30 Reasons You Should Listen to Public Radio – The NAU Review

*Editor’s Note: The “Views from NAU” blog series highlights the thoughts of different people affiliated with NAU, including faculty members sharing opinions or research in their areas of expertise. The opinions expressed reflect the personal perspectives of the authors.

Bthere Gillian Ferris

News Director and Editor-in-Chief, KNAU

January 13 is Public Radio Day—let’s celebrate!

2021 marked the 50th anniversary of NPR’s broadcast with its first daily news program, All things Considered. In the early years of public broadcasting, many of NPR’s first member stations were formed on college and university campuses that wanted to experiment with a new type of news media intended to educate and entertain.

KNAU tuned to the airwaves at Northern Arizona University in 1983 and has since become an important and familiar source of information for the great northern Arizona region, the Colorado Plateau. Many award-winning journalists, producers and editors have left their mark on KNAU over the past nearly 40 years, shedding light on environmental and tribal issues, arts and culture, and more recently, the coronavirus pandemic and socio-political divide. from the country.

KNAU listeners are passionate and dedicated, and often call or email about things they particularly like or move them. We don’t have space to list all the great things about public radio, but these are just a few of the things we hear a lot:

1. Topics you don’t hear about anywhere else
2. New music and artists
3. International reach
4. Oasis in the Desert of Mainstream and Social Media
5. Terry Gross is a legend.
6. Builds Community Connections
7. KNAU Earth Notes Series
8. Does not involve screen time
9. Sunday Puzzle with Will Shortz
10. Truckers love listening to NPR member stations.
11. Neutral news without sensationalism
12. Susan Stamberg’s Annual Cranberry Relish Stories
13. Inclusive and intersectional
14. Multicultural and multilingual stories
15. Hear KNAU journalists on the national network
16. Something friends and family share
17. The nuance of sound speaks to the human soul.
18. KNAU Eats and Beats Series
19. Aisle moments
20. Pledge Drive
21. Scott Thybony’s Canyon Commentary
22. Over 1,000 member stations in the United States
23. American roads is the best music history show on the planet.
24. Challenging programming
25. Cool bumper stickers
26. Preserves the legacy of public broadcasting
27. You can listen while cooking or changing the oil in your car.
28. You always learn something.
29. Keeps dogs and cats company when you’re not home
30. Best American Radio Programming

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