Here are April Fehling and Frank Hamilton. They have quit their day jobs in the Public Radio system to go on a mission.
What called then so powerfully to do that, when they had so little anyway?
They are worried that the insider discourse that we have been holding for the last 12 months about the future of Public Radio risks being trapped by its "Insider" habits. They are concerned that what insiders worry about is too small a picture.
The wonder if listeners know about Station Bypass? Would they care if they did? They wonder if the listeners care about the squabbles that stations have between each other and with the producers? They wonder if listeners care about our own narrow appreciation of Brand? After all many listeners know that that This American Life and Prairie Home Companion are NPR shows! They all know that NPR owns a lot of stations and is a broadcaster! Many know that the BBC is part of Public Radio in the US!
Most listeners know that NPR got a ton of money from the McDonald's family. That is why some are a bit mystified that there are so many ads on the radio. "Why if NPR is so rich, do they have their hand out so often?"
"But this is so confused!" You say. "That is not how it is at all!" That is the point for April and Frank.
They are concerned that, on the one hand, insiders are too busy worrying about internal family matters while that, on the other hand, listeners really know very little about the reality of how public radio works.
The insiders and the listeners live in effect on separate mountains and can only talk to each other by smoke signals. There is no way currently before us to bring the voice of the informed listener into the struggle. They are concerned that we cannot rise to the challenge unless we do.
Their mission then is to find a way of finding ways of first informing the listeners about what is really going on so that we can then engage in a more complete way with them to help us.
They ask - Can we build a bridge of knowledge that can connect us directly so that the insiders and the listeners can become truly one?
They wonder what would be the best way to engage so that we had the full heart and mind of the listener?
They wonder - What if we found the answer to this question?
What would be the result if the 30 million listeners and the people inside public radio truly became a united force? Would we be powerful or not? We might make the NRA look pathetic. Would we not then truly become Public?
I believe that April and Frank are correct and that that have asked THE Question that has the power to give Public radio the power.
I believe that they deserve your attention and your support.
If you want to find out more - please go to this link that describes their mission and that has a short video that tells me more about situation that any document that I have seen or attempted to write.
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