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A Sense Of Place

The Value And Values Of Localism In Public Radio

NPR stations in large and small markets are investing resources in local talk programs.

We conducted 36 focus groups for the Public Radio Program Directors, with funding from NPR's Local News Initiative.

We found that local producers could sharpen their editorial judgment and deliver value if they fully understood the concept of Sense of Place.  Yet focusing on Sense of Place will not save local news and information programming that fails to deliver the essential Core Values of NPR news. 


Sense Of Place -- Localism


Localism And Morning Edition

How Listeners Evaluate Local Newscasts And Features

Morning Edition is public radio's most important program, yet what listeners actually hear varies widely as stations insert their local newscasts and news features.

In consultation with the Morning Edition Grad School, we designed a series of program testing sessions to determine how listeners evaluate local coverage.

Below you can download the report document.  Also you can download our presentation from the PRPD Conference which includes media files of the programming as tested.

This research was funded by NPR through its Local News Initiative.
Localism And Morning Edition -- Report
Localism And Morning Edition -- Presentation
Example 1 Governor 2-way
Example 2 Black College Feature
Example 3 NPR Style Newscast
Example 4 In Depth Newscast
Example 5 Conversational Break
Example 6 Bombastic Break