Lots of news, sure, and This American Life, and Wait Wait ... Don't Tell Me! and American Routes.
Hard-hitting, deep-dive watchdog stories, not so much.
But that may change if an intriguing new collaboration bears fruit.
The Center for Investigative Reporting, a non-profit news organization that does what its name suggests, and Public Radio Exchange (PRX), which distributes content to public radio stations, are joining forces to launch Reveal, which they hope will morph into a weekly, hour-long show packed with powerful journalism.
The program's pilot episode debuted this week, airing on more than 100 stations and in eight of the nation's top 10 markets.
Jake Shapiro, PRX's executive director, says the show is designed to "fill a gap in the public radio landscape." Its mission is to "take a longer, deeper look at the stories that matter most," says Joaquin Alvarado, the center's chief strategy officer.
This is very cool for a number of reasons. For one thing, the advent of a new source of investigative reporting is always welcome news. And the partnership highlights a number of encouraging trends that have emerged in the midst of the often-depressing news about traditional news organizations.
As many newspapers, facing crushing financial challenges and brandishing smaller staffs, have cut back on accountability reporting, exciting new ventures have arisen to help plug the gap.
While the Berkeley, Calif,.-based Center for Investigative Reporting has been around since 1977, it has mushroomed in recent years as non-profit journalism has come to the fore, and now has a staff of 75. It has transformed dramatically under the leadership of former Philadelphia Inquirer Editor Robert Rosenthal.
Two of its hallmarks are collaboration with other news outlets and extensive use of the opportunities afforded by a multiplatform world to broaden its r! each and heighten its impact. Teaming up with PRX exhibits both of these tendencies. CIR will dramatically expand its presence on public radio, and both organizations are highly attuned to the digital space.
Sophisticated, revelatory watchdog journalism is critical in a democracy. Here's hoping Reveal becomes a potent force.
So how did this marriage come about? Shapiro says it happened "fortuitously and serendipitously" through a connection between Alvarado and John Barth, PRX's managing director. They sensed there was a kinship between the organizations and that working together would provide an enormous opportunity for both. Things happened quickly after that.
Rather than wait until they were ready to do a full-fledged launch, the partners decided to put out a prototype and get a sense of how it went over with the stations and potential funders. So far, the positive feedback "has been beyond what we had been hoping for," Shapiro says.
Investigative reporting is an extremely time-consuming proposition, and coming up with fresh top-shelf material every week poses a challenge (the planners hope to go weekly sometime next year). That's why the program will include exposés not just from the center but also from other non-profit investigative news outlets and public radio stations that want to play. "If we had to do it all, we'd kill ourselves," Alvarado says.
The partners are using existing funds so far, but if the endeavor clicks, they anticipate it will be financed by a mix that will include philanthropy and sponsorships. The pilot was free, and it hasn't been decided whether stations will be charged in the future.
Rather than devote the entire hour to a single topic, the show will feature three big blocks and a number of shorter segments.
The first block will give listeners a behind-the-scenes look at how investigative reporting comes together, what Alvarado calls the Law and Order portion of the show. The sense is that this will play quite well with a publi! c radio a! udience, which tends to have an intense interest in news.
The second will be the main course, a major investigative piece, in effect a radio documentary. The aim, says Alvarado, is to create, for both radio listeners and digital news consumers, "great and compelling storytelling, which is what investigative reporting is all about."
Batting third will be a block focused on following up on earlier stories. What has been the impact? Have laws been changed? Did Reveal move the needle?
Interspersed will be a handful of shorter pieces. The first show, for example, features an interview with a lawyer coordinating the defense of NSA leaker Edward Snowden.
Shapiro, a public radio veteran who is looking forward to sharing Reveal with stations from coast to coast, developed his interest in connecting storytellers and audiences in an unusual way.
During the 1990s, he was a guitarist with the New England indie rock band Two Ton Shoe. His experience trying to "disrupt" the music industry helped propel him toward his current mission, he says.
Years later, Shapiro discovered that one of his songs had gone viral in South Korea. He takes from that a heartening message for creators, whether of music or journalism.
"Every artist," he says, "has a South Korea out there."
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