Mike Janssen

Mike Janssen Served as Scanning The Dial's original co-authors from Mar, 2008 to Jan, 2010 and is a freelance writer, editor and media educator based in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. He has written extensively about radio, mostly for Current, the trade newspaper about public broadcasting, where his articles have appeared since 1999. He has also worked in public radio as a reporter at WFDD-FM in Winston-Salem, N.C., where he began his career in journalism and filed pieces for NPR. Mike's work in radio expanded to include outreach and advocacy in 2007, when he worked with the Future of Music Coalition to recruit applicants for noncommercial radio stations. He has since embarked on writing a series of articles about radio hopefuls for FMC's blog. Mike also writes regularly for Retail Traffic magazine and teaches workshops about writing, podcasting and radio journalism. In his spare time he enjoys vegetarian food, the outdoors, reading, movies and traveling. You can learn more about Mike and find links to more of his writing and reporting at mikejanssen.net.

CBC cuts classical; Kansas station airs taped local concerts; N.Y. host retires

March 5, 2008 by Mike Janssen

More goings-on in the news:

Commenter Chris asked us to pay attention to happenings across the border at the Canadian Broadcasting Corp., so here you go. CBC is cutting back on classical music aired during its weekday schedule in favor of more pop, rock and alternative. The move is aimed at attracting more listeners to the service, reports the CBC’s own website. (More in the Globe and Mail.)

Christopher O’Riley; classical radio in Anchorage; grant to N.J. station

March 5, 2008 by Mike Janssen

A few items gleaned from here and there: Christopher O’Riley, host of public broadcasting’s From the Top, discusses performing the music of Elliott Smith and Nick Drake: "Elliott’s songs work because they address a whole range of emotional problems. Each song was its own world. With Nick’s music, what interests me most are his instrumentals." O’Riley has some tapings and live performances coming up. KLEF, a commercial classical station in Anchorage, Alaska, tied for second place in share in the market’s fall 2007 Arbitron ratings, reports the city’s Daily News. The station … Continue Reading

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New York station hires host with eclectic tastes

March 4, 2008 by Mike Janssen

New York’s WNYC has a new host for its weeknight music show, Evening Music: Terrance McKnight, who just moved to the station from Georgia Public Broadcasting and made his on-air debut last night. The New York Times ran an article on McKnight last week that hit on an issue familiar to many classical public radio stations:

So what is this blog all about, anyway?

March 3, 2008 by Mike Janssen

Last month in Los Angeles, Dana Gioia, Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, premiered a chamber opera he wrote with composer Paul Salerni called "Tony Caruso’s Final Broadcast." The main character, Tony Caruso, is a failed operatic tenor, but he’s well respected as a classical music announcer. Sadly, Tony loses his job when his station drops its classical format and switches to Golden Oldies.

A familiar and painfully realistic scenario. The opera is fiction, but here’s a scenario that’s real: just over a year ago National Public Radio quietly closed down its Classical Music Unit, laid off nearly all of the staff, and outsourced its flagship shows Performance Today and SymphonyCast to American Public Media. NPR executed the shutdown so quietly that the public really never even knew about it.

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