CAB Public Forum Notes - October 2023

Pillar

Comment / Observation

Key Takeaway

WQXR

Advertising on QXR sometimes too long

Something to bear in mind if other listeners bring it up. Query is advertising on QXR meaningfully longer than on WNYC? Roughly how much air time do we give to sponsors? Can we confirm that it’s substantially less than commercial advertisements? 

WNJP

Listener in Skylands says Signal sometimes cuts

Grid issues are outside the CAB’s remit and probably beyond the ken of most people at the station, but is worth bearing in mind if this comes up again. 

WNJP

More climate change and conservation talks as it impacts New Jersey. Resident in Highland Lakes says not a lot covered out this way.

A version of this came up *a lot* at the New Jersey Public Forum. As the station considers ways it can do deeper community-level coverage in New Jersey, climate change impacts is one area to consider. 

WNYC

Listener in Flemington wants to hear more environmental topics in NJ. NJ from environmental and climate perspective is very diverse for its size. Not just the coastline and waste dumps but flashflooding and wildlife conservation. 

See earlier comment. This listener also commented on NJ’s biodiversity and how it’s a meaningful part of the people’s experience of living there. Potentially local lens on climate coverage should take this into consideration. 

WNJP

Knows Lehrer does climate related issues on Tuesdays, but tends to be more broad than specific topics rather than something going on locally. Doesn’t mean he hasn’t been more specific at times. 

Keep a closer listen on Lehrer’s climate segments. Are they broader? More national? More policy-based? If the angle is more local, who is he in dialogue with. 

WNYC

Huge fan of Lehrer; podcasts politics segment, but didn’t know he was doing regular climate change. Lehrer Climate Change Podcast would be of interest. 

How easy would it be to break off Lehrer (and other) climate content into a podcast similar to his politics podcast? 

WQXR

Virtually never listens to NPR; When Lance Lucky is giving the news, there’s something about sports. How much of the content does the actual content doing the podcast does the actual person have control over? 

WNYC

Would love to see highlights of cities in Camden, in Trenton, in Newark, in Cape May, in Paterson. Local Food pantries, issues on Race, museums, neighborhoods would be interesting. Doesn’t necessarily need to features that are there. But might be something that’s current. 

Something to keep in mind as station continues partnership with Segregated NJ. How can we signal boost this content better? 

WNJP

Community Partnerships could be useful; but even areas of focus like bird migration in Cape May from a climate change standpoint. Peters Valley school of crafts in Sussex. Local cheesemakers. 

This listener was bringing in a wide range of suggestions, from a News, Community Partnerships, and even All of It angle. 

WBAI

In NJ, one thing that’s happening all over the state is “Bash and Build” (loss of affordable housing; developer buys conservable house, and destroys vegetation. Affordable housing is an issue, even in Monmouth County. 

Will Segregated NJ focus exclusively on schools, or on other areas where disparate racial impact has manifested? 

WBAI

Cutting of More Perfect and LaBrega concerning (though this listener never got to listen to it)

This is valuable feedback to here, even from listeners who did not regularly tune in. 

WNYC

Flemington Listener says would it be interesting to have a separate fund during pledge drive for NJ coverage

Very useful to consider for Spring Pledge Drive. 

WNJP

All of It would be a great spot for NJ-based cultural coverage!

All NJ listeners at the Public Forum love All Of It. Alison herself being from New Jersey could be something that can be leveraged content-wise. 

WNYC

Would actually like to hear more about NJ politics because they hear so much more of NY politics at top of the hour. 

This is very useful input as we sometimes hear that too much of NJ coverage is politics focused. But feedback here was that they hear so much more about Albany than they do about Trenton . 

WQXR

What about highlighting musical and cultural events that are in Newark. We’re pronouncing Ras Baraka’s name wrong

We here versions of this from other QXR listeners in NJ, though none of it Newark specific. NJPAC, Newark Museum, and Newark Public Library, all resources that can be leveraged here. 

WNYC

Having more coverage of NJ cities not just environmental, but cultural. 

See earlier comment. What are cultural institutions in other NJ cities? JC, for example, has a very robust public arts sector. What about Paterson? What about Elizabeth? 

WNYC

To the extent WHYY covers NJ, it’s only South Jersey (Camden, etc.) 

NJPR has an unrivaled remit for the entire state so station shouldn’t be afraid to go deep. 

WNYC

Flemington listener: understand problems of funding, but Dead End was so wonderful. If there was another in-depth series (even climate change related) she would be delighted. 

Every single person who has listened to Dead End absolutely raves about it. This needs to be taken into consideration as the station shifts its podcasting strategy. Might Nancy Solomon’s coverage function in a broadcast-to-podcast model? 

WNYC

Something like NYC Now or Consider This but with more NJ coverage would be very useful. 

It remains a challenging figuring out how to market NYC Now. Perhaps CAB members can submit themselves as guinea pigs/dedicated listeners to figure out how scalable this is for hyperlocal coverage. 

WNJP

Weather is too Five Boroughs-centric on Morning Edition. If it’s gonna be 60 in the city, it’s gonna be 50 in Sussex. Is there was a way for Michael Hill to say more about the weather (just enough) it would be helpful. 

What’s the sweet spot here? Maybe one NJ local per weather report? It doesn’t have to be the same one. AM temperature is probably very different in Skylands compared to Hoboken. 

WQXR

NJ Transit can be horrific: buses and trains; tunnel issues, congestion pricing. 

There is so much MTA coverage on WNYC, but not as much (or perhaps any) for NJ Transit. Who is the equivalent person to MTA chief in NJ and when was the last time they were on? 

WNJP

Public transportation in NJ is awful; it’s hard to get to the city from, say, Vernon to the City. 

See above comment

WNYC

All of our NJ Listeners don’t always listen to Ask Governor Murphy. Conflicts with PBS Newshour. It’s interesting to them *when they listen to it* but don’t always know when it’s on. Call-in aspect also really helps. In general trust, Nancy Solomon’s instincts about what questions to ask. 

Timing is an issue for Ask Gov Murphy (which likely is informed by the Governor’s own availability.) Nancy Solomon is held in as high regard among NJ listeners as Brian is in New York and she is an on air voice that people value and respect. A link to Ask Gov Murphy was distributed to forum participants afterwards: https://www.wnyc.org/shows/ask-governor-murphy/episodes