Public Media Innovation Round-up

Posted on Friday, November 18, 2011 in Insights, iMA Innovators Blog,

By Amanda Hirsch

Here's a glimpse at just some of the innovative projects happening in public media right now:

  • Pandora for public radio? NPR just launched The Infinite Player, a curated, continuous stream of news, arts and life, and music content that learns your story preferences over time. "The player should deliver the type of serendipitous experience you expect from NPR, with recommendations based on your input, NPR editors' judgment and story popularity," writes Michael Yoch in an Inside NPR.org blog post about the launch. Over at Neiman Lab, Andrew Phelps says the Infinite Player "might be a perfect match for the Internet-connected car — and evidence (NPR) is thinking more like a digital start-up."
     
  • 2 Million Votes Cast in American Idol TPT's Photo Contest. Almost 8,000 users have cast 2 million votes and written over 80,000 comments on the approximately 50,0000 photos by Minnesotan photogs (professional and recreational alike) as part of TPT's Capture Minnesota photo contest.  The station partnered with a publishing company to produce and manage the contest; the partnership will also result in at least one book showcasing the top photos, PBS reports on its Station Products & Innovation blog.
     
  • Locavore? No, Localore.  In the past, AIR made a huge splash in public media innovation circles with its indie producer driven Makers Quest projects. Now it's upping the ante with Localore (like "locavore," but for storytelling) -- a new project that aims to pair trailblazing indie producers with local stations looking to increase their capacity for innovation. Get an overview of the project, and view stations' video applications (their bids to be selected for participation). The application deadline is passed, but you can keep tabs on the project as it progresses by following the Localore blog.

What else? What's cooking at your station that we should be aware of? Don't be shy. Email me at pubmedia [at] amandahirsch dot com, or tell us what you're up to here.

Amanda Hirsch is a writer and online media consultant with deep ties to public media. The former editorial director of PBS.org, she's written for MediaShift and P.O.V. and managed the EconomyStory project. Amanda also co-hosted the weekly #pubmedia chat on Twitter. You can follow Amanda on Twitter at @amanda_hirsch.