Cockdians

Anyone here know anything about the origins of the term "cockdian"?

 

Re: NPR

At the bare minimum: It's in DC, so it would involve all of the headaches and such that go along with the place (traffic, high COL etc.).

That's all I got.

 

Re: NPR

You might have to do a show about Schwetty balls.

 

Re: NPR

The ups:

You get to do longform reporting on the radio, with no commercial considerations, and with a wideopen concept of production. You get to be smart, not much LCD work there.

The downs:
The money at the affiliates is not real good. The employment is wholly based on the vagaries of fundraising. And a lot of the smaller affiliates are coming to depend on NPR national shows for a lot of their programming.

 

Re: NPR

Ha Ha Ha!

I can't wait to get my mouth around your balls.

 

Re: NPR

as for working at the affiliates, you wouldn't be working for NPR. you'd be working for minnesota public radio or new york public radio or whateve it's called in the specific area you choose.

the state versions vary widely in quality. some of the bigger state public radio outfits pay well and are unbelievably competitive to get into -- minnesota public radio is an example of one of the nation's best. it has most of its people in the twin cities but (at least it did until recently -- not sure if this is still the case) had one-person bureaus throughout the state. you can often find the bigger and better outlets in the bigger cities, although that isn't always the case. here in miami, for instance, the local public radio station is affiliated with the herald and has a small staff of severely underpaid newsreader-types -- they do almost no original reporting and just put out the headlines from the herald.

recently NPR in washington hired a bunch of big time journalists from papers such as the baltimore sun. i think they used some of the $200 million they got from joan kroc to ramp up personnel.

if you're looking for an entry level job i think your best bet is internships or behind-the-scenes production stuff.

 

Re: NPR

The NPR station here does very little local production. There's a talk show M-F and some locally produced music programs at night, but the bulk is network programming, plus local cut-ins for Morning Edition and All Things Considered. And, having done some news-related work with the station, I know the pledge drives are both hated by station personnel, but necessary for survival. Like newspapers,these aren't "get rich quick" jobs.

 

Re: NPR

That's a very good point that I missed -- about working for the affiliates and nto for NPR, per se.
My favorite local was the one I heard in Wyoming that played classic rock from 10-noon -- yes, "Dust In The Wind" on your nickel.

 

Re: NPR

I'd love to get a job with Ira Glass at This American Life on PRI. That would be a great gig.

 

Re: NPR

hands down the best show on TV or radio out there. his show is so damn good. but i think the majority of his stories are put out by freelancers, with the occasional one being reported by an in-house producer. not sure but i assume it's just ira and a couple producers as full-timers.