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Finding and Repackaging "Lost" Writings Regarding The Radio


Going through the collection of my own writings, found this week, on a somewhat forgotten thumb drive or a labeled flash drive. Basically, this drive was found tucked deep into my book and physical media shelf. As a tidbit, I plan on turning that shelf into a study—very much a part of my personal five-year plan. Lastly, on the topic of turning my shelf into a study, and the fact that I used the very phrase “five-year plan,” if reading that triggers you. Absolutely feel entitled to spew any ad hominem attacks on me to your delight. I welcome the digital hate mail as a gift of liberty, demonstrating the personal weakness of such individuals. All potential hate mail will be collected and curated, then used to create various forms of humor and comedy content long-term. This statement applies to all demographics of people, ideologies, and public figures or personas that should be pointed at and laughed at, to be made a mockery of when or if able. What needs to be added, I firmly believe, is that a tremendous value of mine is only punching upwards and absolutely must be funny if doing so.


So, what was uncovered on the drive was a huge file containing a ton of writing and essays done for various university classes I took a while ago. For this blog post, I made a composite. Using four different submitted works of writing regarding the radio. I completely forgot what the name of this university class is or was. The whole class focus for that semester was on the radio’s future landscape for the United States of America. Plus, there is a broader discussion on the role of the radio for news or entertainment. At the time, I wrote these words about the radio and radio frequency for several projects for that semester. Starting with what I had written for a project, I was instructed to record live radio feeds as they were broadcast on-air. The outcome of this project was presented as a segment on an episode of my podcast, Let Us Be Idiots. The “newer” information about or from this class assignment will be coming from what I had to write and turn in for this class. This is word-for-word, copy and paste, starting with the title of my written assignment, “Radio Free Remix.”

 

This audio recording was taken in a car, recorded on my iPhone 11 Pro, on the most recent OS system update. It was taken from various AM radio stations, in this order: WNYC Radio Station, that broadcasts on the frequency of 820 AM and WABC at frequency of 77 AM. Additionally, I recorded a significant amount of static from in between various AM stations, and then looped the audio clips with the static. This static captured and added to the radio clip has elements of a throwback effect to the sixties or seventies, even though it is current radio programming.The subject matter is parody of a science fiction radio broadcast, where a radio broadcaster introduces an interview with a man who claims to have been abducted by aliens and the track then segues into the music from NPR’s gameshow, “Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me.”  The music that closes that show is rearranged to be the closing segment of the piece. This piece shows the diversity that can be found on AM radio that is not conventional in what people imagine AM to be. In fact, people don’t necessarily imagine that public radio is on AM, and that AM radio can be as far-fetched as fringe internet websites and very unsavory Internet personalities that push these types of beliefs. Unlike fringe internet sites, with those personalities, AM radio is subject to regulation by the FCC.


These sound recordings represent local New York City radio, and the community by presenting the radio signals, music, theme songs, bumper music, signals, and voices that are captured daily randomly by New Yorkers. If I could add sound effects between audio clips that don’t match well, using the chop and screw method to make smooth sound breaks with turn table scratch sounds. In terms of left or right in the sound mix, I am not unclear what that means. I also could add a clip of a local sports team, The New York Yankees or Brooklyn Nets from a radio show covering the game or reporting on a game. My edited audio sample differs from the samples we listened to in this week’s assignment by having more of a parody intention, and slightly more of a story narrative. It is not as random as some of the recordings and does not include poetry or artistry. My piece is more of a humor piece or a parody.


The most fitting and proper way to conclude this blog post on the issue and topic of the radio.

Using the same word-for-word, copy-and-paste technique once again, from the longest writing piece submitted for this class. Metaphorically, to close shop, before everything is really completed. Just think of it as setting up the tone or mood, whichever of the two is more accurate or correct. Also, genuinely do not care, so correcting me is just screaming into the void and pissing into the wind. To retain focus, the last of my own writings is being used as a composite part of this blog post. First, providing the essay’s title “The Future of Radio: An Essay.”


 The past two decades has brought a changing media landscape that has accelerated the growth of digital productions, social media and streaming services, which have impacted traditional radio audience and listenership.  The explosion of the podcast industry has in turn, impacted how people produce media in order to attract listenership and build brands. With this industry change, radio listenership in general has fallen and so has traditional public radio audiences in the United States. In 2020, the Pandemic only accelerated the change in audience behavior because people stopped commuting to work.  Along with the pandemic, the rise of podcasting most definitely impacted the way people engage with investigative media and other alternative ways to entertain and inform themselves. It’s important to look at trends in podcasting to have a sense of traditional radio and National Public Radio to discuss how these three mediums interact.


Will be Wild is an investigative podcast series produced by Pineapple Street Studios and hosted by The Wondery Network, a new commercial podcast network. The piece is an 8-part series hosted by Andrea Bernstein and Ilayna Maritz who investigate the aftermath of January 6th, 2021. The podcast follows two separate paths with in-depth interviews with two grass roots figures who attended January 6th and were subsequently arrested. The other path follows in-depth interviews with local level security analysts and former FBI agents who shed light on the history of domestic extremists. They discuss how there are those who have been radicalized over the past twenty years, and the unresponsiveness of the federal government to the threat of the white nationalist and all ultra-right domestic terrorist threat. They portray citizens caught up in the drama of January 6th, from different vantage points. They show everyday pro-Trump people and their vast different perception of it, contrasting their views with professional security agents who are having very different reactions than the pro-Trump citizens. This type of investigative story takes time, money and a dedicated staff to follow through on producing a complicate news story.


As Will be Wild is an example, the changing media landscape for these commercial podcast networks is somewhat modeled after public radio formats from NPR and from other magazine news programs such as 60 Minutes and Lifetime. The experimental aspect of these podcasts shapes themselves on how NPR has produced non-profit podcast radio for the past decades. It models itself with reporters’ in-depth investigation of a story and narrating it to produce an emotional experience and connection for the listener. They seek to tell a non-linear story structure with music, sound and interviews in location to create a sense of place and differing vantage points of personal experience for their listeners. 


The changing media environment includes an audience that is falling away from radio and is lower each year. According to the New York Times article, by Benjamin Mullin and Jeremy W. Peters, this year, “NPR was down to 42 million listeners, from 60 million in 2020.” (Mullin/Peter, NY Times)  Since the Pandemic, radio audience has plummeted while the listenership of podcasts has exploded over the last ten years. The purpose of this kind of investigative journalistic podcasting is multifaceted. Primarily this style seeks to engage an educated, younger audience that is interested in the story while presenting the human aspect, not just facts, figures or opinions. It presents different points of view of people who have been involved in the story, creating a fan based community for the listener. This building of a community of audience that creates a digital magnet.


According to the article in Slate by Scott Nover, “One hundred and thirty million Americans will have listened to a podcast each month of this year.” That is projected to increase to 150 million by 2027. Additionally, he quotes Edison Research as stating that weekly podcast listeners spend “north of nine hours a week listening to podcasts.”  (Nover, Slate) Consider how this is adding to the already crowded media world of television streaming, cable television, traditional AM/FM radio, NPR Public radio, newsprint and magazines, social media, websites and blogs. There is so much content out there that veered away from the communal consumption to individual choice of consumption at your own time across many different platforms, laptops, phones, etc. This is so contrary to the origins of radio that began over a century ago.  In fact, the origins radio began in the 1910’s with unregulated radio when it was first invented. People were free to use the signals to use telegram signals, and that impacted the safety of the public at times, and this was discovered with the sinking of The Titanic when the rescue effort was slowed by the many messages flooding the airwaves. 


This is an example of when regulation did not keep up with technology. The US Congress passed the Radio Act of 1912 which began the initial steps to regulating the radio waves. These regulations were increased with the Radio Act of 1927 when the Federal Radio Commission was established. (Free Speech Center) This Commission was responsible for establishing that the “Public” owned the radio spectrum, but in order to use it, they needed a license. That also included that licenses “were granted based on the public interest, convenience and necessity.” (Free Speech Center) Additionally, the government prohibited the use of public profanity and obscene language and content. Radio broadcasting overall considered this as within their rights of freedom of speech. The believed that the government had the right to set this guideline and saw it as falling in line with the public good. Soon to follow was the corporations to take over radio, NBC, CBS and ABC who produced shows from news and entertainment. Corporations controlled the media production through these very homogenized and controlled narrative. They viewed radio as essential in serving the public good, even as they were corporatizing the radio waves in America.


The controlled and regulated environment of early radio is essentially the polar opposite as to how the radio/podcast industry of the 21st century is set up. Radio is struggling, podcasts are proliferating, and big tech has been buying up markets and looking to make vast sums of money on commercial podcasts that seek to burst through the noisy markets with entertainers, shocking voices, like Joe Rogen and big names in media. The primary goal is not considering public good. Rather, podcasts are made to attract audiences, build fame for the hosts/journalists/entertainers who star or narrate these series and shows for financial success. This seems to be the biggest departure for the industry, since radio was originally seen as a community endeavor, even as it became a corporate industry as networks developed and controlled radio content.


If we review the growth of NPR from its early days in the 1970’s when it built from the ground up with many member stations around the country, providing different voices on air, with different news story styles, that became a brand. With government funds and annual fundraising on the part of member stations around the country, NPR grew to be a national force in news providing unique coverage that provided newsmagazine stories to the public. “All Things Considered” is the longest running show on NPR.


What is the role of public radio going forward? They must establish their direction and move toward it quickly because they will not be able to survive. How are they going to compete with series such as Will be Wild that have private funding from Wondery, a commercial podcasting network? Or, how will they compete with The New York Times, The New Yorker, and other news organizations that have taken their style and use the digital audio style of podcasting that NPR developed? NPR has always tried to serve local communities. That has been their strength that kept them in the game. They are upping their digital content platform, NPR+ to compete with other podcasting services, but need to determine the right direction to keep relevant to listeners and maintain their level of quality. In order to stay relevant and profitable, radio and podcasting need to reach younger more diverse audiences. Even though efforts have been made in NPR to diversify and reach younger audiences, the data coming back shows it is still a mostly white, older audience. (Mullin/Peter, NY Times) The demographics of audiences are predictors for success. The only mediums that will survive is this overcrowded, complicated media orbit are the ones that can find a younger, diverse audience as listeners who will become repeat listeners and keep listening for more content. The next tech revolution will bring something that includes an audio aspect of news and entertainment because this form of news and entertainment has been through many evolutions, and there are surely more to come.



 Work Cited Page



  1. Mullin, Benjamin. Jeremy W. Peters. “Inside the Crisis at NPR.” The New York Times, April 24, 2024. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/24/business/media/npr-uri-berliner-diversity.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare


  1. Scott Nover. “The Casualties of the Podcasting Bloodbath.” Slate. December 06, 2023.


  1. Scott Nover. “The Casualties of the Podcasting Bloodbath.” Slate. December 06, 2023.


  1. Kramer, Melody. “Today’s Public Media Fight Misses the Point.” Medium. April 11, 2016.


  1. The Free Speech Center topic: U.S. Congress. United States Code: Radio Act of 1912., 47 U.S.C.


  1. The Free Speech Center topic: U.S. Congress. United States Code: Radio Act of 1927., 47 U.S.C.

 
 
 

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