Ed's guest for the full hour was new Everett Herald Publisher Josh O'Connor. Josh took the reigns as Herald publisher after his company, Sound Publishing, recently purchased the Herald from the Washington Post Company - just a few months before the Washington Post itself was purchased by Amazon's Jeff Bezos.
You can still hear the full interview with O'Connor on our website, KSER.org, by clicking on the Radio Replayer button and going to Friday at 4 p.m.
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Among the topics covered: there are apparently no plans to cut daily publication of the Herald, but there may be future plans for a 'paywall' - meaning at some point in the future you won't be able to access all the news on the Herald website unless you pay.
That seems to be the clear trend in the newspaper business. Some are cutting out some days of publication or charging to view stories on their websites...or both.
One of the topics Ed Bremer asked Josh O'Connor about is the concern over fewer companies controlling more media outlets.
The radio business, as you probably know, has also been dealing with the dramatic shifts in the media business landscape - at a time when the economy in general has been struggling. Just Friday one of Seattle's long-time heritage music radio stations pulled the plug on what used to be a very successful format. The Mountain, owned by Entercom of Philadelphia, is no longer The Mountain. But instead has switched to a "Hot Adult Contemporary" format. The company says The Mountain will still exist as a web stream and as a secondary 'HD' channel. But most people don't have HD radios, and more people still listen to radio versus streaming audio. But the trends keep changing.
Web streaming, smart phones, tablets, YouTube, Pandora, I-Pods. They've all garnered more of everyone's time and eaten into the amount of time most people spend with traditional media: TV, Radio, Newspapers. And newspapers have struggled even more with the loss of classified advertising to websites like Craigslist.
But it all still comes down to content. And for many of us the most important thing is having independent voices and independent news coverage that's not controlled by an owner three time zones away who is concerned only about corporate profit or, in some cases, about pushing a political agenda.
It's a reason many of us are rooting for the continued survival of an important local news asset like the Herald. It's a reason many of you continue to support independent media outlets like KSER. Even with the disappearance of The Mountain on the FM dial, you can still hear local artists you won't hear anywhere else on KSER.
And more commercial radio is being gobbled up by a handful of corporate owners. Read here about commercial radio operator Cumulus buying up news and sports content distributor Dial-Global for $260-million. But there are still independent outlets like KSER where you'll hear hour-long interviews focused on the rapidly shifting media landscape, and you'll still hear in-depth news coverage from Amy Goodman that you won't hear in the mainstream media.
It's also why the KSER Foundation has started construction on a second FM station to expand our coverage in the North Puget Sound and to allow us to do more to serve our communities. You can learn more about our new station, 89.9 KXIR here.
KSER and, soon KXIR, exist because over the years thousands of people have made financial commitments to ensure an important local asset in our community. It's easy to learn about contributing online. And with more media outlets shifting or vanishing or coming under corporate control, we're more thankful than ever that there are special people who keep these independent voices alive. Thanks!
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