rock programming (they don't mention the other genres). Thanks, guys.

And these are the sources that should know what WTJU is about!

So look. Call us multi-format if you must, or even variety. But do us and yourself a favor. Tune in and listen. We have classical music every weekday morning from 6-9. Jazz every weekday from 9-noon.

I'll be there as I have been since 1984.

And there's nothing free-form about that.

Citizen Journalism - Charlottesville and Beyond!

The New York Times recently published an article of interest to new media types and should be of especial interest to readers of this blog.

The Tehran Bureau, an Iranian news website that sprang up in the wake of the Iranian elections, is now working with (and receiving financing from) the PBS series "Frontline." So a website by citizen/journalists is now providing news to a respected old media news organization.

In the course of the article, writer Brian Stelter says:

Tehran Bureau is not the only nontraditional news source to find an old-media partner. Mr. Benton cited PlanPhilly, a Web site about urban development in the city affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania, which is collaborating with The Philadelphia Daily News to produce a series about growth; and Charlottesville Tomorrow, a nonprofit Web site about issues in Virginia, which is sharing articles with a local newspaper, The Charlottesville Daily Progress.

That's right: Charlottesville Tomorrow, our own local example of citizen journalism at its best, is cited in the New York Times as an example of successful old/new media collaboration. No surprise here: I've talked about this unique service at length.

But it's nice to know that the New York Times agrees!

- Ralph

Cvillepedia & Charlottesville Tomorrow -Second Thoughts

Looks like I'm not the only one who thinks this is a good idea.

Last week I talked about the Cvillepedia the on-line open source free encyclopedia about the city of Charlottesville and surrounding Albermarle County. It was developed by Charlottesville Tomorrow as another informational asset concerned with the City of Charlottesville and Albermarle County, Virginia.

So what? Well, first off, it's a viable model for many localities. And secondly, I'm not the only one who thinks so. Jerry Del Colliano, in his recent Inside Music Media post "Life After Radio -- 8 New Ideas" said:

If you're a newsperson, writer, community affairs executive or interested in new ways to dispense information in a digital world ...

4. Pick a town or city and become the "news source" for it -- town meetings, crime, anything that goes on in that locale. Put it up on a website and, better yet, add an Apple app that people in that location can carry around on their phones to touch and connect with what's happening close to their homes in real-time. Monetize the app, the website and ancillary income streams that come from owning the franchise for Hoboken, New Jersey or Newport Beach, California or Ames, Iowa. Newspapers wouldn't do it -- they once did regional editions loaded with feature stories. Radio barely does any news. Own a town and get rich with your production, reporting, social networking and Internet skills.

Sound familiar? Charlottesville Tomorrow has the model; they're more than halfway towards creating a franchise that could easily be adopted by other locals (I don't know if that's their plan, but it's possible).

This could just as easily have been a website built by a radio station -- perhaps all-news WINA, which serves the Charlottesville market? It wasn't. Compare WINA's website to Charlottesville Tomorrow's. The difference is profound.

So how does your local radio or newspaper coverage measure up? And how would something like Del Colliano's online news source be received?

- Ralph

Day 43 of the WJMA Podwatch.<

Cvillepedia -- Bringing the Wiki Home

If you live in or around Charlottesville, VA, you should know about the Cvillepedia. If you don't, you should consider constructing a version for where do you live.

The concept's not brand new. But that's alright. It's the content that matters here, and that's where the Cvillepedia's value lies.

Simply put, the Cvillepedia is an on-line open source free encyclopedia about the city of Charlottesville and surrounding Albermarle County. The form, structure, and ethos are modeled after Wikipedia with an important distinction.

Launched by Charlottesville Tomorrow, the stated goal is to

inform and engage the public by providing clear, non-partisan information and research on land use, transportation, and community design issues with the confidence an informed public will make decisions that will protect and build upon the distinctive character of the Charlottesville-Albemarle area.

The exurbs are encroaching from the north (Washington, D.C.), the east (Richmond) and the south (Lynchburg), and Charlottesville itself is flowing outwards into Albermarle. As with many similar communities across the country, critical decisions about growth and development need to be made.

The value of something like the Cvillepedia is that it pulls together all the information, resource lists, and news about core issues into a single place. And as Charlottesville Tomorrow makes very clear, that single place is to be non-partisan. Not pro-growth, or anti-growth; neither liberal nor conservative -- simply a place where all the facts can be examined.

Would that we had something like it where I live.

- Ralph

Day 37 of the WJMA Podwatch.

WTJU and the Dull Surprise

So this morning I did another fund-raising marathon program for WTJU. If you've been following the saga, you'll know that I've had a program under just about every set of circumstances (good and bad) during WTJU's fall fund drive.

This morning I did a jazz show featuring the music of Buddy Rich. So how did I do? Slightly better than I did Saturday evening, but I still raised only a fraction of what I did the week before.

On the plus side, I was in my regular time slot. In theory I should have been talking to the same people that listen to my show throughout the year.

On the minus side, I wasn't playing classical music; the genre normally heard in that time slot.

And the results were disastrous. For the past five days, we've been airing classical music throughout the day, driving away listeners who are used to hearing jazz, folk or rock programming at specific times. Last night we finished classical fund-raising programming, and started jazz.

So in the middle of the week, the station goes completely to jazz. The jazz listeners who would perhaps respond to this programming were nowhere to be found this morning. And why should we expect them to be? First, that time slot has always been classical music, so jazz lovers have learned not to turn on the dial before 9:00AM, when jazz programming normally starts.

As for my regular audience? Well, I think they gave generously Friday morning when I was on (remember, most people maintain the same listening habits Monday through Friday) and were done.

And those that weren't? Well, I'm sure once they heard the Buddy Rich Big Band swinging hard they knew there was no classical music this morning. *Click*

So the classical audience left, and the jazz audience didn't show up. Several of my fellow volunteers were surprised that the show did so poorly since I had been so successful last week. Nothing surprising about it -- for those who understand how radio works.

I did as well as I could -- and I really do appreciate the calls from the few folks who did pledge -- but it's tough to fight reality.

- Ralph

Day 134 of the WJMA Web Watch.

WTJU and the Shifting Gear (sans clutch)

Today I hosted a lunchtime fund-raising program at WTJU. There's been a good conversation going on in the comments field of my last post about the station and the way it raises money.

So how did I do today? Better than Saturday, that's for sure! But was as much as I potentially could have raised?

A number of factors were at work that determined my success (or lack thereof). On the minus side, folks who normally listened to "Walk Right In," the folk program normally heard at this time probably weren't in the mood for Chopin, Mendelssohn, Brahms and Schumann piano music. In fact, if they made WTJU part of their lunch-time routine, they probably tuned out Monday and haven't returned. So the strong following our noonday programming has was gone.

On the plus side, our fund-raising marathon had been running since Friday, so some people understood that classical programming is what they could expect to hear. That audience, was, of course, the same group that regularly listens to classical throughout the year.

So there were some more pledges today than Saturday, but still from the same subset of WTJU's total audience.

And now that folks are getting used to the classical programming, we'll switch gears tonight and hit them with five days of jazz.

Now don't get me wrong: there are a lot of really great jazz shows scheduled, and a whole series of live, in studio performances with some phenomenal regional jazz artists. As far as content goes, it will be wonderful.

But the classical listeners who tune in tomorrow expecting more of the same will be disappointed. As will any folk or rock programming listeners who tune in hoping the madness is over and they can get back to their routine.

And the jazz listeners? Well, some will understand that we've made the switch, but it will take many a few days to get up to speed. At which point the marathon will be over.

I've got a jazz fund-raising program tomorrow morning 6-9AM. It's my usual time slot, but my usual audience expects classical, not jazz. I don't anticipate getting a lot of pledges (not that I won't try my best). Immediately following my show, however, is the regular 9-12 jazz host with a jazz program. I expect it to do very well, as he talks to the audience that he's developed over the years.

To the volunteers at the station, changing formats for the marathon may seem like just shifting gears. But to the listeners it's like grinding the gearbox. Without some kind of clutch to ease the transition, it can be a jarring experience -- one that most radio listeners prefer to avoid.

- Ralph


Day 133 of the WJMA Web Watch.

WTJU and the Shocking Surprise

I won't keep you in suspense. The shocking surprise is that radio has a certain role in people's lives -- regardless of format. And people are creatures of habit.

Think about your own radio listening habits (for those readers who still use the radio, that is). Chances are, you most often listen to the radio in the car. And most often while traveling to and from work. You probably have a few choice stations preset on the dial, and you flip back and forth depending on what's on.

On the weekend, there's probably certain times you like to have the radio on. I like turn it on when I'm in my garage workshop on Saturdays, for example. And I often use it while I'm working in the attic or other home maintenance-type projects where wearing an iPod would either get in the way or be dangerous.

However you use the radio, it's most likely part of a routine. Complicated schedules don't enter into the mix. Either what you want is on, or it isn't. And if it isn't, then you move on to another station where it is.

So when WTJU blew out its regular programming for five days of classical music and five days of jazz, they messed with people's routines. And what do you do if the station you have on isn't playing what you like? Right. Either turn it off, or turn to another station.

My Saturday evening fund-raising program on WTJU did what I thought it would -- very little. Do I fault those that listened and didn't call in? Not really. Because I don't think that many were listening, anyway. I replaced the Saturday program that had it's own [non-classical] following, so I'm sure many people just tuned out.

I've had many discussions with my fellow volunteers about fund-raising at the station. They continually cite anecdotal evidences proving that listeners love our marathon fund-raisers and wouldn't have it any other way. Well, perhaps, but each drive there's a few less of those long-time listeners who contribute. New listeners (especially those who are used to how public radio works in other parts of the country before moving here) don't know about the marathon tradition at WTJU.

All they know is that they turned on the radio one day, and something different was being broadcast on WTJU. And so they went somewhere else.

I understand how people use the radio. And anyone who uses the radio, if they paused to think about it, understands it to. But to many of my colleagues at WTJU? It continues to be a shocking surprise.

- Ralph

Day 132 of the WJMA Web Watch.

WTJU and the Marathon Unmuddled

I had a fantastic fund raising program this morning on WTJU, and I'd like to thank everyone who called in with a pledge.

Of course, what I expected happened did happen. The phones rang fairly often from 6:00 AM to about 9:00 AM. My show, "Overtures," ran until 10:00, but it didn't matter. At 9:00 the phones stopped ringing and I didn't get another pledge.

Why?

Well, look at the regular schedule for the station. At 9:00 AM jazz programming starts. The folks who only listen to classical are used tuning us out at 9:00 and either switching over to WVTF (which has finished with Morning Edition and starts its classical programming), or have arrived at work and won't listen to the radio again until the evening drive home.

And since this is the first day of the fund drive, people who tuned in all week long at 9:00 AM expecting to hear jazz got a nasty shock this morning. My guess is most of them turned us off almost immediately, never hearing the fund raising message at all.

As I've noted before, when it comes to radio, people are creatures of habit. We mess with the daily routine at our own peril. At 9:00 AM the classical audience went away, and the jazz audience stayed away. And as much as our volunteer staff wishes it be otherwise, our listeners use radio the same way listeners of other stations do.

Care to guess what happens tomorrow when listeners tune in at 4:00 PM, expecting to hear "Jumpin' On the Bed," high-energy American music instead get Hindemith and Persichetti wind ensemble music?

- Ralph

Day 129 of the WJMA Web Watch.

WTJU and the Marathon Muddle

So tomorrow morning I get to kick off the on-air fund drive at WTJU, 91.1 FM Charlottesville, VA. Most public radio stations just fund raise around their regular programming -- with good reason. It doesn't disrupt the listener's routine. And the on-air announcer gets to talk to the same listeners he/she's been conversing with throughout the year. There's already a relationship there, which just helps the message get through.

At WTJU, we have an all-volunteer air staff. It's our greatest strength, and our biggest weakness. It's our strength, because each announcer gets to program their own show. WTJU's program content is (in my opinion) unparalleled in overall quality. Many of WTJU's announcers have a broad and deep knowledge of the music they play, giving the listener insightful commentary as well as some well-thought out and engaging programming choices.

It's our weakness because, well, most of our announcers have day jobs. They're not involved in radio professionally, and many aren't particularly interested in what other stations are doing. And that can lead to bad radio.

During a fund drive, that can be fatal. When WTJU was primarily a radio club for University of Virginia students, it ran non-stop classical music the first week in December when most students were studying for mid-terms. Eventually the Classical Marathon became a tradition, and in time the other genres at WTJU demanded their own marathons. And when the station started raising money on-air, the marathons seemed the time to do it.

Eventually the jazz and classical marathons were combined into a fall marathon/fund drive, and the rock and folk marathons united into one in the spring.

Three things keep these weeks of special programming from being effective fund raisers. Can you guess what they are?

1) Each genre of music only appeals to a portion of the audience. So when the station goes completely classical, three quarters of its audience goes away. And the same thing happens when it goes all jazz, or all rock, or all folk. So we're trying to fund raise to only a fraction of our total audience.

2) The focus is still on the special programming. Many of our announcers are so excited about creating a special marathon show, that they spend most of their on-air breaks talking about the theme of the show, or the importance of the recording just played, or the one coming up. The fund raising message gets crammed in as an afterthought (or sometimes not at all). Some of our listeners have been completely unaware that we were doing a fund drive at all (based on conversations with some listeners after the fact).

3) Our listeners aren't hearing from the announcers they trust. I'll be doing a show on Saturday evening. I'll be talking to people who are used to hearing a different announcer and a different genre (if they don't tune out right away). How effective will my message be to them?

Now some people will give, and that's fine. But chances are we won't see a lot of first-time pledgers, and I know that we won't reach everyone who would be interested in supporting the station.

Even with all that, though, I hope you'll join me tomorrow (either online or through the radio) for the start of the 2008 WTJU Classical and Jazz Marathon (and fund drive). I passionately believe that WTJU is a rare treasure, and I will do my best to help this station reach its goal.

And make no mistake: the financial need of WTJU is real. Over half of our operating budget has to be raised from either underwriting or listener donations. Which means the support (or lack of it) from our audience will make or break the station.

WTJU continues to serve the community because the community supports WTJU. We probably won't articulate it very well, but the most important question we can ask over the course of this marathon is simply this: Are you a paying member of this community?

- Ralph

Day 128 of the WJMA Web Watch.

Sam(e) FM

So I tried once again to listen to our local mix format station, 105.5 SAM FM Louisa, Virginia (I'd link to their website, but they, like WJMA, are part of the Piedmont Communications radio empire and don't have one). Like similar-styled "eclectic" stations (like Jack/Dave/Tom/etc.), the idea is to keep things fresh by playing a wide variety of music both from yesterday and today.

OK, I did. I gave it a good long listen, too. Here's what I thought of the experience.

The slogan overpromises.
"You'll never know what we'll play next." Perhaps -- but I know what you won't play. SAM plays the hits from several different charts. But they only play the hits. I heard "Brandy" by the Looking Glass, but I know I'll never hear "Jimmy Loves Mary-Anne" by that same group (which also charted), or any other song they recorded.

Radio support of artists is a sham.
All the new media -- satellite radio, Internet radio, and so on -- have to pay artist royalties in addition to publisher royalties for every song they use. Broadcast radio, on the other hand, currently doesn't have to pay artist royalties. Why? Because they made the case back when the rates were developed, that radio play promotes the artist, and that valuable exposure more than made up for any royalty payment.

True enough in the 60's, but not on SAM FM. Not one song or artist was ever identified. If I did hear a song I was interested in, I'd have to remember the lyrics, and hope that the chorus bore some relation to the title of the song, which would help me when I went online to find out the artist and what album it might be on. That's already three steps too many. I wouldn't bother.

Now RDS (Radio Data System) has been in place for years, which allow regular AM and FM stations to send text info. Most stations never go beyond using it to show their call letters. So SAM FM forgoes an opportunity to use technology already installed to identify the songs they play. No wonder artists are questioning that royalty waiver.

I get better programming on my iPod
And I'm not talking about just the choice of music, either (although being able to skip past a song I'm not in the mood for is a definite plus). The music flow on SAM was interrupted by commercials and canned station ID/bumpers.

Anything perceived as an interruption to the programming is annoying. There weren't many commercials, but between every single song there was a snarky little station ID that said absolutely nothing (not even dial position, save the top of the hour).

In the end, it wasn't the song selections that made me bail -- it was those vacuous station IDs, delivered once every four or five minutes that finally did me in. At least my iPod just shuts up and plays the music.

So I'll give up a chance to hear Billy Idol's "White Wedding," Elton John's "Crocodile Rock," and Natashia Bedingfield's "Unwritten" for the umpteenth time and get that new Los Campesinos EP that I just bought transferred over to my iPod. I may not know what SAM FM will play next, but I know it won't be "You! Me! Dancing!"

- Ralph


Day 117 of the WJMA Web Watch.

WJMA -- Past and Future

There's an interesting correlation between the "golden age" of Radio Orange (WJMA-FM), and the current direction radio needs to move in.

Here's the past:

In the late 1970's, WJMA had a virtual lock on local news. They had two reporters, one who worked primarily in the mornings, the other mainly at night, with an overlap during the day. Between them, they could cover any local government or other important community activity that happened during the week.

They also had five stringers, who phoned in reports from the five surrounding counties. Each stringer gave a weekly report. Each report ran on a certain weekday, so listeners knew, for example, that the Culpeper Report ran on Mondays, the Greene Country Report ran on Tuesdays, and so on.

Arch Harrison, the station owner, offered his own op-ed segment, "Postscript to the News," which ranged far and wide over a variety of topics, of local and national interest. There was a sports director who interviewed the high school coaches of the five counties -- each coach's report airing on a certain day of the week. Sports fans knew that Monday was Orange's Coach K., Tuesday was Madison's coach Eddie Dean and so on.

There was also a public affairs program, "Monday at One," where guests of interest to the community were interviewed -- local politicians, charity heads, visiting dignitaries, event organizers, and others.

Was all that news necessary? You bet. Folks within the listening area of Radio Orange knew that if they passed an accident during the day, they could tune into the next news cast and find out what happened.

Was it worth it for the station? Yes, in many ways. Every single segment -- the county reports, the coaches' corners, the newscast, Monday at One -- all of it was sponsored and generated money for the station. And it built and sustained audiences.

Folks interested in local sports listened to Radio Orange. People wanting to keep up with their community listened to Radio Orange. People wanting to get news before it showed up in the weekly paper listened to Radio Orange.

Here's the future:

All of that valuable content that the old Radio Orange created on a daily basis would be solid gold on a station website.

First off, all of those special segments could live as downloadable audio files on the website -- and they could all be sponsored. They could also be repurposed as podcasts. I would love to subscribe to a "Postscript to the News" daily podcast. And those, too, could be sponsored.

Imagine the "Coaches Corner" as a video podcast (and as a video posted to the website).

Now the old Radio Orange main newscasts went on for a while -- no surprise given all they had to broadcast. A shorter form of the interviews and stories could run over the air, with the tagline for each story being the same: "to hear more, go to our website, WJMA.com/news."

The "Monday at One" segments could also be made  available as downloadable audio -- and if the studio setup was relatively static, a camera or two could be permanently positioned to record the interviews. Not only would video make for much more compelling content (read: more downloads, more traffic, more ad revenue), but there might an opportunity to sell the footage to other news outlets, such as the regional TV stations.

I like to think that if the creative, innovative staff that served the station so well during its golden age was currently producing the same quality content, all of this would have already happened.

So what's happening on the website of the current owners of WJMA? Well, we've been staring at a placeholder with no links for 100 days now.

Sometimes the good old days really are.

- Ralph

Day 100 of the WJMA Web Watch.

Orange PACs whacked

The political scandal in Orange County, Virginia has finally been resolved. While this might be old news for some county residents, here's the wrap up for our readers around the world (and we got 'em -- just check our StatCounter map).

As you may recall, in the hotly contested Board of Supervisors race, two websites popped up. The URLS, teelgoodwinforsupervisor.com, and thomasgravesforsupervisor.com lead one to think these sites were supporting those candidates -- the opposite was true. Although both sites have been expunged from the Internet (you can't even find them at Archive.org), I did manage to save cached versions from Google of both the Teel Goodwin and Thomas Graves site (text only, I'm afraid).

The sites were amateurishly done, and it's not clear how much they affected the election. Nevertheless, when the dust settled, and the state police completed their investigation, the origin of both sites was traced back to two political action groups run by Supervisor-elect Zak Burkett and his wife, Marcia Landau.

Awk-ward.

In May Burkett tried to spin things. He called the charges "bogus and even a little silly," and demanded the Commonwealth's Attorney bring the Board (which he's on) the results of the investigation before going public (which, as the CA politely pointed out, was illegal). Could he feel the hounds closing in?

The investigation probably wasn't very challenging. I'm sure the offending parties just plunked down a credit card to buy the URLs. The amateurish nature of the sites suggests they figured since the content was anonymous, that there would be no way to trace them back to the source.

So the two PACs have been fined for their misdeeds and their ham-handed attempts at misdirection.

Personally, I don't think the $8,800 fine was enough. I think there should have been an additional $1,000 fine for painfully poor website design, and a mandatory $500 fine for attempting to operate on the Internet while under the influence of ignorance.

- Ralph

Day 59 of the WJMA Web Watch.

WTJU -- wave of the future, or waving from the sidelines?

Jerry Del Colliano recently had a couple of interesting posts in his "Inside Music Media" blog. Now, Mr. Del Colliano's professional broadcasting credentials are impeccable, both as an on-air professional and as a major force in the industry. So let's assume his opinions have some weight. And what does he think radio needs to succeed with current and future audiences?

In one post he lists as a top priority:

Djs who play their own music -- not corporate or station playlists (I know, I know -- it won't work. It never does. Tight playlists and repetition win out in the end. Bla Bla Bla). No, this Gen Y audience means it.

In a post about Bob Dylan's "Theme Time Radio" program, he goes into a little more detail about what contemporary audiences are hungry for:

1. Someone knowledgeable about the music. In local markets that obviously can't afford a Bob Dylan, who is the guy or gal who is the most knowledgeable and put them on the air?

2. They want the dj expert to play their own records.

3. A sense of adventure. When was the last time a listener got a sense of adventure when listening to the radio? Duh! They didn't.

4. Unpredictability. It doesn't take a PD to know what the second half hour of a radio station is going to sound like -- the first half hour!

[This is just an excerpt. I highly recommend reading the whole post.]

Now here's the thing. This is exactly what I, and all the other volunteer announcers, do at WTJU every day. As the programmer/host, I love it. And from the comments I've received both over the phone and in person, the listeners do, too. I've done commercial radio the corporate way, and compared to that experience, this is much more rewarding for listener and announcer alike!

So here's the question. If Del Colliano is right, and this is what people want, why isn't WTJU the top station in the Charlottesville, Virginia radio market?

Well, there's several reasons. WTJU does block programming, which tends to lower audience size (and we don't do it very well, either). And there's the whole issue of marketing and promotion -- which I'll discuss in detail in a future post.

Suffice it to say, Jerry Del Colliano's model station is alive and well and broadcasting in Central Virginia. And it's managed to keep itself the best-kept secret in the area.

We've built it at WTJU, but we don't understand that people need to know about it before they'll come.

- Ralph

Day 24 of the WJMA Web Watch.

New Music for the Fourth

I'll be on WTJU-FM this coming Friday morning, the Fourth of July, from 6:00-9:00 am. If you tune into 91.1 fm (either by radio or online), you probably won't be hearing the "Stars and Stripes Forever." And you sure as heck won't be hearing the "1812 Overture! I've discussed why that's not appropriate for the Fourth before on this blog.

So what will I be playing?

Lots. There are almost 200 years of American classical music written by Americans for Americans that just doesn't get heard very often on most radio stations (that play classical, that is).

Why not? I'm not sure. It's not the quality of music -- some of it's on par with what was going on in Europe at the time. It's not the status of the composers -- many of them are safely dead and buried, just like Bach, Brahms, and Beethoven. I just think it's difficult for stations -- and listeners -- to stray far from the classical top 40.

Sure, Samuel Barber's "Adagio" gets played regularly, as does some of Aaron Copland's ballet scores and of course George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue." But that's only a tiny part of the creative legacy our forefathers (and contemporaries) have left us.

I'll be playing some songs from the American Revolution, as well as some music from 19th and 20th Century composers. Perhaps Howard Hanson's "Merry Mount" suite, from his opera of colonial Maryland. Count on some Charles Ives as well.

But what else?

I have some ideas, but I'll entertain motions from the floor. If you have a favorite American classical composition you think I should play, leave a comment.

There're just a few guidelines.

First, it has to be classical in genre. No crossover stuff, such as an orchestral version of Lee Greenwood, or Mitch Miller singing patriotic songs!

Secondly, it has to be composed by an American.

Third, it has to be something a little outside the ordinary. So Copland's "A Lincoln Portrait" is out, as is any march by Sousa.

So what should I play? You tell me.

This is democracy in action. Let the people speak!

- Ralph

Day 18 of the WJMA Web Watch.

Radio in Virginia -- just how old is old media, anyway?

Got an interesting email from a friend. And if your business has a website, this message may be of interest. My friend writes:

I heard part of a story this morning saying Phil Goodwin [news director of WJMA FM] had won two (I think) awards from the Virginia Association of Broadcasters. The WJMA FM web site is still "under construction," so I didn't find any info there. Then I checked the VAB web site to get the details and found...
-- their conference is coming up June 26-28, 2008
-- a link for making hotel reservations
-- a link for conference reservations
-- a link for conference sponsorships
-- a link for the 2007 VAB Station Awards Guide and Entry Form
-- a link for a list of awards and nomination criteria

We've talked at length about how an "under construction" placeholder damages a business' reputation. I'd like to know more about WJMA's awards, but their site's still down -- as it has been for over two weeks now. Whatever positive impression I had of the station evaporated once I hit that "under construction" page.

But keeping a site up isn't enough.

You can tell if a brick and mortar business is thriving by how often their stock is refurbished, and with what frequency new products are added to the mix. For an online store -- or any other business, regular updates serve the same purpose.

Now I'm in the midst of a website redesign for DCD Records. If you go to the site, however, you'll still find everything fully operational. It's currently residing on a separate server, but once we have the new site ready , we'll move it over in the middle of the night when traffic is minimal. The next day, visitors will see the new site, and business will continue uninterrupted. (Here's a sneak peek -- comments welcome!)

Although I'm not putting a lot of effort into the old site, I'm still keeping it updated. The new release images on the home page change as we add a new product and the podcast listings get updated when we do a new post. Minimal maintenance, but still an indication that someone's home.

Which brings us to the Virginia Association of Broadcasters site. This is the professional trade association -- a media professional trade association. When I see out of date information on the site's homepage, I don't think media professional -- I think media amateur.

Most of the page are devoted to a conference that's already over. And when I go to the news page, I see the newest story is from June 2007! Their station locator page is riddled with errors, that neither the VAB nor the stations seem interested in correcting. WMJA, for example, doesn't show up either in a search of the Culpeper market, or the Orange market. I guess they're too busy constructing their own fantabulous website to worry about their listings.

There is no excuse for anyone professionally involved with media to make this kind of fundamental mistake. It simply shows that the VAB either doesn't care or doesn't understand the impression their website makes.

Radio is already considered old media. To show either an ignorance or disdain for the Internet (which is where media audiences are moving to in increasing numbers) make them not just old, but ancient.

- Ralph

Day 17 of the WJMA Web Watch.

Podcast Payday

Sean Tubb's comments on my recent post continues to inspire. He wrote:

My conclusion has been it's not cost-effective as a for-profit model at this time because the potential audience at this time is so low.

And he's right, for the most part. Many podcast as an avocation, and keep their day job to pay the bills. A few, however, have made the transition. And in every case, it's been about the audience size. (If you're into podcasting, none of this will be news -- if not, though, pay attention).

Leo Laporte, "This Week in Tech"
Leo Laporte is arguably the biggest name in podcasting. He's a professional TV and radio broadcaster, with the pipes and delivery to match. In addition to his syndicated radio program, he's managed to parlay his podcasts into a virtual media empire. "This Week in Tech" is the flagship program, attracting half a millions listeners, but several other TWIT.TV programs have sizable followings as well.

As circulation has climbed, Laporte's been able to sell advertising across his network and increase the quality of his productions. He's also taken advantage of his (rather specialized) celebrity status, and is often the go-to guy for opinions about tech on other programs (such as "Regis and Kelly").

Mignon Fogarty, "Grammar Girl"
The meteoric rise of the "Grammar Girl" podcast made mainstream media news. Within a few months, this short podcast about grammar rules had racked up over a million downloads. Like Leo Laporte, Fogarty used the opportunity to create a network of similar programs. Now the Quick and Dirty Tips Network offers podcasts with tips about manners, sales techniques, parenting and more. Fogarty's long since quit her day job as a technical writer and editor.

She's published a Grammar Girl book that's doing very well, thanks to support from the podcast, and the Quick and Dirty Tips network is now generating a nice amount of ad revenue as well.

Brian Ibbott, "Coverville"
Ibbot's highly specialized podcast dealt with only one form of music: covers. Nevertheless, he's built an enthusiastic international audience for the podcast, with a circulation large enough to allow him to quit his day job. But Ibbott does more than just "Coverville." Like Fogarty and Laporte, he's the center of a small network of programs, In addition to his lead program, Ibbott also produces and hosts two daily music podcasts for the Denver Post, and a showcase podcast for Not Lame Records.

So what do all these highly successful podcasters have in common? As I see it, four basic things:

1. Compelling content. Leo Laporte makes tech understandable and interesting -- and his panel usually has great chemistry which makes for lively and informative discussions. Mignon Fogarty provided information in an entertaining and understandable fashion that people were hungry for. Brian Ibbott presents a fascinating mix of music and themed programs that entertain music geeks and newcomers alike.
2. Consistency. All three podcast networks maintain a dependable production schedule. TWIT always comes out on Monday. "Coverville" gets posted three times a week. "Grammar Girl" comes out once a week. Each of the three programs maintain a consistent show length, and all have a set structure that they follow.
3. Lots of sweat equity. I talked about this in a recent post about music. All three podcasters put in long hours to ensure the quality of their work remains high. They also are on top of the latest trends in new media, and quickly exploit them to further promote their networks.
4. They're all doing what they love. And that's something you can hear in their voices.

So even if Sean Tubbs and I haven't hit the big time yet, I suspect we've at least got #4 locked up.

- Ralph

So who else is working full time as an independent podcaster? Let me know!

Seeding with Podcasts

My post yesterday about how the spirit of radio personalities have migrated to podcasts prompted an interesting (albeit slightly off-topic) response from Sean Tubbs of the Charlottesville Podcasting Network (CPN).

I created [CPN] three years ago as a place to give my public radio pieces their own archive, but also to expand into other kinds of programming.... My conclusion has been it's not cost-effective as a for-profit model at this time because the potential audience at this time is so low.

But check back in 5 years or so.

My day job at Charlottesville Tomorrow, however, allows me to make a living while using blogs, podcasts, and all of these new communications tools to advance our mission

Right on, my brother.

That's exactly what I use my podcast for, too. The "DCD Classical 'Cast" is a promotional podcast for our label, DCD Records. Since we're selling sound recordings, it makes sense to present the merchandise in an audio format. (Why not just send promo copies to radio stations? We'll discuss the glacial speed of song rotation in the classical music format another time.)

We can see a correlation between the titles that sell well and the ones we feature on the podcast, but it's not a one-to-one match. Unlike a radio broadcast, a podcast is forever. There's a bump when a new episode first gets released, but there's no way to predict which episodes are going to downloaded at any particular time, and therefore when you can expect the sales they generate.

Someone just discovering the "DCD Classical 'Cast" may subscribe, and automatically download all the past episodes to get caught up. Others might be looking for a specific performer, composer or label, and just download just the one episode they're looking for.

Our very first episode, for example, was most recently downloaded June 1, 2008 -- yet it was released February 7, 2006. If we only looked at the February/March 2006 sales of the titles featured in that episode, we might conclude that our podcast was a failure. But over the course of the past two years, those releases have enjoyed an increase in sales over similar recordings not featured in our podcasts. So we have a different conclusion.

Just like with the CPN, it's all a matter of scale. A certain percentage of the subscribers to the "DCD Classical 'Cast" purchase the music we showcase. Potentially, we could reach the stage where our subscriber base (and therefore our customer base) grows large enough to account for the bulk of our sales.

It hasn't happened yet, and quite frankly I'm not counting on it to ever do so. Classical music represents about seven percent of CD/download sales, and that market share has been fairly consistent for some time now. However -- our podcast is reaching classical listeners worldwide. So even if our circulation remains modest, people who otherwise would have never have heard of the artists and labels we carry can now enjoying them.

And unlike that fleeting moment when a song's broadcast on the radio, with our podcast our subscribers can enjoy the music when they want, where they want, and as many times as they want. And that's just fine with me.

Our circulation grew by about 50% over the first year, and jumped 70% in the second. As Sean suggests, let's check back in five years and see where we are. We might not be on Easy Street, but I suspect we'll like our new location.

- Ralph

Some People *Really* Don't Get It

This post may seem like a rant about something very small and local, but it's really not. At the heart of it is a concept that's relevant to any business looking to increase traffic to its website -- especially a media company.

According to a recent We Media/Zogby Interactive poll (as reported by Reuters)

Nearly 70 percent of Americans believe traditional journalism is out of touch, and nearly half are turning to the Internet to get their news.... While most people think journalism is important to the quality of life, 64 percent are dissatisfied with the quality of journalism in their communities.

Radio stations and newspapers across the country are looking at shrinking audiences and circulation numbers as more people move to the Internet for information and entertainment.

As content creators, these businesses have the potential to successfully transition to this new market. But only if they understand why it's important to do so, and how the demands of the Internet differ from their offline business models.

Let's make it country simple: people go online to get instant information. And if potential customers don't see it on your site, they'll search on until they do -- and it's not likely they'll be back.

Real world example (rant time).

Tuesday we had Town Council elections in Orange, Virginia. Wednesday I wanted to find out the results. I started with the two local sources of information -- the Orange Review, and WJMA FM.

The Orange Review is a weekly paper, but on the bottom of their website's front page is a box titled "from the Continuous News Desk." So how current was the Orange Review's news? Over 24 hours after the election, the top story was:

Six scramble for two seats - Published 6 days, 11 hours, 40 minutes ago

News flash: a weekly post is not equal to continuous news.

So I went to the WJMA website and clicked on headline news. Their news was even less helpful:

Incumbents won in Culpeper and lost in Orange in yesterday's town council elections in Culpeper & Orange

WTF?!? We've had this discussion about WJMA's "news" before, and things haven't changed. WHO WON? WHAT ARE THEIR NAMES? They won't tell us who won, but they repeat the names of the counties twice in the same headline!

So I went to the Daily Progress, which is the regional daily paper based in Charlottesville (about 40 miles away). Their headline?

Orange voters pick Gibson, Higginbotham

Thank you. That's all I wanted to know (although the rest of the story was well worth reading and had lots of additional helpful information).

So count me into that 65%.

And there's an economic impact to this story as well. In the future, I'll go to the Daily Progress website for local information. Which means traffic for their site will go up, and traffic for the Orange Review and WJMA sites will go down. And since traffic impacts online ad revenue, the Progress' site just generated a little more money for their company. Sure, I'm just one person, but how many others in Orange County have learned the same lesson?

- Ralph

Uncircling the Wagons

In a response to my post about citizen fact-checkers, Samuel Brainsample of the "Lots O' Thoughts" blog made very good point.

Cass Sunstein... wrote a book recently about how there is a tendency to surround yourself with like-minds online, and potentially use sorting tools (like StumbleUpon) to filter out news you might not like to hear.

And he's quite right. It's certainly not a new phenomenon. When people in major metropolitan areas had two or more newspapers available to them, the paper one subscribed to often served as an indication of their political preference. Even as newspapers consolidated, that remained true.

I grew up in the Washington area, and it made a difference if one read the Washington Post (Democrat) or the Evening Star (Republican). And after the Star's demise, the Washington Times took over the role as the conservative paper.

And of course the same holds true for TV news. Conservative friends of mine are quite content to watch Fox News and only Fox News because they like the world view it presents. The same is true of radio. Public radio is seen as a liberal news outlet, and Rush Limbaugh et al provide news and opinions for conservatives.

So it's always been easy to build an informational echo chamber that continually reflects back the same views on the same stories -- the Internet just makes the process more efficient. I've talked before about what I call the digital subdivision, and how one be online a good amount of time and only be minimally aware of what's going on.

So how do I use the Internet to keep my world view as wide as possible? Here's what I do:

1. Rely on reputable news sources that provide a good deal of the basic information many others redistribute.
2. Never ever listen to talking heads of any persuasion. I prefer the "Oh yeah? Says who?" approach. That is, examining the source materials and forming my own opinion.
3. Maintain an element of randomness, so that I'm exposed to information I wouldn't otherwise see.

I accomplish this through a mix of websites, podcasts, and newspapers. Here's the ones that make up part of my morning routine:

The Internet

• BBC International Edition -- A good overview of what's happening in the world. Anna Nichole Smith's death never rated a top headline here.
• Physics.org -- This keeps me up with the latest science news; accurate and not watered down for the general public.
• OpenCongress.org -- I don't need my senators and representatives telling me what kind of job they're doing. I can see for myself what bills they're sponsoring, when they're sitting on their hands, and when they're present to vote (and how they vote).
• ArtsJournal.com -- It keeps me current with what's happening in the arts, both from the creative side, and the business/political side.
• BoingBoing.net -- A nice compendium of random strangeness (see point 3 above).
• Digg.com -- This is another of my randomizer sites. Most of the stories are tech-oriented, but sometimes things pop up I'd never see otherwise.

Podcasts

• Deutsche Welle's "Inside Europe" - A weekly "Morning Edition"-style program that covers the important stories in Europe that we often miss over here (except when the consequences come to bite us in the a**).
• This Week in Tech (TWIT) - A weekly program of all things tech. Most of the trends discussed turn up in the mainstream media months after the fact.
• This Week in Media - A little more techy than TWIT, tis weekly program often goes into more detail about media-related issues, production, and developments.

Newspapers

• The Washington Post -- We get the Sunday edition of this liberal newspaper, primarily for the arts and entertainment features (and the best, albeit shrinking, selection of Sunday comics offline).
• The Richmond Times-Dispatch -- We get this conservative newspaper the other six days of the week, primarily for state news (remember, I live in Virginia). Although it does have two full pages of comics.
• The Orange Review -- I live in Orange County, Virginia. This weekly paper is a good way to keep up with what's going on. And sometimes its about the only way.

Putting it down in a list, it seems like a lot, but its not, really. It take me about twenty minutes to read the weekday paper, and another 20 minutes to check the news sites. The podcasts, of course, I listen to throughout the week (primarily in the car).

I like to think I'm getting a broad range of basic information, but I'm sure I have some blind spots. What sites do you recommend?

- Ralph

WTJU and the Dream Pledges

As promised in my last post, here's the playlist for "Dream Babes," which aired this morning as part of WTJU's Spring Fund Drive. I'm going to try some live updating with this, so here's what I've aired as of post time!

6:00AM - 7:00AM
The Paper Dolls - Ain't Nuthin' But A House Party
Petula Clark - Sign of the Times
PP Arnold - If You Think I'm Groovy
Polly Perkins - Young Lover
Shirley Bassey - Goldfinger
Lulu- The Boat That I Row
Sandi Shaw - Girl Don't Come
Life & Soul - Bye Bye Baby
Jackie Lee - The Town That I Live In
Twiggy - Over and Over
Judi Johnson - A Way Out
The Orchids - Gonna Make You Mine
The Stockingtops - You're Never Gonna Get My Lovin'
Judi Smith - Leaves Come Tumbling Down
The Paper Dolls - Any Old Time
Jan Panter - Scratch My Back

7:00AM - 8:00AM
Julie Grant - Don't Ever Let Me Down
Barbara Ruskin - Pawnbroker, Pawnbroker
Rosetta Hightower - Pretty Red Balloons
Petula Clark - I Know a Place
The Breakways - My Sacred Love
Dani Sheridan - Guess I'm Dumb
Angelina - Wishing My Life Away
Clodough Rodgers - Come Back and Shake Me
Britt - You Really Have Started Something
Jani Jones - The Time Has Come To Choose
Sylvan - We Don't Belong
Ninette - Push A Little Button

8:00AM - 9:00AM
Jude - Morning Morgantown
Goldie and the Gingerbreads - Can't You Hear My Heartbeat?
Samantha Jones - Do I Still Figure In Your Life?
Lindsey - Lindsey's Song
Twinkle - Mickey
Val McKenna - (Your Mama Said To) Roll On
Samantha Jones - No One Wants My Love Today
Birds of a Feather - Blacksmith Blues
Lulu - Morning Dew
The Stockingtops - You Don't Know What Love Is All About
Bella & Me - Whatever Happened to the 7 Day Week?
The Paper Dolls - My Life Is In Your Hands
Vashti Bunyan - Winter Is Blue
Mally Paige - Life And Soul Of The Party
Cindy Williams - They Talk About Us
Petula Clark - Colour My World


Have you made your pledge yet? I've raised $395.00 so far (once the online pledges are added in, I'll make this a final total).

- And in an unexpected turn of events, two listeners called in to say this music sounded like Shonin Knife! All the tracks I played were recorded and produced in London circa 1963-1967, which was about two decades before Shonin Knife formed. So I'm thinking it's probably more correct to say that Shonin Knife and other Japanese groups sound like 1960's Brit pop -- instead of the other way around.

- Ralph