NPR Set To Cancel Web-Based "Bryant Park Project"

New York Times:

National Public Radio officials are expected on Monday to tell the staff members of "Bryant Park Project" that their experimental weekday morning program, designed to draw a younger audience to public radio and capture listeners who had moved online, is being canceled.

The last broadcast of this New York-based program, which many listeners tuned into at npr.org rather than over the air, is expected to be on July 25. It's an expensive failure -- the first-year budget was more than $2 million -- and comes at a time when NPR is facing the same financial constraints as other news media thanks to higher costs and a downturn in underwriting.

Like other news organizations, NPR has been grappling with how best to capture the online audience, and "Bryant Park Project," which had its debut on Oct. 1, was one of its boldest attempts. The live two-hour program ranged through news and cultural topics in an informal, conversational manner and differed from more traditional NPR broadcasts, which rely heavily on prepackaged reports.

"Bryant Park Project" includes cheeky features like "Make Me Care," which points up news reports' real-life relevance. It also has a robust Web presence that is updated with blog posts throughout the day and also includes video.

Read the whole story: New York Times

Comments

[edgraham]

I love NPR, but you have to know that only NPR would name a morning program "Bryant Park Project."

Ed Graham

[TimmySlagle]

"comes at a time when NPR is facing the same financial constraints as other news media thanks to higher costs and a downturn in underwriting"

What "financial constraints?" Didn't Rush just sign a 400 million dollar deal?

Oh yeah, but his show is driven by listeners, not subsidies. Nobody really listens to NPR, they just pretend to, so they seem smarter.

It's time to end corporate welfare, and the first on the list should be the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

[luvangelHussein330]

Why wouldn'tthey just air it online on a face book and myspace page as well as pod cast it....Dah go where the youth are!! Don't try to reach youth with an outdated platform. I, however listen regularly

[kulenski]

Luke Burbank and Rachel Martin have left the show and you wonder why it's getting canned. What I'm saying is that when two main people go a show might go too.

Oh and DAMNNNNN, Alison Stewart is hot.

[Bjsco]

NPR junkie here and never heard of it.

Around here NPR is popular with undergrads because so much of their regular content is podcasted.

[GatorGrrrl]

Likely you never heard of it because it only aired on a handful of stations. But it's got a devoted following who get it by podcast, twitter, facebook etc. But NPR has an outmoded system of fundraising, meaning you can't support this great show online. You have to support your local stations -- which isn't carrying it! Come into the new century, NPR.

[Indubio]

Interesting...I listen to NPR on the radio for at least an hour or t wo every day and often longer. I also listen to NPR programs presented on the Sirius raio network. This is the first I've heard of Bryant Park. Ican't imagine what kind of marketing program they must have had in place for me to not have at least heard about the program; it's only been nine months.

[whsmith]

I actually liked this show and listened to it in podcast form. Definitely not typical NPR, but I found it fairly entertaining at times - and a lot more web savvy and aware than other NPR shows. Despite the fact that they see this as a "failed experiment" I think some of the elements of this show are what is going to be needed for NPR to remain relevant in an internet centric media landscape.

[TheSecularist]

Never heard of it. I'm an NPR listener, but never heard of the Bryant Park Project. Maybe NPR should explore the idea of moving back toward the center. they used to be the only source of news that didn't have a conservative bias. But, since Bush & Co. scared the bejesus out of them by threatening to take away some of their funding, they've moved rightward. So much so, that they sometimes give one-sided, right leaning reports. I once heard them discuss an issue regarding Mccain and Obama with only guests from the McCain camp and no one to rebut on Obama's behalf. I'm not saying they're conservative now, but they don't seem to be as unbiased as they once were. It was through NPR that I heard a report that told a little of the Palestinian side of the conflict. I used to count on NPR to give me "the rest of the story". Now, what they give is only marginally better than the corporate media. I still listen to NPR in the hope they'll go back to what they once were before war criminal Bush began destroying these United States.

[HippyLadyLib]

Yes, they have moved to the right and I sometimes just have to turn it off when I hear George W. on my local NPR station. I have thought about cutting off my contributions but for the most part, they are still the only radio station I can listen to and get any worthwhile information. Whether I am in the home or in the car, NPR is usually my listening choice and I hope they return to their 'roots'. My other choice is music.