How can public radio woo listeners of color without changing their signature sound and brand?

A lot of people of color love public radio. Whether they tune in for the spot news, All Things Considered, the upstart Tell Me More, or This American Life, many people of color are appointment or on-demand listeners. Still, too few of them have heard of those shows or of public radio. Maybe it’s because few of the programs or voices explicitly echo lives and attitudes of color.

Tavis Smiley left NPR in 2004, after three years. During and since Smiley's time at National Public Radio (NPR), the programming and marketing executives faced a major and distracting concern about how different, culturally-specific and non-NPR his style and tone was. Member stations worried about Smiley's boisterous and casual way of talking, which is typical in African America, but foreign to those who are used to NPR’s ethnically neutral sound.

Observers noted NPR wanted to have ethnically diverse that didn't kept their core listeners in place.

That won't work. It didn’t work.

Keeping highly-educated Caucasian listeners, those who are core listeners, while mustering the courage to do as Smiley urged NPR to do to woo listeners of color, seems like a Catch-22.

It might be a matter of courage and vision.

What does public radio fear; how do those fears ham string or blind their actions? How will they expand the sound and the bounds of their brand if they fear losing their bread and butter audience?

In December 2004, KRT Campus Columnist, Leah Samuel, at http://www.bgnews.com/, bluntly described one part of the mismatch: "during Smiley's time at NPR, the network and its stations reportedly questioned his openness with his liberal political views, his irreverent style and his willingness to ask challenging questions, as well as to allow a few arguments to break out on his show.”

Several of you might be sighing “it’s been four years; get over Smiley departure!” That’s reasonable until you think about that. Remember how social and political progressives and their friends felt when Antonin Scalia said something similar on the April 27, 2008 edition of "60-minutes?" Yep. It sounds familiar. It remains a valid question. One must wonder why NPR thought that using their conventional and routine marketing strategy, on which most of their programs rely, would attract the listeners of color whom they say they want eagerly.

When communities sound different, then the radio programs and voices that want them as listeners must sound more like those communities; it makes basic sense.

As Eric Deggans, of the St. Petersburg Times asked, “is the organization unable to sustain quality programming for black audiences?” about Smiley's program.

One must wonder what consequences the public radio community fears if they pursue and groom voices who represent African-America, Hispanic America or the myriad tones of Asian America (there are at least 35 different and distinct Asian and Pacific Island countries) or other voices that could add strong, vital and beautiful flavor to a soup that seems too conventional or bland to spark the appetites of communities of color?

Consider this question: what do you do when people of color might want public radio, but they don't know it yet? If you are public radio and you seem distant, remote and foreign, then what good is that? Please think about how well you play with others. These are people who, if they knew you, could easily like you and connect with you.