Peak Oil… Meet Public Media: Planning for the Downside

Are we in a recession? Hard to say. Unlike being hit on the head with a hammer, for instance, we don’t truly know if we’re in a recession until it’s stopped hurting. Is oil going to hit $200 a barrel, as some have predicted? Or $250? We don’t know.

What we do know is this: even if oil and gas prices don’t go higher than they are right now, we’ve just barely started to feel the ripple effects of current prices in our other costs of doing business.

This means the smartest organizations are approaching the next year conservatively: at American Public Media, Jon McTaggart has told staff: “we are assuming that the current weakness in the economy will be significant and sustained.”

Regardless of which economic forecast or guru you believe, it’s fair to conclude that, things aren’t going to be like they used to be for awhile.

So, how will you adapt? This week, I’m posting thoughts on a couple of the many ways this new economic reality might have an impact on public media.

They’re starting points for a discussion we should be having, not definitive statements on the topic at hand.  I hope you’ll read them, but more important, I hope you’ll comment and add your intelligence to this discussion.

• Thursday Part 1: Virtualizing the Workplace
  
• Friday Part 2: Social Media for Ourselves
• Monday Part 3: Engaging the Community