Everywhere we turn there are concerns about key news media losing audience. One I hadn't written about yet was radio, where a somewhat surprising success story has emerged - stolid old National Public Radio (NPR) is seeing a steadily growing audience for its news programs, according to the Washington Post.
Surely there are a variety of reasons. Some are exogenous, such as the increased interest that all news media experienced after the terrorist attacks of September 11, and again during the unusually high interest in the 2008 Presidential election campaign. Unlike other media, however, NPR has experienced a continuing growth since these surges (unlike other media), to the extent that it has been adding resources.
This steady growth is likely due to the gradual decline of other media; to the very limited time remaining media devote to news; to the longer and more in-depth treatment NPR gives to its stories; and the fact that it retains its own fairly large staff for foreign reporting. I would also suggest that NPR offers a calm, sane, and objective listening experience that's probably a boon to listeners, especially those in their cars, where so much of the radio audience listens these days.
The boom isn't likely to turn public radio profitable, or eliminate those funding campaigns, but it is one bright spot in an otherwise bleak media news picture.
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