Whenever I hear people in Radio take the newspaper industry to task for their falling circulation numbers, I can’t help but think those print guys know something that we don’t about the digital space. In fact, they are a couple of years further down this difficult road. This is why you’re seeing some definitive innovation and "new thinking" coming out of the newspaper biz. As a wise man once said, "Necessity is the mother of invention." And the print industry is now highly motivated to innovate, based on bleeding bottom lines and declining readership levels to do just that.
Check out most newspaper sites. They have made quantum leaps in the past few years, they’re repurposing their editorial departments to service both their hard editions and their websites, and they’re producing multimedia materials that never had a place in the actual paper.
Bruce Warren of WXPN has referred to this as "wholeism" – thinking about content as going beyond its normal destination, and instead considering all the outlets where it can be distributed. Newspaper writers aren’t just producing stories and features for print editions – they are now going beyond those old boundary lines to create multi-level content models. If you question the logic of these initiatives, consider that perhaps Radio is falling behind by not adopting this same way of thinking.
Program Directors in the new world might be re-titled Content Producers, because what they now do will soon be distributed in many different digital applications, from podcasts to videos to audio streams. And the advertisement in Inside Radio found below (thanks, Steve Goldstein) speaks volumes about how the print world is thinking differently. Radio would do well to get to this same place, sooner rather than later.
Jacobs Media has consistently walked the walk in the digital space, providing insights and guidance through its well-read national Techsurveys.
In 2008, jacapps was launched - a mobile apps company that has designed and built more than 1,300 apps for both the Apple and Android platforms. In 2013, the DASH Conference was created - a mashup of radio and automotive, designed to foster better understanding of the "connected car" and its impact.
Along with providing the creative and intellectual direction for the company, Fred consults many of Jacobs Media's commercial and public radio clients, in addition to media brands looking to thrive in the rapidly changing tech environment.
Fred was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2018.
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