© 2024
NPR News, Colorado Stories
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
In the NoCo

From 'ramshackle' beginnings to true community journalism: CU professor traces NPR's roots in new book

University of Colorado media scholar Josh Shepperd digs into the history of NPR and public media. "One of the reasons I wrote the book, is because it's essentially a mission statement based approach to media, said Shepperd. "It really is an attempt that everyone has equal access to the same information."
Josh Shepperd
University of Colorado media scholar Josh Shepperd digs into the history of NPR and public media. "One of the reasons I wrote the book, is because it's essentially a mission statement based approach to media, said Shepperd. "It really is an attempt that everyone has equal access to the same information."

Have you ever wondered how NPR came to be? It certainly didn’t happen overnight. The history of National Public Radio is long and convoluted, starting in the early twentieth century with university-housed stations scattered across rural areas. These stations broadcast things like cooking lessons, and how to use indoor plumbing. But with the Communications Act of 1934 came the first congressional control over what was heard over the airwaves. With this, commercial media outlets enjoyed greater lobbying power than noncommercial broadcasters. This meant public media needed to evolve to meet the demands of a growing listening audience.

This complex history is chronicled in a new book, Shadow of the New Deal: The Victory of Public Broadcasting, by University of Colorado media history professor Josh Shepperd.

“Public media is the last bastion in reporting upon communities from the community itself,” said Shepperd when reflecting on public media’s role today. “So I think we need to protect our local public medias, especially our rural public medias.”

In The NoCo host Erin O’Toole sat down with Shepperd to talk about what public radio looked like 100 years ago, and how Western states like Colorado helped create the NPR name.

KUNC's In The NoCo is a daily slice of stories, news, people and issues. It's a window to the communities along the Colorado Rocky Mountains. The show brings context and insight to the stories of the day, often elevating unheard voices in the process. And because life in Northern Colorado is a balance of work and play, we celebrate the lighter side of things here, too.
Ariel Lavery grew up in Louisville, Colorado and has returned to the Front Range after spending over 25 years moving around the country. She co-created the podcast Middle of Everywhere for WKMS, Murray State University’s NPR member station, and won Public Media Journalism awards in every season she produced for Middle of Everywhere. Her most recent series project is "The Burn Scar", published with The Modern West podcast. In it, she chronicles two years of her family’s financial and emotional struggle following the loss of her childhood home in the Marshall Fire.
As the host of KUNC’s new program and podcast In the NoCo, I work closely with our producers and reporters to bring context and diverse perspectives to the important issues of the day. Northern Colorado is such a diverse and growing region, brimming with history, culture, music, education, civic engagement, and amazing outdoor recreation. I love finding the stories and voices that reflect what makes NoCo such an extraordinary place to live.