The NY Times reports NPR will cancel two daily programs and slice 64 people from its workforce, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/11/business/media/11npr.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=npr&st =cse, due mainly to recessionary pressures of reduced corporate sponsorship.

It will be interesting to see what Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) does to fill the hole created by the exit of the excellent news program "Day to Day" that airs at 1 pm. Day to Day, which originates from NPR West in Los Angeles, is slated to go off in March 2009.

Well there's always Tradio.

Wow! Nobody is safe from the falling hatchets!!

Looks like now we're about to watch the same nightmare hit the world of local TV. Check this from the Washington Post,

"The march of technology and the shrinking economy are beginning to take a toll on the traditional means of television news-gathering: the TV news crew.

Under a new agreement reached this week with its labor unions, WUSA, Channel 9, will become the first station in Washington to replace its crews with one-person "multimedia journalists" who will shoot and edit news stories single-handedly.

The change will blur the distinctions between the station's reporters and its camera and production people. Reporters will soon be shooting and editing their own stories, and camera people will be doing the work of reporters, occasionally appearing on the air or on in video clips on Channel 9's Web site."

Uh, sound familiar?

> Uh, sound familiar?

Certainly. Technological developments are meant to help make the overall process of whatever is being done quicker and cheaper. Having people on the payroll is expensive.

Examples:
Improvements in audio processing technology eliminated the need for technicians to constantly watch and adjust volume levels during radio broadcasts.

Improvements in recording technology eliminated the need for large crews of musicians and sound effects technicians in the production of radio broadcasts.

Multi-track audio recording made it possible for small groups of singers and musicians to produce very elaborate recordings.

E-mail has eliminated the need for having employees whose job it is to sort and deliver memos.

Word processing has eliminated the jobs of many secretaries and typists.

Robots have made welders and painters unnecessary on auto assembly lines.

Robots have made it unnecessary to have people whose job it is to stuff components onto circuit boards before they are soldered.

Printed circuit boards have eliminated the jobs of electronics assembly workers who once hand-soldered components and wires.

TV news has gotten so tabloid anyway that I'm not sure I care much at this point about local news cutbacks. I know there are some good reporters, producers, etc. still working in TV news, but I fear their work has already been so diluted and tainted by the direction of the media that it's gotten hard to distinguish them any longer. It may be a dying field.

Andrew

I can see where it might benefit the viewer if one crew becomes four independently mobile photog-reporters, or even two. This could also give TV coverage the mobility of a print stringer, nearly as inconspicuous as a radio stringer with a handheld recorder. (TV is already being scooped by cellphone vids posted to YouTube.)

I can recall once seeing a KOAC-TV reporter start a 16mm camera on a tripod and then stand in front of it to make his report back in the mid-60s. (I didn't see the camera being set up, so it's possible a cameraman did it earlier.) So it's not unprecedented, and I can imagine this was done elsewhere. (I also dimly recall Roseburg's KPIC would sometimes display Polaroid photos while a story was read back in 1972.)

Geezer anecdote: I remember how KBOO put a phone line to city hall to broadcast the council meetings. They didn't have to send someone as it was connected all the time; it was like having the council chambers on tap at the studio. (It was wired directly to a pot on the little mixer they used for a board, on which I think the four pots were: turntable, Ampex 601, KRAB off-air receiver/became city hall, mike).

ISTR KBOO's first city council broadcast was the decision on Outside-In's license. A 5"-reel Sony was carried over and rushed back to the 3rd and Salmon studio for immediate playback on air; the phone line went in a few weeks later.

(Surprisingly, KBOO doesn't mention the city council broadcasts in their history, nor does it appear in the Wikipedia entry. But I believe those broadcasts brought KBOO to the notice of the general public and increased their subscriber base considerably. Nobody's ever commented on my speculation that the council broadcasts, in effect, paid for their upgrade from 10 watts to a couple kilowatts.)

Sounds familiar... flashbacks of Max Headroom.

Edison Carter reporting live and direct from Network 23 about the Blipvert problem...

Huh?

"Edison, your ratings have started to slip in the last few minutes...get them back up or else."

Mr. Cheviot

Irony is a very dark force in the universe. Curious about what happened to the series, "American Moxie: How We Get By" from our immensely talented local NPR senior correspondent, Ketzel Levine?

It made the pages of today's New York Times.

After over three decades of thoughtful reporting, the listeners of National Public Radio will sorely miss her insight. In my opinion, OPB would be more than foolish to leave her on the beach.

The problem again becomes QUALITY. Do you opt for a great editor/tech specialist but mediocre reporter, or attractive camera friendly reporter with lousy editing skills? either way, the end product suffers.

the tech advancements are only as good as the people that can implement them. Sure you save expenses by doubling up duties, but are you better off? Still see an awful lot of Jack of All Trades guys on the outside. You would think the people who could do a bit of everything would be the ones in demand.

And, XM Sirius is just as Illin'! Has not made a penny yet! Programming jobs are on the line.

Playing music doesn't seem to pay no 'mo.

Don’t be so surprised… NPR is like any other media group. They have budgets and when those budgets are squeezed, people are let go. As for TV, there have been ‘one-man bands’ for many years. People seem surprised when they hear about a big station using them, but if given a choice most will do the work as opposed to being unemployed. Most of the one-man band guys are former camera people. They know how to tell a story through pictures, then shoot and edit it. Very few reporters have the technical skills to shoot and edit their own stuff. Most photographers (videographers) are pretty versatile. Example, Jim Culp, who flies in channel 8’s helicopter, is a great news photographer. There have been single guy crews in this market before and there will be again.

"Don’t be so surprised… NPR is like any other media group."

Golly, thanks for the insight. Did you get the fact that she was reporting about lay-offs when she was let go?

I suppose that a bit of sympathy, or a kind remark or two about her distinguished 31 year career with National Public Radio is out of the question.

Perhaps, my point of view is a little different. I was once a young board op that enjoyed being paid to listen to her and Scott Simon on Weekend Edition. Forgive my obvious nostalgia and fondness for her work.

I'll let you all return to your fine discussion of making "Max Headroom" a reality in a thread about cutbacks at NPR.

I'm surprised Wayne isn't here stumping for OPB to go all oldies.