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.
Culture reporting isn’t fluff. It covers music, film, reality TV, the arts, and so much more, showing why these things matter and what they reveal about us. Jenna and Dom talk with writer and scholar Kovie Biakolo about why cultural reporting is essential, what’s lost when newsrooms cut it, and how it’s different from influencer commentary.
Kovie points to “Love Island USA” to show how desirability politics and identity play out on screen, connects reality TV to modern politics, and explains why AI can’t replace cultural analysis.
00:00 Start
09:53 - What is a Culture Desk?
13:18 - Pop culture is how Americans understand their identities
17:34 - The Importance of Love Island
28:08 - The Hierarchy of Relationships
31:04 - Cultural Reporters Help Us Understand Beauty
35:11 - Why We Are Where We Are Politically
39:40 - Why Culture Reporting Has to Matter
41:21 - Journalists Give More Than Hot Takes
47:20 - Should Journalists Be the New Social Media Stars?
53:29 - Can AI Do Culture Reporting?
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.
