When Charles Kravetz took over as general manager of WBUR at the beginning of the year, he said his first priority for Boston University’s NPR affiliate station was to recognize the significance of digital platforms and stay ahead of technological advances, with his ultimate goal to make WBUR “more of a player in the civic and cultural life in Boston.”
In June, WBUR won the Edward R. Murrow Award for best large market website in the country by the Radio and Television Digital News Association. RTDNA describes the award as “one of the highest honors an electronic journalist can receive.
Last year WBUR received the Murrow award for overall excellence.
“I think it reflects our commitment to high quality journalism, in both radio and digital platforms,” Kravetz said in an interview. “We are a multi-platform news organization.”
John Davidow, executive editor of the WBUR website, said the network is trying to be “sharable and engaging” for all demographics, particularly younger followers.
“We are trying to be accessible across all our platforms to reach an audience that knows WBUR and also one that doesn’t know WBUR. We want to reach people who are attracted by the quality of our content and the quality of our presentation,” Davidow said. “I think it would appeal to any demographic and in particular the younger generation who would get information on [the] fly, on mobile phones, those who don’t have radios.”
The website’s updates should serve various age groups, rather than a younger demographic specifically, Kravetz said. Before he came to WBUR, the website was meant to undergo changes to transform it from a brochure-like site to an actual news site for clarity purposes, he said.
“We want to improve and expand our use of social media and other platforms for delivery of our content,” Davidow said. “The other part is that we would like to focus our continuing attention on broader and deeper coverage of what is going on locally and the arts scene in Boston.”
Kravetz said he understands that adapting to current media trends allows WBUR to “become a bigger player for news.” He said the station still has room for growth.
“Anybody who decides to go into legacy journalism without digital experience is making a big mistake,” he said. “Students need to understand what each platform provides and must be capable of multi-tasking between fields.”
If students can be skilled in radio, broadcast and print journalism, they can be successful in communication fields at any time, he said.
Kravetz, former president and general manager of New England Cable News, said he used WBUR and NPR as models for NECN.
“The idea to run [WBUR] was appealing as it is a terrific organization filled with serious, educated journalists that I myself believe in and that Boston also values,” he said.
College of Arts and Sciences freshman Henry Hau said he enjoys tuning into Marketplace and Marketplace Money for updates on the business world.
“As a student, I don’t always get the chance to sit down and read the newspaper everyday, but with the radio, I can catch up on the latest news while doing my school work,” Hau said.
