This NPR API is a BIG deal.

2008 July 17
tags: ,
by Todd Mundt

Why? Here’s my (incomplete) list.

  • * Unprecedented flexibility for anyone, from a blogger in Pittsburgh to KQED in San Francisco, to generate highly specific content searches of the NPR archive (going back to 1995) and port the results to a webpage or an application.
  • * A number of stations also have their archives inside the system, too. So queries can also include (or not) results from those stations.
  • * If more stations are allowed to contribute their content metadata to the API, the search query delivers better and more complete results, encompassing more of the output of the entire public radio system.
  • * NPR content (and our content, when we join the API) begins appearing all over the web, and yes, this doesn’t diminish the value of our work or our web sites; it INCREASES its value as more people encounter and discover it, and click on the links to read more.

Those points are big but that last point is BIG.

The average public radio listener visits her public radio station web site twice a MONTH.

Yes, we’re all working to add value to our sites and increase visits; we must continue to do this. (We’re busting ass on this at Louisville Public Media’s three stations and we’re seeing some great results – details to be revealed in a few months.) But when that content appears on other platforms, that’s when we’ll have a much bigger audience for what we do.

Back to that average public radio listener: she may visit publicstation.org only twice a month, but she reads a set a 10 favorite blogs twice a day. If even one of those blogs uses the API to “curate” a selection of your stories, or installs a widget like this one, guess how much you’ve increased the potential of listeners discovering your content? And clicking over to your web site to read more?

There’s more to be said about other benefits of this… but this is what makes me very excited about what NPR’s Digital team has done… what NPR management has approved.

A technical fog can descend over stories like this, but it shouldn’t. This is a BIG deal.

from → publicmedia, tech

  • Ann V. (Monkeygrrl)
    Todd--Were do the statistics of blog views and pub site views come from? I'm working on a project... Thanks!
  • The number of public media site views per month is rough (if memory recalls, it's 2.6 times per month) and it comes from a report from a Public Media Metrics http://publicmediametrics.org/ presentation in Feb 08.
  • Todd, we haven't had a whole lot of time to go through the API details this week, but I will agree it's a big deal IF it allows stations to port more npr content to their own sites. I am all for getting my content out there on other sites and in searches all over the web - but I want to be able to have the content that our station provides on air appear on our website. Our listeners will go to stations websites more than twice a month if we can be the portal to content that we are on our broadcast signal. If that is the case, than the API is a HUGE deal and fresh and welcome approach to the system from NPR.
  • Good point, Josh. I think it will do this. I hope... I have written this piece assuming this is or will be possible.

    Actually, I should say it this way: I've written the piece from my own personal bias - a belief that the world outside our own web sites is much more important than our own web sites. But that said, our own web sites *must* be the best they can be, and in my opinion (sounds like yours too) that *must* mean a seamless integration of npr and station content on local web sites.
  • Todd
    Please do old farts like me a favor - can you explain what this all means in idiom and language that I can grasp - the widget looks nice but what does it mean?
    Thanks in advance
    Rob
  • Rob: what this means is that anyone can now gain access to 250,000+ stories we've produced since 1995 and produce their own mashups out of them. Think of all the cool tools that've been developed for Twitter - Twittervision, Summize, etc - they're all made possible because Twitter allows users to tap into their databases, grab the content and make something new out of it.

    For example, you could create a mashup that automatically generates a Flickr photo gallery based on keywords from NPR stories, and display it with the audio stream of each story. You could create a Google Map mashup that shows all the stories having to do with a geographic area. You could create Facebook widgets that play the audio of everything we've ever done related to the band Radiohead. You could create a mashup connecting our content to Twitter and do something so crazy I can't even fathom it. :-)

    For stations, we're giving even deeper access to the API that we're giving the general public, which will allow you to put more NPR content on your site than ever before. Dan Jacobson can provide more details.
  • Andy - thanks for the comment! And for clarifying the benefit for stations.
  • Andy gives a far more vivid description than I ever could, in the comments here. I just keep saying "This is big." LOL It takes a bit of explaining because it's complicated but then you see the light go off. I created a quick and dirty mashup and showed it to my boss this morning and he got excited about it.
  • "I am all for getting my content out there on other sites and in searches all over the web - but I want to be able to have the content that our station provides on air appear on our website. "

    Stations are free to take the content from the NPR API and present it in a wide variety of ways to your audience, including posting the content on your websites. An example of a station using the API to present content on their pages is Minnesota Public Radio's All Things Considered Page. For any given date in mpr.org, they are calling our API to get all of the ATC stories (in an RSS format) for that date and displaying them on the page. They are only presenting headlines, teasers and links, but you can easily add richer content if you would like.

    If you have any specific questions, you can either contact me directly offline, or you can contact your station rep.
  • Agreed! Here are some other examples of sharing content - we aired a recent Richard Florida speech on our local program "Speakers' Forum" and last night after the broadcast it was the #2 entry on a Richard Florida Google search. And in the National Newsroom of the Future project we're working to increase sharing of local news content across stations nationally, and there is a similar effort between local talk shows on stations in KOPB's Thinking Out Loud partnership group. Leveredging content for greater access and use is a good strategy.
  • Jack from coffee shop
    Yes I think that this is great
  • Ashish
    Todd- The blog mentions that the API will help NPR content "appear all over the web ...." However, the basic question is if the API is open for developers to develop commercial application. The T&C state that the API is for use only by non-profit organizations. Lets consider a developer who has developed an iPhone mashup app to use the NPR API. If this widget is not one of the free widgets and is being sold, then does it not violate the T&C and is therefore illegal? How about a blogger who develops a mashup as suggested in comments and has adsense running on the blog to generate revenue. Does that not violate the T&C ?
  • Ashish - Thanks for the comment. I think the T&C is pretty clear about whether or not a developer can create a widget or other application that is for-profit, using the NPR API. But if you have further questions, I invite you to direct them to NPR.
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