NPR cancels the Bryant Park Project (Alison Stewart's gig)

[Bozita]

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/14/arts/14npr.html?_r=1&ref=arts&oref=slogin

July 14, 2008
Public Radio to Cancel a Morning Experiment

By ELIZABETH JENSEN
National Public Radio officials are expected on Monday to tell the staff members of “Bryant Park Project” that their experimental weekday morning program, designed to draw a younger audience to public radio and capture listeners who had moved online, is being canceled.

The last broadcast of this New York-based program, which many listeners tuned into at npr.org rather than over the air, is expected to be on July 25. It’s an expensive failure — the first-year budget was more than $2 million — and comes at a time when NPR is facing the same financial constraints as other news media thanks to higher costs and a downturn in underwriting.

Like other news organizations, NPR has been grappling with how best to capture the online audience, and “Bryant Park Project,” which had its debut on Oct. 1, was one of its boldest attempts. The live two-hour program ranged through news and cultural topics in an informal, conversational manner and differed from more traditional NPR broadcasts, which rely heavily on prepackaged reports.

“Bryant Park Project” includes cheeky features like “Make Me Care,” which points up news reports’ real-life relevance. It also has a robust Web presence that is updated with blog posts throughout the day and also includes video.

Andi Sporkin, an NPR spokeswoman, declined on Sunday to comment on the status of “Bryant Park Project.”

The program’s host, Alison Stewart, who is on maternity leave, said in a telephone interview that she had been informed of the cancellation, which comes after the NPR board’s approval last week of a budget for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1. “From what I understand, we are obviously in extra-tough economic times, and it is a financial and strategic decision,” she said. “I was told it had absolutely nothing to do with the quality or content of the show.

more...

[ChairmanAgnostic]

1. if they didn't pander so much to the neocons, their $$$ would be better.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

2. The problem is, the neocons run it now.

They appointed good little Bushbots to the Corp. for Public Broadcasting.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/16/business/media/16radio.html