The University of Blog

Intersection is going well. Topic ideas are starting to really shape up, but it’s becoming harder to keep everything and everyone straight.  This week we also worked on research for our presentation and found some pretty interesting facts and figures regarding public radio listeners. HD radio is still pretty new and only a small percentage of people have them. Since this will be the first place the show is heard live, collecting figures for that device will be useful. We’ll track those that tune in and participate to get figures for listeners.  Then we will need to devise a way to test the quality of the participants. It’s easy to say anything on a discussion board, but we need ways to quality check those.

So far for topic ideas, I’m working on Human Trafficking, Biking verses driving in Columbia, and narrowing a topic among rural farming issues. I’m also researching the achievement gap in education as well as the budget. I set up a meeting with a woman who can fill me in on poverty in Missouri. So.. I’m pretty busy right now with pre interviews, research for those topics, and researching different show topics. We are excited about October 12, our launch date, which is fast approaching. However, we don’t have that first show topic that excites us. On Monday, our team will decide some exact dates for October and then finalize our first show idea.

So many updates on different aspects of Intersection. The most valuable part of the research we have done so far was our meeting with Michael Skoler. He shared with us his knowledge about Public Insight Network. It seems like a very well-oiled machine. What makes it so successful? It’s how the site has engaged audiences. To each person that participates, someone responds to them. These same type of principles should apply to this show. We must not ignore those that chose to participate by texting, calling, posting or listening. We should be the listening post for the community. We should not think of the show as a once a week thing. That will alienate audiences. Instead it should be a continuous thing.

Brainstorming ideas has led us to a few show options. We know that we want to have a series of shows on healthcare. This includes quality/safety, access and primary care, etc. The issue is huge to tackle, but it is important to our audience. We would also like to do a show on the video cameras in the parking garages, the One Read Program as well as a show on Human Trafficking. I have had no luck contacting the Missouri Rural Crisis Center, but we would like to focus on a rural issue as well.  Thus, we are working  on finding issues like that would work for our audience. We are good so far, but I would really like to book one show. Our deadline of October 12 is fast approaching.

Intersection is going well. We sent our launch date to be October 12. That leaves some things to figure out. First is about our topics. It’s important to figure out topics that will interest a wide variety of people. A few topics that we are researching include localizing healthcare, cameras in the parking garages as well as rural issues in Missouri. It needs to be specific enough so the conversation can be limited to one hour, however it needs to be broad enough that people will tune in. Another issue we are figuring out is whether or not we’ll have our soft launch on October 12 and then a hard launch two weeks later or market the heck out of it before October 12. These are just issues that need to be sorted out.

However, I’m pretty excited about the entire process. While we aren’t in the thick of yet, it’s great to be able to think about ideas that will affect Columbia and Mid Missouri. I’m paying attention to what community members are commenting on stories and how they are feeling generally. When I was ushering, a lady mentioned that she was interested in tasers and local artists. It’s worth asking people and spreading the word about this show. I think that a ton of community members would be involved, if only they know how to be. This will be the challenge that Lindsey and I will need to face.

I think that this semester will teach me a lot, especially my involvement in Intersection, the community talk show on KBIA. My partner and I could not be more perfectly matched. We have been brainstorming ideas and thinking about guests and show topics. In addition, we have called other talk shows across the country and asked about their call-screening software. Since the talk show format is new for KBIA, we are in the market to purchase some call-in software. We are learning a lot about calling software, which is just one more tool in our journalism “box of knowledge.”

Another great part of working for Intersection is that there are so many devoted people behind the show. Not only is the News Director at KBIA invested, but also my professor and the powerhouse of the Reynolds Journalism Institute is behind the show. Everyone wants to see the show succeed. The question is what does success look like? After some discussion, we’ve decided that success will include increasing the number of listeners as well as the quantity and quality of engagement. It’s pretty great that the community can engage in the discussion in a variety of ways. They can call in or they can participate in a group discussion board. This is a relatively new concept so we are all starting from square one.