≡ Menu

WHY RADIO NEEDS TO BE A PARTICIPATORY MEDIUM

In this video clip from PD Grad School 2010, Larry Rosin gives a simple example of how and why radio needs to grow from a monolithic to a participatory medium…

Comments on this entry are closed.

  • Dave Carrol May 27, 2010, 3:44 am

    Very true… and it’s not just for that reason. It’s in all things. Without it, radio really stands the risk of further irrelevance

  • Mitch Krayton May 27, 2010, 10:58 am

    Participatory radio is not in any way related to telling people (staff, advertisers or listeners) why you are making clock changes. I agree sudden unexplained changes are off-putting, but any business has the right to run it and change as they please. Your bank doesn’t tell you when they change tellers or managers; your car company doesn’t tell you when they will change engines. Yes, it is more customer facing to provide reasons why, but sometimes not practical to do so. If the change brings something as good or better, the situation will stabilize. If not it will change again until it recovers.

    Radio is and has always been participatory. If you present something listenable, you will get people to dial you up and listen. They participate. They may even write letters, phone in or attend station events. That’s participatory.

    What I dislike is people radio has to let people run the station. That is like suggesting when I go to a restaurant I should have the right to go into the kitchen and make the food my way. Or if I go to a play, I should be able to go backstage and change costumes or script to suit me.

    Radio is a delivery medium. It has never changed. Management has changed the content, personality and and forgotten its purpose. Go back to basics and get back your audience.

  • Mitch Krayton May 27, 2010, 1:54 pm

    Correction: What I dislike is when radio people want to let other people run the station. That is like suggesting when I go to a restaurant I should have the right to go into the kitchen and make the food my way. Or if I go to a play, I should be able to go backstage and change costumes or script to suit me.