In April this year, Get Known got the chance to head to the U. S. National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) event in Las Vegas.  The event gave us an opportunity to interview Dan Shelley the President and CEO of the Radio Television Digital News Association or RTDNA. As you will hear, Dan has been a long-time journalist and newsroom leader who has had experiences over the decades setting the standard for how the biggest news organizations deliver news. Over that time he has been helping the industry transition from its analog roots to the digital area. 

In our interview, we start with some history of the RTDNA and how it works today. We then get into the constitutional purpose of journalism for the American public and some of the differences between that and Europe’s democracies.  Dan’s own background is itself a history lesson in how broadcast journalism and digital news evolved in the U.S. We get into talking about the production of digital news, the advocacy work of RTDNA on behalf of journalists, and news ethics in a world increasingly driven by social media and polarized information. 

The US broadcasting industry and how news is made in Europe have many similarities but have so many interesting differences from how things are done. As we in Europe engage with US media and make our mark, it is so important to take these understandings into consideration. The market in the U.S. is so big and diverse. But like everywhere, social media and general digitalization have been huge factors in how information is consumed and it is great to see there are people like Dan Shelley in the mix helping the industry grow and develop.