“Die, Mediocrity!” sez Nancy Updike

The NPR Liaison To Independent Producers, Paul Ingles, has transcribed some of Nancy Updike’s excellent 3rd Coast Conference session called “Die, Mediocrity, Die!.”

Nancy says the enemy of most producers is not “badness” but rather, “O.K.-ness.” She says, “Have you ever noticed how easy it is to ignore a radio story?” After a few minutes, “it’s just noises and voices and you’re cooking or whatever and it’s hard to get back into it. So you just say, I’ll wait until the next story to tune back in and pay attention.”

This mental drift is our “enemy,” says Nancy. And we have to challenge ourselves to continually ask, “Is there a better way to tell this story? Is there a better piece of tape to get in there?”

You can listen to the whole hour at Third Coast, or:

(Full disclosure: Nancy has produced a lot of stories for HV, and Paul has also worked with us.)