Please read Robert Patterson’s excellent post about how in some markets public media is helping members of the public especially hard hit by the cratering economy.

My experimentation with social media outreach has given me just a small taste of what is most likely a prodigious vein of “social capital” out there beyond the studio glass. I am convinced that with a little elbow grease, risk-taking, and imagination, this “social capital” could be mined and applied to exciting, new creative ends that speak to our public service mission.

Here is one excellent example of this in action.

The King of Pop is dead. Long live the King.

Or haven’t you heard?

Okay, I’ll resist the temptation to heavily lather on more snarkiness, despite my reflexive tendency to do just that.

It’s just that the other day I heard a reporter, someone whom I greatly respect, inveigh against all the column inches and air time invested in the Jackson death saga. And as NPR’s coverage of the public farewell wafted in from the radio on the other side of the partition, this reporter reminded those within earshot (some who were in diapers when this person was chasing down bad guys in dark alleys) that there were other things that perhaps public radio should pay more attention to—like for instance, the American project in Afghanistan, which shows signs it may be on the verge of imploding.

Don’t get me wrong, Jackson’s cultural significance is enormous. And despite all the personal eccentricities—that inexorable devolution into almost supernaturally bizarre behavior—his was a formidable, industry-altering talent. He rightfully deserves a spot in the pantheon.

Still you gotta wonder if all the coverage, especially of that staged-manged, kitsch-drenched (golden coffin!) colossus of a “public” memorial service was a tad excessive, and if public radio all too readily bit at the worm.

What do you think? Do you feel it was appropriate?

Or when it comes to the news, should NPR stick to the vegetables?

boston rain, originally uploaded by cmurtaugh.

You don’t need me to remind you of the unseasonably cold and overcast weather, aligned more to the New England temperament at baseline than those sunny, warm days typical this far into the season.

At the station: Lots of sullen looks, sighs, head shakes, and manifestations of odd behavior. Steve Brown opened the door to the patio this afternoon and almost wistfully stared at the downpour. David Boeri barks at the traffic louder than usual during his impossibly long commute home, the first leg of which I share as far as Arlington Heights (which I heretofore thought was intolerably far from the office until David revealed where he calls home). And the lobby now sports an aquarium sans fish. Huh?

Weeks of perpetual gloom are fraying the tether grounding us to the here and now. We need a good couple of weeks of full sun to bake away all the flakiness.

Anyway, enough of the gloom. Time for some doom.

I actually find the video below heartening, though I imagine it’ll induce the opposite in some boardroom suites.

But anticipating the future gives a buzz to us digital outliers that work in the old-fashioned tower-bound industry.

And if the below seems familiar, it should, as I’ve posted about Mr. Garfield and his scenario in the not-so-distant past. And the fact that he is a public radio man, I think (I hope) will make his insights and predictions less easy to dismiss to those helming the public radio biz.

Time to “listen or perish.”

I only wish Cokie interviewed him…

One of my colleagues is a notional blogger at best. The time spent waiting for his next post is measurable in geological time. And don’t get even get me started on Twitter. I had hair last time he Tweeted me.

This shortcoming of his I all too often forgive after reading his stuff. To wit: “How I Spent My 30th Birthday.”

Naturally my expectations have been tempered since those halcyon days when I first introduced @davidboeri to the miracle that is WordPress. Re-reading my post from that time (approximately six months + change), it is abundantly clear I harbored great—though quite unrealistic—expectations.

David assures me that in the coming months, he plans to increase his output. I hope, foolishly and futilely perhaps, that this will turn out to be the case. He is a journalist full of stories informed by decades walking a beat that has taken him to crime-ridden back alleys and other extreme environments (some literally at the top of the world).

Tell us more, David!

Further evidence of our listener’s intelligence, perspicacity, creativity…

Exhibit A: Wahyd Vannoni, polyglot, word traveler, magazine publisher, and regular attendee of the 90.9 Tweet-Ups.

Being the good entrepreneur that he is, Wahyd spies a potential revenue opportunity for public radio stations in his iPod:

If I press again the central button on my iPod, I get the following information on the show:

You can read the date of the episode, the title, its duration, description, and even the link to download this particular episode:

In this particular screen, the people who upload that information have some editorial flexibility in what can be written, length parameters notwithstanding.

Therefore, there is an opportunity to invite existing underwriters (or attract new ones) by making available some of this space to them, perhaps up to 30 characters.

Thanks, Wahyd! I salute your enterprising spirit. And thanks for the tip!

Not sure how much this space would generate in terms of underwriting money, but certainly in this climate, every potential revenue stream is worth exploring.

The Sound of Silence: Garages, originally uploaded by fotologic.

Yes, this space is all dust and cobwebs lately.

Other demands have taken a titanic-sized chunk out of my time. My apologies. Clearly the time has come to re-evaluate if I should continue.

Until I come to a final decision, I will try to carve out some time for more frequent updates.

As to future tweet-ups/meet-ups, those too I am presently re-evaluating. That’s not to say I haven’t enjoyed them. On the contrary, they have represented the highlight of my time at the station thus far. I’d like some time to mull over ways to freshen them up (and of course your suggestions are encouraged and welcome). One thing I plan to do is request a meager budget, so at least I can offer those of you who trek out to the station refreshments above the standard house coffee.

Stay tuned….

Piggy savings bank, originally uploaded by alancleaver_2000.

I think I heard rumors of a pledge drive going on….

That might explain all those folks at tables in the event room that are lined with row after row of phone banks.

Happily, rumor also holds that due to your remarkably unflagging generosity, we are well on our way toward making our goal.

Thank you!

Well, there hasn’t exactly been a flood of Twitter icon submissions. I’d settle for a trickle at this point. Actually, I’d settle for one. Anybody?

While I wait, let’s talk “verticals,” specifically as it relates to NPR’s “Argo Project” (or is it “Project Argo”?), which the public broadcasting industry’s trade journal, Current, explains thusly:

The Argo Project, as the network [ NPR ] calls it, will help the stations expand coverage by creating “content verticals,” a new-media term for an ongoing online offering devoted to a particular subject.

The Current article mentions two specific WBUR “verticals”: (1) CommonHealth, which, under the supervision of the estimable Martha Bebinger, a newly minted Neiman Fellow, has grown into a must-visit site for folks with a strong interest in the issue of health care coverage in the Bay State, and (2) the Public Radio Kitchen, a dynamic community of 90.9 listeners with a passion for all things edible, which has shown some very impressive growth since its launch late last December.

The plan—at least as I understand it based on my reading of the Current piece and on conversations I’ve had around the station—is that NPR will provide an infusion of money and support to affiliate stations to grow these websites. Those funds could be used to commission writers and others to generate content for the sites.

Naturally, I am hoping that 90.9 makes the cut.

Fingers crossed…