Digital Strategy

Come join us for the first all-station Twitter chat under the hashtag #NPRChats on Thursday, August 14 from 1-2 p.m. ET.

#NPRChats is an informal way for NPR Digital Services to talk with and answer questions from our Member Stations about a different topic or theme each month.

When I think about which of the many social media platforms are tailor made for radio, Tumblr is the first to come to mind. In terms of ease of use, formatting, and even content, Tumblr can be just right for the time-crunched public radio reporter, producer, or for special projects.

I am sure there are Tumblr doubters out there, but like all tools, the power is in how and why you use it.

To help answer some questions we had about using Tumblr,  I spoke with Danielle Strle, Tumblr's Director of Product for Community & Content. I asked her to shed some light on some common questions we hear about Tumblr: 

Here at Digital Services, we're checking in with shows around the country about their digital best practices and strategies. Have a suggestion for a post or show to talk to? Email it to EJohnson1@npr.org or tweet it to us @NPRDS.

The team behind WNYC’s two hour midday program, The Brian Lehrer Show, has made Twitter a huge part of the digital life of the show. I spoke with host, Brian Lehrer and Associate Producer Jody Avirgan about how they find the time, and some of the lessons they’ve learned along the way.  

You’ve set up a Twitter account for your show, and started tweeting. You have a Facebook page and you’re posting to it regularly. You've read about how to get your show started off on the right foot with social. Now, you might be asking what the next step is to help make your social media efforts resonate with your audience.

One of the issues we hear show producers struggling with again and again, is how to find the time to do digital content justices in the midst of a tight production schedule, especially if there is not a dedicated web producer. 

To find some possible solutions we turned to Jody Avirgan, a producer for WNYC's midday talk show, The Brian Lehrer Show. Jody is responsible for the majority of the show's digital presence, but also is a full time producer for the show, and has experimented with how to make the web succeed with the limited amount of time he can give to it. 

Jody recently joined us for a webinar to share how he tackles the challenge of creating great content and balancing his on air and online responsibilities. You can find the full recording as well the slide show from the presentation below. 

On Wednesday, March 26th at 2:30pm EST, we held  a Twitter chat to discuss digital strategy for public radio shows. Guests from NHPR's Word of Mouth and WNYC's The Brian Lehrer Show joined, along with many other producers from local show. For a recap, go to: Three Things We Learned From Our #ShowsChat

Here at Digital Services, we're checking in with shows around the country about their digital best practices and strategies. 

One show that’s doing an admirable job of engaging it’s audience on Twitter and on their website is Oregon Public Radio’s midday show, Think Out Loud. I spoke with Dave Blanchard, one of the show’s producers, and John Rosman, a digital producer at OPB who works with the show, about how TOL tackles their digital responsibility.

Last weekend, tens of thousands descended upon Austin, Texas for the start of the 2014 South by Southwest Festival. The nine day event, which continues through March 16, is a huge operation. It features musical performances at more than 100 venues, highly anticipated TV and movie premieres and even an interview with NSA leaker, Edward Snowden. 

NHPR's Word of Mouth focuses on “new ideas, emerging trends and untold stories.” The hour-long show airs Monday through Thursdays and Saturdays. Their engaging and fun online presence is consistent, and often experimental. (Terrible love song anyone?)

Here at Digital Services, we're starting an ongoing project checking in with shows around the country about their digital best practices and strategies. From some of these conversations, we'll share many of the tips various public radio show staff have for succeeding online. We'll also point to relevant resources and training from our own archive. Have a suggestion for a person or show to talk to? Email it to ejohnson1@npr.org, or send us a tweet @NPRDS. 

Here at Digital Services, we're checking in with shows around the country about their digital best practices and strategies. 

St. Louis Public Radio reporter Chris McDaniel started highlighting lobbyist gifts to lawmakers in a regular series last spring to make the data more approachable. When they wanted to take it to the next level, they turned to NPR's news apps team for advice. St.

Did you know that approximately 9% of all public radio streaming is happening using TuneIn, one of the biggest audio aggregators? And that TuneIn is seeing faster streaming growth than most public radio stations are seeing on their own websites?

These are the somewhat surprising discoveries made recently as we analyzed metrics on hundreds of public radio streams available in TuneIn.

When you come across a story about your town, city or state, what makes you want to share it?

In the early days, Slate’s podcasts amounted to Andy Bowers reading web articles into a mic. Podcasting has come a long way and has seen its share of experiments. Slate's podcasts, in particular, now have a unique sound that fans love. Their popular podcasts include Political Gabfest, Culture Gabfest, Hang Up and Listen, The Audio Book Club, and many others. 

I reached out to Andy to talk about innovation in digital audio because the sound of Slate's success is so different from what I hear from traditional public broadcasters. Much of the public radio podcasting space consists of repurposed broadcasts. But if you take a listen to some of the other successful podcasters, you too will hear a difference in sound. There is room on the internet for all varieties. 

Andy Bowers outlined the extraordinary development of Slate's Podcasts in our innovations in digital audio webinar.