You may have heard about NPR President Vivian Schiller’s recent comments about the future of digital media in the Wall Street Journal, which stirred up the public radio community. You can find a summary here.

What bothered many people in our business was Vivian’s assertion that broadcast radio has 5 – 10 years left of viability. They pointed out that over-the-air public radio is right now exceeding the performance levels predicted 5 years ago and Vivian herself concedes that listening to public radio is still increasing.

No one knows the specific timetable for when delivery of most radio content will shift from broadcast to broadband, but we believe it will eventually happen. Media habits have already changed and younger people aren’t listening to the radio like they used to. If public radio is doing surprisingly well at the moment, perhaps we’re in the eye of a hurricane.

What concerns me is that we are not prepared for this shift with a plan for how networks and stations will work together in this new media world to serve local audiences with a rich mix of local and national material, such as you an hear now on FM 90.3.  It’s possible to envision a scenario where NPR and the 10 largest market stations prevail in an all-digital world (or perhaps NPR and the top 25 or 50 markets), but in that case, what happens to stations in smaller communities? (WPLN is in the 44th radio market.) 

Vivian agrees that the lack of a plan is the essence of our problem. Following the flurry of e-mail and posts over her WSJ remarks, she said “I’d suggest rather than spending a lot of time weighing in on that fictional timetable, we’d all be better served studying, discussing and collaborating on how we will conquer the digital world…together.”

I agree with her and as we engage in that conversation, I think the staff and board of WPLN should focus relentlessly on strengthening our local services and funding, with the aim of becoming an indispensable fixture in the community, regardless of how content is delivered over what devices. 

I think the reporting produced by Nashville Public Radio during and after the recent flood affirmed that we did the right thing last fall by increasing our emphasis on news and information. We have important and vital work to do here in our community and a powerful story to tell our donors and listeners.