Rough Cuts is a blog and

podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosin ...

published by

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

. The purpose of the project is to invite the public to participate in the development of new radio programs. Traditionally, radio programs would be created behind closed doors, then premiered when they were adequately polished for public consumption. Rough Cuts takes a different approach, publishing rough drafts of radio segments and soliciting public feedback. The feedback is then used to improve the quality of the show, in the hopes of premiering a better radio program. NPR describes this process as "open piloting," its name inspired by the

open source Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open-source model is a decentralized sof ...

and open content movements. The first radio show to "graduate" from Rough Cuts is ''Tell Me More'', hosted by journalist

Michel Martin Michel McQueen Martin is an American journalist and correspondent for National Public Radio and WNET. After ten years in print journalism, Martin has become best known for her radio and television news broadcasting on national topics. Background ...

. That program began national production in April, 2007. Rough Cuts will also be used to help develop a new morning radio program targeting a younger audience. That program, tentatively titled ''The Bryant Park Project'', seeks to compete with ''

Morning Edition ''Morning Edition'' is an American radio news program produced and distributed by NPR. It airs weekday mornings (Monday through Friday) and runs for two hours, and many stations repeat one or both hours. The show feeds live from 5:00 to 9:00 A ...

''. ''Bryant Park'' may be offered on digital sub-channels of a station's frequency, or as a stream on the station's website. Hosted by

Luke Burbank Luke Burbank (born May 8, 1976) is an American radio host and podcaster who hosts the Portland, Oregon-based syndicated variety show '' Live Wire Radio'' and the Seattle-based former radio program and current podcast '' Too Beautiful to Live''. ...

and

Alison Stewart Alison Stewart (born July 4, 1966) is an American journalist and author. Stewart first gained widespread visibility as a political correspondent for MTV News in the 1990s. Early life and education Stewart was born in Glen Ridge, New Jersey. ...

, the ''Bryant Park Project'' will be produced at NPR's New York bureau, and is expected to launch in September 2007. Rough Cuts is not the first radio project to involve public participation. Other examples include WGBH's

Open Source Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open-source model is a decentralized sof ...

and the BBC's World Have Your Saybr>

See also

References

External links