Huckleberries Online

SR To Modify Radio Experiment

Posted by DFO

June 4, 2009 4:10 p.m. • 8 comments

In an e-mail to the SR newsroom this afternoon, Dan Mitchinson announced that the newspaper will end its in-house radio broadcasts. Mitchinson, director of SR radio operations, said that the newspaper will modify its arrangement with KJRB (with details about that to be announced in the coming weeks. However, the four-person radio team, including Dick Haugen (the former, long-time KVNI news director, pictured) and himself, won’t be part of the new arrangement. The radio staff’s last day of broadcast will be July 3. “What we did here received a lot of local … and national attention,” Mitchinson said. “And I know it will continue to evolve in one form or another. But I credit the quality of the newscasts to the reporters in this newsroom. Without your work … our job would have been a lot more difficult … and a lot less fun.”

Eight comments on this post so far. Add yours!

MamaJD on June 04 at 4:36 p.m.
So what will the Haugenator do now?
Digger on June 04 at 10:11 p.m.
I’m just wondering how long it takes the Spokesman Review to realize that cutting their operations to save cash is going to kill them in the long run.

Want to make more ad revenues? Make a paper people want to read - cover North Idaho like you used to, cut the AP crap and make it more locally focused - and most of all cover the news.

Its no coincidence that when the SR pulled its local bureaus that circulation started to decline - so much that its been round after round of layoffs to conserve cash - but by doing that you’ll cost cut yourself into obilivion.

Too bad - the SR used to be a paper I enjoyed reading. These days I won’t even give the SR a read at the coffee shop.
Escapee on June 04 at 11:57 p.m.
I ‘spose we shoulda all seen this one coming. I just can’t help think it’s a little weird for a newspaper to be involved in radio. I’d always thought that was an ‘experiment’ on the S-R’s part. Knowing Mr. Haugen, he’ll once again land on his feet somewhere. It looks like, though, jobs in the media aren’t the most secure occupations to have; it’s always been that way, but moreso now. Someday, who knows, “USA Today” will truly be ‘the nation’s newspaper’ simply becomes it’s the only one left. Strange days indeed…
Nick_Adams on June 05 at 1:02 a.m.
No surprise. Nobody listens to radio for objective “news”. Radio listeners want programming that delivers exactly what they want to hear. That’s why sucessful radio stations are very niche in what they deliver. You just can’t be all things to all people on a local level. The so-called news is even more hyper-targeted. Rush, Hannity, Beck, Savage are perfect examples. They’re sucessful because they cater to a very small, but supportive audience, not because they reach the audiences that newspapers have catered to in the past.

If you want to make it in news radio, it’s simple. Pick a side and promote it, no matter what. That’s Impossible for anything sponsored by a provider that is trying to maintain a reputation as “objective”.

Jesus. Doesn’t anyone at the SR understand media?
danm on June 05 at 7:14 a.m.
With all due respect Nick…as someone who has 25 years in the business…you’re mistaken. Our news was objective…I never had my editor or publisher tell me we could or couldn’t run a story…we even covered the SR layoffs (when was the last time a TV or another radio station in town covered their own layoffs???).

Rush, Hannity and Savage don’t cater to a ‘small’ audience…not unless you count 20 million listeners a week ‘small.’

I’m proud of what we’ve done at the SR…at least they tired something new…which is more than most companies are willing to do these days. And as for the future…I’ve talked with at least a half dozen other newspapers/radio groups(and met with two in New Zealand) that are looking at starting a similar partnership. The Washington Times has launched hourly two minute newscasts…and later this month will offer a syndicated three hour radio morning show.

It’s easy to play Monday morning QB and try to guess what will or won’t work these days. But until you’re in the trenches…and give it a try…you’ll never really know. Print and the electronic media will continue to change, evolve and adapt to the times. I believe some of the best work from our print journalists is still to come…and I hope they get their work showcased not just in the paper…but on radio, TV, digital, the web etc. I think it was Tina Brown who said (and I’m paraphrasing here) ‘Saving journalisim is more important than saving what it’s written on.’
wheels on June 05 at 7:45 a.m.
Hey Dick H let us know where you surface…
TALKJOC on June 05 at 9:14 a.m.
Wheels….Hopefully on top of the water :-)
spokelooneh on June 05 at 10:07 a.m.
“The Washington Times has launched hourly two minute newscasts…and later this month will offer a syndicated three hour radio morning show.”
-Danm

Oh great now the Moonies are getting into radio?

Heaven help us.

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D.F. Oliveria is a columnist and blogger for The Spokesman-Review. Huckleberries Online was judged the best 2008 Idaho newspaper blog by the Idaho Press Club. And the best 2007 news blog in the Pacific Northwest by the Society for Professional Journalist. Print Huckleberries is a past winner of the Herb Caen Memorial Column contest by the National Association of Newspaper Columnists. The Readership Institute of Northwestern University cited this blog as a good example of online community journalism.