Ever wonder why your local NPR station or PBS News sounds so different from your local TV news? It’s not just tone, it’s money, mission, and mindset.
In this episode of Laid Off and Looking, Domenic and Jenna talk with Stan Jastrzebski, longtime public radio news director for KBIA in Columbia Missouri. He's also a journalism researcher and breaks down why there is a divide between public media and commercial newsrooms. He covers how funding models can shape coverage, who journalists are actually serving, and why both systems are struggling to survive the digital age.
Stan also explains how public media’s civic mission of serving communities and uplifting marginalized voices often clashes with shrinking budgets and burnout, while in commercial newsrooms journalists find themselves chasing clicks, ratings, and advertisers just to stay alive.
He also dives into the “snowcap effect” inside news organizations, the diversity gap between leadership and staff, and what happens when communities stop trusting the people who tell their stories.
🎙️ In this episode, we get into:
00:00 - Start
04:08 - Public Media Shortcomings
05:33 - Stan Jastrzebski Interview
07:50 - What Makes Public Media Different
11:54 - Why Be In Public Media?
15:39 - But You Can’t Eat Awards
16:30 - Diversity In Public Media
22:03 - We Need More Stories from Member Stations
23:39 - Can Public Media Grow Your Career?
27:47 - What About the Fundraising Model
34:07 - Be In the Community
39:42 - Is The Most Trusted News Enough?
44:01 - State House Reporting
47:55 - The Public Media Sound
50:01 - Why Did You Become a Journalist?
If you care about who controls the story and what happens when the people disappear but the algorithms stay, this episode is for you.
👇 Tell us in the comments: Do you trust public media more than commercial news? Why or why not?
🎧 Subscribe to Laid Off and Looking for more honest conversations about the future of journalism, AI, and the people keeping truth alive.
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Ever wonder why your local NPR station or PBS News sounds so different from your local TV news? It’s not just tone, it’s money, mission, and mindset.
In this episode of Laid Off and Looking, Domenic and Jenna talk with Stan Jastrzebski, longtime public radio news director for KBIA in Columbia Missouri. He's also a journalism researcher and breaks down why there is a divide between public media and commercial newsrooms. He covers how funding models can shape coverage, who journalists are actually serving, and why both systems are struggling to survive the digital age.
Stan also explains how public media’s civic mission of serving communities and uplifting marginalized voices often clashes with shrinking budgets and burnout, while in commercial newsrooms journalists find themselves chasing clicks, ratings, and advertisers just to stay alive.
He also dives into the “snowcap effect” inside news organizations, the diversity gap between leadership and staff, and what happens when communities stop trusting the people who tell their stories.
🎙️ In this episode, we get into:
00:00 - Start
04:08 - Public Media Shortcomings
05:33 - Stan Jastrzebski Interview
07:50 - What Makes Public Media Different
11:54 - Why Be In Public Media?
15:39 - But You Can’t Eat Awards
16:30 - Diversity In Public Media
22:03 - We Need More Stories from Member Stations
23:39 - Can Public Media Grow Your Career?
27:47 - What About the Fundraising Model
34:07 - Be In the Community
39:42 - Is The Most Trusted News Enough?
44:01 - State House Reporting
47:55 - The Public Media Sound
50:01 - Why Did You Become a Journalist?
If you care about who controls the story and what happens when the people disappear but the algorithms stay, this episode is for you.
👇 Tell us in the comments: Do you trust public media more than commercial news? Why or why not?
🎧 Subscribe to Laid Off and Looking for more honest conversations about the future of journalism, AI, and the people keeping truth alive.
Press Pass: The Paper and Why Journalism Is Our Kryptonite
Laid Off and Looking
1 hour 24 minutes 17 seconds
1 month ago
Press Pass: The Paper and Why Journalism Is Our Kryptonite
Welcome to Press Pass, our new bonus series where Jenna and Dom go on tangents, share gossip, and get into everything shaping the news.
For our first episode, we watched all ten episodes of Peacock's hit series “The Paper” (“The Office” spinoff) and compared it to our own newsroom days. We talk about what the show gets right, what it plays for laughs, and why local news deserves better. Plus, we swap experiences from the field, from road trips to office pranks to the emotional cost of covering big stories.
Want to watch “The Paper”? You can stream all 10 episodes now on Peacock!
*Also, no Jenna is not sick, she has terrible allergies and a stuffy nose!
00:00 – Start
00:31 – The Paper Clip
01:54 – Laid Off and Looking Intro
03:02 – What Did You Think of The Paper
09:29 – All Politics Are Local
11:11 – Journalism Is My Kryptonite
11:39 – Local News: Are We Working or Volunteering?
14:43 – It’s a Comedy Series
15:51 – Meet the Toledo Truth Teller Newsroom
36:54 – The Courage in Journalism
40:30 – I’m a Journalist NOT a Salesman
44:06 – News Influencers v Reporters
46:52 – Journalism is Expensive
54:04 – Awards Season
1:10:15 – It’s Not Glamorous Work
1:17:20 – What Did You Think of the Show?
Laid Off and Looking
Ever wonder why your local NPR station or PBS News sounds so different from your local TV news? It’s not just tone, it’s money, mission, and mindset.
In this episode of Laid Off and Looking, Domenic and Jenna talk with Stan Jastrzebski, longtime public radio news director for KBIA in Columbia Missouri. He's also a journalism researcher and breaks down why there is a divide between public media and commercial newsrooms. He covers how funding models can shape coverage, who journalists are actually serving, and why both systems are struggling to survive the digital age.
Stan also explains how public media’s civic mission of serving communities and uplifting marginalized voices often clashes with shrinking budgets and burnout, while in commercial newsrooms journalists find themselves chasing clicks, ratings, and advertisers just to stay alive.
He also dives into the “snowcap effect” inside news organizations, the diversity gap between leadership and staff, and what happens when communities stop trusting the people who tell their stories.
🎙️ In this episode, we get into:
00:00 - Start
04:08 - Public Media Shortcomings
05:33 - Stan Jastrzebski Interview
07:50 - What Makes Public Media Different
11:54 - Why Be In Public Media?
15:39 - But You Can’t Eat Awards
16:30 - Diversity In Public Media
22:03 - We Need More Stories from Member Stations
23:39 - Can Public Media Grow Your Career?
27:47 - What About the Fundraising Model
34:07 - Be In the Community
39:42 - Is The Most Trusted News Enough?
44:01 - State House Reporting
47:55 - The Public Media Sound
50:01 - Why Did You Become a Journalist?
If you care about who controls the story and what happens when the people disappear but the algorithms stay, this episode is for you.
👇 Tell us in the comments: Do you trust public media more than commercial news? Why or why not?
🎧 Subscribe to Laid Off and Looking for more honest conversations about the future of journalism, AI, and the people keeping truth alive.
