NPRness

In a previous post I mentioned the term "NPRness"  and linked it to the programs This American Life and Prairie Home Companion. A smart commentator pointed out to me that neither was an NPR program.

That is my deeper point.

One of the issues that saddens me as an outsider is the mistrust and cynicism that sometimes bubbles up inside the system. What I as an outsider have found is that for many listeners NPR is a term like Kleenex or Fridge. The listener could not care less about these differences. If they did know more, they would be appalled.

They experience the values of the best of Public radio and give everything that fits inside that frame a term of NPR. NPRness is a brand that has been defined not by people at NPR or by ad executives but by the listeners themselves.

This type of brand is the most valuable type of brand possible. It is worth examining deeply by all in public radio for inside it is Public radio's future. NPRness is the embodiment of the attachment and the meaning of public radio with its listeners. It is their ideal. If we explore its meaning we will come close to knowing what we have to do to become consistently more successful in meeting our audience's needs.