Current's The Pub

Back in 2012, Jennifer Brandel had the best new idea in local news that anyone has had in a long time. Rather than report the same old stories, ask the audience: What have you always been curious about? Use democratic online tools to pick the best questions, then go out and answer them as best you can. That was Curious City, a Localore project based at WBEZ in Chicago. It has since been imitated and replicated dozens of times over. In January, Brandel started Curious Nation, a spin-off company designed to help franchise the Curious City model to other cities. Last week, Curious Nation became Hearken, and with the new name comes a new and broader mission: to help journalists do work that better reflects the information needs and desires of their audience. Also this week: - We conclude last week’s investigation into why some national program producers are opting to self-distribute their shows - WHYY Vice President for News and Civic Dialogue Chris Satullo argues that stations shouldn’t just do journ