WHAT IS ALT.NPR?
by Eric Nuzum

Overview:

As part of our podcasting efforts, we'd like to establish a place where we can experiment and innovate. In order to be as supple as possible, these podcasts should require low resource investment, a minimum of staff oversight and intervention, and no technical or production kludges. To create these dynamic, guerilla-style podcasts, we'll establish idea-incubation and podcast production systems that differ from those required for our podcasts of more conventional NPR material.

Above all, "alt.NPR" should be synonymous with flexibility: these podcasts provide an intersection between "right" and "right now." Ultimately, we should be nimble in getting new ideas into distribution quickly, pulling ideas that have run their course, and taking risks for the sake of experimentation.

Finally, alt.NPR affords an opportunity to begin developing a "reverse pipeline" for content development and distribution at NPR. Heretofore, NPR's core content flowed from radio to Web and - now - to podcast. With alt.NPR, that flow is potentially reversed: the best alt.NPR material and talent could be identified for "bigger things" on NPR.org, and from there, perhaps, on radio one day.

Empowering Hosts/Producers:

The focus of alt.NPR is the host/producer who creates and produces the podcast on his or her own. While there will be some basic training involved in saving the audio file and XML data, we want to engage producers who can can handle the creative and technical workload associated with his or her own podcast in a quasi-autonomous fashion.

"alt.NPR" moniker:

In order to brand these podcasts as coming from NPR, yet highlight that they are special and different, they should all come under the heading: "alt.NPR."

Subject matter: Should be a little bit of everything. This is a place where we can try different things-subject matter, production styles, voices, and so on. "Stuff that wouldn't fit into the news magazine shows" isn't a good enough measure.

Former Van Halen singer David Lee Roth offered the following to determine the value of music: "If it sounds good, then it is good." We should borrow Diamond Dave's wisdom in assessing podcast ideas. Our only requirement for an alt.NPR offering is that it should be exciting, interesting, original, provocative content, produced to the same fundamental values that characterize the best of public radio.

Editorial and Programming Oversight

Development should be a simple process, one that will not involve lengthy, time-consuming rounds of internal decision-making, research, and corporate-think.

Once the NPR Programming green lights a podcast, programming and online staff will support producers to reach pilot in the quickest, most efficient way possible. The final "go" decision will be made by the SVP for Programming.

Early podcasts of new material will be monitored frequently by online and programming staffers, but once the training wheels come off, producers are on their own. Producers will be responsible for adhering to the NPR Code of Ethics, for fairness and balance, for the labeling of content as opinion or analysis, for fact-checking and content vetting, and for the proper clearance of necessary rights.

Having said that, if it isn't edited, it isn't journalism. That means that any producer of content that hasn't been edited must have a second ear on the content before it is sent for podcasting. It is the host/producer's own responsibility to solicit this review/feedback, which depending on specific circumstances, may come from either inside or outside NPR.

Corrections or clarifications to podcasts will be posted at npr.org.

Titling:

These podcasts will be titled according to the same convention as the examples below:

· alt.NPR: Gambling
· alt.NPR: Mix Tape
· alt.NPR: Groove Salad Taste of the Week

Audio introductions:

In order to save the time and resources required to produce audio introductions, the podcasts will start with our alt.NPR audio logo, followed by any underwriting announcement, and then straight into the podcast itself. There will be no discrete audio introduction as with our other podcasts. The host/producer of the podcast will set-up and introduce his/her own podcast within the body of the podcast.

Audio logo:

alt.NPR will use a different audio logo than the standard audio logo. The logo will represent the uniqueness and irreverence of the alt.NPR content.

Podcast Description Field:

A one-sentence description created by host/producer tagged with: "alt.NPR is a collection of unique podcast-only content offered by NPR, National Public Radio."

"Album art" graphic:

To sidestep the expense and time-lag involved in creating individual artwork for each podcast, all alt.NPR podcasts will share the same "album art" graphic with the title of the particular podcast appearing as a text overlay. If an alt.NPR producer has an established visual identity, then we will allow them to create an individual icon based on the alt.NPR template. The icon is subject to editorial approval, with the final decision resting with NPR.

Compensation: For in-house producers creating alt.NPR podcasts, NPR Programming will pick up overtime charges. For outside producers, compensation will be $100 per podcast for straight voice, simple interviews or in-studio/desktop productions. For more complicated production, the compensation rate will be $125 per podcast.