A cure for newspapers: cut out that NPR-style intellectualism

Lee Abrams, former XM satellite radio programmer turned chief innovation officer for the Tribune Company, wrote up 15 ideas for growing newspapers, including this gem: “Newspapers strike me as being a little TOO NPR. I like NPR, and their shows like Morning Edition do well. But NPR can also be a bit elitist. Morning News Radio has a lot of similarities to papers: Similar target audience; Old Media; Time restraints. It’s probably a good thing to study the feel of a well honed All News Radio station. Yeah, a different medium, but I sometimes get a slower more intellectual NPR feel from papers than a usually quicker paced and more mainstream News Radio delivery. It’s all about being INTELLIGENT…not intellectual. [Punctuation and emphasis–skewered here by Nancy Nall–are all his.]