Send questions and comments about this story to feedback@stlpublicradio.org. Bill Siemering has more to be proud of than most individuals can even imagine. A corporate vision statement establishes a future goal for a firm, while a corporate mission statement highlights how to achieve the vision. The programs will enable the individual to better understand himself, his government, his institutions and his natural and social environment so he can intelligently participate in effecting the process of change. Broadcasts of public hearings are one of the best ways to hear the evidence presented on proposed legislation and public radio might develop some vehicle through local affiliates whereby citizens could indicate their judgment to the decision makers. He believes the legalistic curriculum should be “balanced if not replaced by emphasis on the influence of personal motives and ambitions, emotions (envy, hate, love, pride), political debts, accidents and even honest mistakes in the formulation of public policy.” [Newmann, p. 545] This requires investigative reporting and citizen participation during the decision-making process. The first radio broadcasts were meant for farmers, only 60 percent of whom were literate in the early 1900s. Its passion and mastery of technicalities in reporting have set a great example in the industry making it one of the top media companies. It has heavily invested in journalists to remain vigilant and bring people breaking news and stay in pursuit of important stories for long. Radio was meant for educational purposes to help people who could not read.
The award recognized Siemering as a “pioneering force in public radio,” citing his roles in defining goals for NPR’s radio service and bringing them to life in programs such as Fresh Air, which originated at WBFO in Buffalo, N.Y., when Siemering led the station; and NPR’s All Things Considered. He got his start in radio at one of the country’s oldest educational stations. Educational engagement: college radio, digital media, and Acquire and produce cultural programs which can be scheduled individually by stations. In its cultural mode, National Public Radio will preserve and transmit the cultural past, will encourage and broadcast the work of contemporary artists and provide listeners with an aural esthetic experience which enriches and gives meaning to the human spirit. In time/space, New York now is closer to Asia than it was to Washington, D.C. at the turn of the century; a plane can travel from New York to London in the same time as an automobile or train travels across New York State. Because the cost of radio coverage is one-tenth television coverage, Mr. Gould concluded “…it may well prove that radio will be the most economical and consistent means for uniting a citizen with his government in operation.”. I have been listening to NPR for 45 years and I worked there for a glorious seven years. The statement supported NPR’s request for aid from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and went on to define the network’s first daily program, All Things Considered, which debuted May 3, 1971. With the rapidity of change and decline of local theaters and orchestras there is an equal need to preserve and transmit the culture of the past. journalism that you represent. And I hope those who have benefited from the space you cleared for public radio broadcasting continue to find ways to honor you for your ongoing work through grants and donations to cover its costs.
A significant by-product of this goal will be the considerable upgrading of staff and service of many local public radio stations. National Public Radio could also be a primary resource for programs on U.S. life for distribution to foreign broadcasters. 7. While serving as NPR’s first program director in 1971, Siemering steered development and launch of the newsmagazine. National Public Radio might use any of the following to make the arts understandable and engaging. The speed and volume of international travel, economic interdependence among nations makes this area of programming more important than ever. For example, there may be congressional testimony on pollution problems in Lake Michigan which would be of interest to stations in that region. Represented in visual terms, the listener turning from a commercial station to National Public Radio should sense a difference as that between a shopper’s newspaper and Consumer Reports; Teen Magazine and Realites. These efforts could be furthered and supplemented by NPR production on a national basis. Now, The hearing room was bathed in artificial incandescence, little short of nuisance, and that some witnesses donned sun glasses more confirmed the annoyance. By 'public,' that means everybody.". I became fascinated by radio when I was in Obviously individuals and groups must solve this, and shared information and cross fertilization of ideas by live national radio could do much to speed the process. Considered comes in second. Organize — but for what, to do what? Public radio stations will be a source for programming input as well as program dissemination. The program would be well paced, flexible, and a service primarily for a general audience.
passion. That’s an excerpt from a 1970 mission statement that Bill Siemering wrote at the outset of National Public Radio, of which he was one of the original organizers and its first program director. Bill: That wouldn’t pass any corporate mission statement today. NPR’s Morning Edition is the most–listened-to From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia William H. "Bill" Siemering (born October 26, 1934) is a radio innovator and advocate. Miller, “From the very beginning, there was a social concern: using radio for social good,” Siemering said. https://current.org/2019/04/bill-siemering-we-are-living-in-the-new-age-of-audio I learned subjects 2. P., Googins, B., & Kinnicutt, S. (2010). St. Louis on the Air brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. International programs can be a source of cultural enrichment and an effective means to further understanding among peoples around the world. you to the Polk Award committee for selecting me to receive this extraordinary honor. As one of the founding members of NPR board, Siemering crafted its original mission statement. Since the majority of member stations are part of large universities or near urban areas, for the first time the best intellectual resources of the country will be able to he effectively used, quickly and easily, on a national scale. For example, reproductions collected from around the country of a period or school of art could be printed and distributed through local stations. Listeners could gain a contemporary view of the world through the eyes of a sensitive writer. All rights reserved. Later in his career, Siemering worked to establish independent radio stations internationally through Developing Radio Partners, a U.S.-based nonprofit media group he founded in the early 1990s. you students here, discover your unique gifts and talents, then use them with Milwaukee Public Media is a service of UW-Milwaukee's College of Letters & Science. } Picket the local steel plant? All rights reserved. Bill Siemering talks with Lake Effect's Mitch Teich. 2. .post.thumbnail-seealso { National Public Radio will not regard its audience as a “market” or in terms of its disposable income, but as curious, complex individuals who are looking for some understanding, meaning and joy in the human experience. The co-founder of NPR considers how public media has grown since he wrote a renowned mission statement. Copyright 2020. Vision, mission, values. The potentials of live interconnection will be exploited, the art and the enjoyment of the sound medium will be advanced. } . Mission, strategy, and stakeholders. Greene is one of the voices that bring national and international stories to listeners over their morning coffee or on commutes to work. . “I thought by speaking with many voices and many dialects, as I wrote in the mission statement, that we would have a varied audience and by using sound to tell the stories, it would be more engaging and we’d attract a large audience,” Siemering said of his vision for NPR. Mission, vision, In this case, the vision statement of NPR is all about offering a leadership image in the media industry. Impact of new media on traditional radio. National Public Radio (NPR) is one of the leading media organizations in America. National Public Radio will serve the individual: it will promote personal growth; it will regard the individual differences among men with respect and joy rather than derision and hate; it will celebrate the human experience as infinitely varied rather than vacuous and banal; it will encourage a sense of active constructive participation, rather than apathetic helplessness. Even in the 1960s, when Siemering first started working in radio, there were many who felt the days of the industry were numbered.