At Digital Hollywood Wednesday morning, on a panel with a long title (Branded Media Marketing – TV, Film, Broadband, Podcasting & Blogging, Mobile, Music and Games – Reinventing the Commerce & Media Model), a panelist, J. D. Heilprin, asked Maria Thomas, another panelist, from National Public Radio, if NPR was thinking of itself as a media company, not just a radio company.
The answer was yes, although it’s clear that’s an evolutionary step. (I’m paraphrasing.)
Which makes me wonder about the R in NPR.
How long before Steve Inskeep and others use only the acronym NPR to refer to their media company, rather than the bold, emphatic National Public Radio one still hears most of the time?
In a different forum, I once pointed out the danger of naming your publication after a time period.
The new corollary, I suppose, is to be wary about specifying your medium if you’re a media company.