Ben WerdmullerJul 22, 2025
What if public networks became a platform for communities to create their own local media, not just consume it? After devastating federal funding cuts, here's one idea for rebuilding NPR and PBS around community co-creation, open platforms, and human-centered, prototype-driven design. https://werd.io/if-i-ran-npr-and-pbs/ #media #journalism
If I ran NPR and PBS

Building community-driven public media for the post-federal funding era.

Ben Werdmuller
Show threadDoomsdaysCWJul 22, 2025

@ben "Not only will these communities lose that much-needed information, when a community doesn’t have adequate local news, it often experiences increased political corruption. There are real knock-on effects for citizens of these communities: a lack of scrutiny leads to more opportunities to be exploited."

#CPBCuts #PublicRadio #Newspapers #CommunityRadio #CorporationForPublicBroadcasting

Show threadPaul Chambers🚧

@DoomsdaysCW Hasn't organized citizenship journalism ran platforms failed time after time on a community level, also?

Also, some of these rural areas only get the PBS signals OTA and have the poorest and slowest , most unreliable cable, internet and mobile service.

@ben

Jul 22, 2025 at 2:13pmWeb
Show threadDoomsdaysCWJul 22, 2025
@paul Yup! I saw that happen here in southern #Maine with the local newspapers. Some journalists banded together, bought the publications from a big corporation, then stopped printing the small weeklies, which people (especially seniors) depend on.
Show threadPaul Chambers🚧Jul 22, 2025

@DoomsdaysCW Also, I wasn't addressing @ben article, per se, with my comment to you, Dooms...

The article has some solutions and direction, like the flow of creations and toolkits, sustainability, platform independence, etc.

I just wanted to make that clear.

https://werd.io/if-i-ran-npr-and-pbs/

If I ran NPR and PBS

Building community-driven public media for the post-federal funding era.

Ben Werdmuller