Some of you know that, among my copious writings, I cover experimental music. I’m sometimes asked my favorite in the genre, and I always answer enthusiastically that it is Diamanda Galás.
I’ve interviewed the artist, written about her catalog and her performances. My quarterly ambient music column for Treble is named after one of her songs. Galás’ 1991 LP Plague Mass played as I wrote this.
Plague Mass is a beautiful, surprising and defiant rebuke to the politics of an era ravaged by the AIDS crisis. Galás lost her brother, 32, in 1986, when AIDS was looked upon as a mystery and official indifference to the epidemic was the norm.
Public media has never faced anything so grim. But pondering five years of writing this newsletter has made me think a lot about where we’ve all had to dig, and how we’ve had to fight.
OIGO was born at a time that the public media industry was wrestling more with our own kind of indifference. Then, public media lost CPB. Those of you in states that dispute public media’s value faced stressful, leading questions and assumptions about your work. Some of you at institutional licensees were under a microscope as never before. That does not even account for you who experienced the benevolent interrogation of whether diverse audience service matters, or when you have leadership who baldly do not care, or uses the moment as an excuse to not care.
We did not give up, though.
Solutions came in various inclusion efforts and attention to who the industry served, who it needed to engage more, and what was required to grow. There have been many champions and positive changes, to be sure. But shifting political winds have tested that progress.
When I started OIGO in 2021, my aspiration was pretty simple. I wanted to create a place to think about how public media could better serve diverse audiences, particularly Latino communities. My optimistic side thought there were others who felt the same. And there were… and are.
At its heart, OIGO has always been a conversation as much as a newsletter. I have learned from guests who shared their own experiences, offered exciting projects they were working on, or told me what they were struggling with inside their organizations. I’m honored when readers pointed the industry in the right directions, or challenged assumptions. I hope they—and I—have helped you too.
Although many conditions have shifted, the need for connection has only gotten stronger. OIGO stretches from time to time into serving all diverse audiences. It also has become a place to examine audience research, programming, leadership, journalism, technology and the sometimes uncomfortable space between what public media says it values, what the people doing that work feel, and what audiences truly want.
That gap can be difficult to confront. My dear friend Erika Carlos recently left El Tecolote amid organizational chaos, and a remark from a board member to Mission Local still sits with me. Organizations have brilliant opportunities to evolve under a new generation of leaders today. The trial is in not falling into entrenched patterns of resisting change to preserve traditional authority. It’s a toxin that kills retention, development and so many other advancements.
A former colleague used to tell me advocacy is an exercise in diplomatic anger. I have had interviewees bravely and rightfully air out their old organizations. And try as I might to not be a jerk, I’m sure my dissatisfaction has seeped through on a few occasions. But a lifetime of growing up visibly brown in Texas made me pretty good at smiling through obstacles. I realize that you can be frustrated by what isn’t working while still believing deeply in what could.
There is everything to fight for. And, fortunately, there is still plenty to be hopeful about.
As we arrive together at five years of OIGO, I have been asked about what’s next. I have wondered that myself, frankly.
The half-decade has brought enormous change. Public media has seen our beloved audiences age (as the United States itself is aging), political attacks, financial pressure as a result, conversations about its relevance, and a passing of the generational baton. There have also been many fundamental changes in how people discover and consume information. How audiences used to connect with public media still holds, but you can see cracks too.
OIGO has covered many of these matters, ideally in the most productive ways.
The attrition of the sector that covers media, including public radio and television, as well as attention to Latino and diverse audience service, is profound. That makes OIGO, to me, necessary in serving a major need.
I hear from people at times less interested in sharing out exactly what public media can do to expand Latine audience reach. Why? Because I sense that you wonder if the people who aren’t doing the work by now even genuinely want to, short of a change of heart. Yet many of us are still doing what I am: trying to inspire them to want it.
What seems to resonate most in feedback, readership and reach are the pieces that help us understand our history as public media, the people who made that history and the people making it now. Perhaps the next chapter of OIGO is about understanding how we got here, what we’re building now and what kind of public media we want to leave behind.
There are more of you to recognize for your support than I could ever name here. You have blessed me. Your care is touching and humbling. I appreciate every one of you.
Thank you for being beautiful, surprising and defiant. 🟢
Cafecito: stories to discuss ☕
Latino USA’s future. Inside Radio has the latest on efforts by the legacy public radio program to innovate across platforms. 🖥️
Personal story. Fresno State Today profiles Israel Cardona Hernandez, who worked with Radio Bilingue and KVPR, as he shares his experience with public radio. 🎙️
New series. World Cafe has a new Hispanic Heritage Month short-run program out called Before the Breakthrough. 🎼 It’s a four-part series that explores Latin American artists’ backgrounds and discography leading up to the creation of their first international hit.
Puerto Rico’s big papers cease print. El Nuevo Día and Primera Hora, the island’s preeminent newspapers, go fully digital. 🗞️ More on the decision (for reasons you can guess) via the Associated Press.
FAST channels and Hispanic consumers. A new study suggests ad-supported streaming TV channels are replacing subscription streaming services among Latinx viewers. 📺 The survey was just over 600 respondents.
El radar: try this 📡
See how Hispanic Heritage Month is being recognized. KRCU has a new article on efforts to encourage support for Latine businesses this month. 💸
Highlight arts and local Latino communities. Wisconsin Public Radio offers up the endeavors of a local nonprofit to utilize arts to connect residents. 🎵
Cover how politicians are appealing to Latinx voters in November. WXXI just reported on efforts by local leaders to serve the community as the midterms approach. 🏛️ North Country Public Radio is coverings similar issues.
And investigate how affordability is landing with Latino residents. KGNU featured a discussion on the subject as Colorado elections heat up. 💰
Make space for joy. Avanza Utah (OIGO story) is hosting an in-person party with DJs, dancing and live performances. 🎉 See the Eventbrite for inspo.
The next OIGO arrives Oct. 16. I’ll be speaking on artificial intelligence, ethics and journalism at the next Maynard Institute Propel training later this month. 🤖 It’s free for California journalists.
🥤 You can buy me a coffee if you’d like to support the newsletter.