In Defense of "Silos"

Welcome to the Public Media Innovators newsletter! This week we’ve got a contrarian take on organizational silos, the announcement of our February webinar, SmartTVs and Smart Glasses from CES, Axios and AP doing deals with OpenAI and Google, and finally, the world first Millennial saint.

But First…

Greetings from PBS HQ. I’ve just been in DC for a couple of days attending the Council Leadership Summit (as Vice Chair for the PBS Kids Leadership Council). Interesting time to be in DC. Feels a bit like the pause between inhale and exhale. But the council meeting was great. And it has me thinking a lot about silos.

In Defense of “Silos”

If you've ever been around me when the discussion of "breaking down silos" comes up, you may notice I get suspiciously quiet. The truth is, I think silos - when they are intentionally deployed and maintained - can be very useful organizational tools. So, I was excited last year when my former GM, Mark Leonard, sent me Dustin Block’s piece from TV News Check, For TV News, Broadcast And Digital Silos Aren’t Always Bad. Here’s Why. This quote especially resonated with me: "We built what many would call a “silo” for our digital team, but I prefer to think of it as a greenhouse — a protected space where our digital strategies could grow and flourish without the constraints of broadcast thinking. The results spoke for themselves. We quickly became the top news site in the market, outperforming even established legacy newspaper brands. Our secret? We let digital be digital.”

Any discussion about silos quickly becomes a discussion of semantics. A “silo” is in the eye of the beholder; or one person’s “silo” is another person’s incubator (“greenhouse”). I saw the positive effects of this during the last nine years running Nebraska Public Media Labs. When I started, our broadcast TV unit was on its own journey of innovation, and they have done cool things of their own in that time. Sometimes we work with them, but usually we don’t. We were in our own “silo,” incubating our own projects with other collaborators, and achieving parallel goals. From the beginning, this was by design

One thing I’ve noticed working at multiple companies over the years, is that people railing against “silos” are either organizational development purists (rare) or are people seeking power over something they feel is cloistered out of their reach (common). So, the next time you hear someone talking about breaking down “silos” ask yourself what they stand to gain from that access, and what do the people giving up access stand to lose. Usually, anti-”silo” rhetoric is couched in terms of the overall good and health of the organization but dig a little deeper and see if it can’t also be tied to someone’s under-resourced vision or ungraspable goal. I’m not arguing that you shouldn’t go ahead and break down the “silo” in that instance. But it’s also okay to call bull**** on false altruism. “Read the room,” as they say.

“Silos,” when they are thoughtfully and intentionally constructed, can bring equity to smaller working units in an organization with larger, more dominant units, support diversification of your organization’s product portfolio, and can allow highly productive sub-cultures to form within an organization that ultimately can benefit the social health of organization.

Of course, “silos” get a bad rap because they usually form organically and often shelter covetous behavior. So, if you have the luxury of working in a “silo,” you also have a responsibility to not be an ***hole about it. “Silos” are administrative tools, and there are times where you do have to open the doors and share a little of the creativity and work ethic that the “silo” shelters. Station-wide priorities (e.g., America 250, for some of you) and community crises (e.g., natural disasters) are two easy examples. I know a lot of people in “silos” across public media, and I don’t know any that wouldn’t break down the “silo” and lend a hand in either of those instances.

So, let’s stop hating on “silos.” When thoughtfully deployed and cultivated, they can be a vital part of helping to move your organization into the future.

Innovate with Current

If you are Johnny-on-the-spot in opening and reading this newletter, there is still a couple of hours to register for today’s webinar (Thursday, 1/16 at 1pET/10aPT), Visions for Public Media’s Future. It’s our first collaboration with Current in a year and you’re going to want to kick the year off right with panelists Amanda Mountain, CEO of Rocky Mountain Public Media; Steve Bass, former CEO of Oregon Public Broadcasting; Kristen Muller, former Chief Content Officer at LAist; Nathalie Hill, Chief Audience Officer at KCRW; and Tom Davidson, formerly of PBS and PBS North Carolina, and now teaching Media Innovation at Penn State.

The webinar is also a ‘Part 1 of 2’, and this week’s we’re announcing Part 2, The Secret History of Public Media. You can read the descriptions and register for both in the Learn section below.

Okay, on to the links…

Learn…

Innovate with Current: The Secret History of Public Media - Thursday, February 20, 2pET/11aPT - We all know the origin story of public media—the 1960s, Lyndon Johnson, the Public Broadcasting Act, the premiere of Sesame Street, and NPR’s first broadcasts. But public media’s spirit of innovation, mission-driven storytelling, and fearless experimentation started long before that—over 100 years ago.

In this webinar, Current’s Mike Janssen leads a thought-provoking conversation with the next generation of public media historians, Josh Shepperd (University of Colorado Boulder) and Allison Perlman (University of California, Irvine). Together, they’ll uncover how past innovators in public media navigated emerging technologies and shifting audience behaviors—struggles that feel familiar today. Long before PBS and NPR, pioneers like us rose to the occasion. Their stories offer inspiration and practical lessons for shaping the next era of public media. Be among the first to register for this webinar here.

Al in the Workplace ($) - Tuesdays, Feb. 11, 18 and 25, 2025 11a-12:30p ET - "Learn from the writers, editors and technical team responsible for AI strategy at the Associated Press. Each week you’ll learn from technical demos, real-world case studies and ethical considerations when using AI for efficiency, decision making and data management."

Earn…

Google.org Accelerator: Generative AI Open Call (Google) - This deadline for this one is Tuesday, Feb 11, 2025 at 1:00 AM (I'm presuming Pacific Time). H/t to Deb Sanchez for making me aware of this one. The following is from their application page: "We are particularly interested in proposals from all over the world leveraging gen AI technology to solve problems in impactful ways across Google.org’s focus areas: Knowledge, Skills, & Learning...Scientific Advancement...Resilient Communities.” Reading through the webpage about the Accelerator, I think many of us could contribute in the first and third categories. You can learn more here, and apply here.

Think…

The new rules of media (Kyle Chayka - One Thing)

Key Line: “Nothing matters more than the relationship between a person, brand, or publisher and their audience....The relationship between person-who-makes and person-who-consumes is paramount to long-term success, because if you are winning that game then you will be able to survive.”

Why It Matters: There are several good nuggets in a piece that's also a little cheeky. Check out the ones on localism, media literacy and the value of "newsiness."

C is for Cook — why Apple TV Plus needs to save 'Sesame Street' (Philip Michaels - Tom's Guide)

Key Line: "Apple has worked with Sesame Workshop before, commissioning a show called "Helpsters" where monsters taught kids about teamwork and problem solving. "Helpsters" racked up three seasons worth of episodes, so you'd imagine that both Apple and Sesame Workshop got something out of the deal."

Why It Matters: Interesting notion here. It's also interesting that in 2025, as in 1995, "Save Sesame Street" is still a clarion call. It's just a shame public media is no longer at the core of that call. No one seems to be arguing that Sesame should go back to being exclusively streamed by PBS.

Is Canada Ready for Life Without the CBC? Pierre Poilievre Thinks So (Tom Jokinen - The Walrus)

Key Line: "Meanwhile, the CBC is fighting for its life. Imagine what its place will be in a fractured media environment with no public funding. It can be done: focus on intensely local news (including parliamentary) as a non-profit, donation-based service living lean, covering that which private, for-profit media has no interest in. Make it technically nimble: audio and online only."

Why It Matters: While the CBC is closer to the BBC than PBS in structure, sometimes it's still useful to see examples of how public media is fairing abroad. In this case - with a change in Canadian government imminent - the underlying issues are different, but the mechanics of criticism are similar. So, too, are the prescriptions for survival.

Know…

CES 2025: The 8 Most Advanced Smart Glasses We tried - And Were Impressed By (Prakhar Khanna & Kerry Wan - ZDNet)

Key Line: “Much of what's showcased at the Consumer Electronics Show typically doesn't end up on the market. Fortunately, some of the best smart glasses we saw at the show likely will....The picks below aren't just limited to AR glasses that compete with the Apple Vision Pro and similarly-functioning VR headsets; they include Meta Ray-Ban competitors, tint-changing wearables, and more.”

Why It Matters: While I'm not sold on the fact that that 2025 is the year of the smart glasses, we are getting closer to that tipping point. This piece gives you a quick look at the field of options.

Your 2025 CES Smart TV Cheat Sheet (Janko Roettgers - Lowpass)

Key Line: “To be fair, the AI-ization of TV has been happening for some time. AI upscaling of HD content to look better on 4K HDR screens has become a common feature, voice assistants have long been present on TVs, and machine learning has of course been key to personalizing streaming for years. But during this year’s CES, TV makers did show off some genuinely new and interesting AI features, and also made some other announcements that could influence how consumers interact with the screens in their living rooms for years to come.”

Why It Matters: AI has been a part of the communal screen in a home for years now. This year, it seems marketing finally caught up to implementation. About 10% of you get Janko's newsletter already (and more should subscribe). For the other 90%, here's a savvy recap.

Google unveils an AI-powered TV that summarizes the news for you at CES 2025 (Maxwell Zeff - TechCrunch)

Key Line: "While Google shied away from AI news summaries at first, pushing users toward Google Search instead, the company is now loosening its guardrails on Gemini. The AI assistant will summarize news stories today, but News Brief appears to be Google’s first dedicated AI news product. Notably, News Brief did not show the source of where it gets its information from, but it does show related YouTube videos. A Google executive told TechCrunch it’s pulling the information from not just YouTube video headlines, but also from across the web."

Why It Matters: Since it's largely pulling from YouTube, I'm guessing that those terms of service now mean you grant AI scraping rights to any video you upload. Discoverability is the fundamental challenge of the digital age and if you're public media organization does video, there's a new subset of SEO to master.

Comparing video generation AI to slicing steak, including Veo 2 (World_Designer - Reddit (r/singularity))

Key Line (from the comments): '"You know, I know this steak doesn't exist. I know that when I put it in my mouth, the Matrix is telling my brain that it is juicy and delicious."'

Why It Matters: Watch those fingers. It’s useful to see this side-by-side comparison, just to set a benchmark heading into 2025 (the year of AI video?). But the big news here is actually how good Google Veo 2 is (especially when you compare it to OpenAI's Sora).

Extra Credit: Check out Jason Zada's short film, The Heist (on Instagram), created with Google's Veo 2. As Jason says, it’s not perfect, but it gives you a look at the state of the art as 2025 begins.

OpenAI will fund four Axios Local newsrooms as part of a broader partnership focused on “juicing local news” (Laura Hazard Owen - NiemanLab)

Key Line: "Now, for the first time, the company is directly funding newsrooms. OpenAI and Axios said Wednesday that they have partnered and that OpenAI will fund four new Axios Local newsrooms, “enabled by our technology,” in Pittsburgh, Pa.; Kansas City, Mo.; Boulder, Colo.; and Huntsville, Ala. The launches will bring Axios’s total number of local newsrooms to 34."

Why It Matters: Is "newswashing" the next "greenwashing"? Probably, but if this leads to more ethical use of AI in journalism then maybe it’s a reasonable trade. I just wish one of the bigger AI companies would spread a bit of their largesse in public media’s direction. Nevertheless, as I now live outside of Boulder, I'll keep you posted from the consumer angle.

Google signs deal with AP to deliver up-to-date news through its Gemini AI chatbot (Matt O'Brien - AP)

Key Line: “Google announced the deal in a blog post Wednesday, saying that AP ‘will now deliver a feed of real-time information to help further enhance the usefulness of results displayed in the Gemini app.’ AP’s chief revenue officer, Kristin Heitmann, said it is part of a longstanding relationship with the search giant ‘based on working together to provide timely, accurate news and information to global audiences.’”

Why It Matters: AP was one of the first news organizations to do a deal with OpenAI so it's interesting that they are no longer exclusive. But of course, the AP also has a history of collaborating with Google. Hopefully that sets a precedent for smaller news organizations to be able to deal with multiple model developers.

The US government announced a ‘historic’ nuclear energy deal (Justine Calma - The Verge)

Key Line: “The GSA is framing the contract as a way to lock in more affordable prices as data centers drive up electricity demand and increase competition for limited clean energy sources: ‘In the face of uncertainty over future electricity prices and increasing electricity demand from data centers and AI facilities, for instance, this contract provides federal agencies with budgetary stability and protections from future price increases by keeping their electricity costs fixed for 10 years, while also continuing to bolster the domestic nuclear industry.’ Google, Meta, Amazon, and Microsoft have all inked splashy nuclear energy deals over the past year. In September of last year, Microsoft and Constellation announced a plan to restart a shuttered reactor at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania, the site of the worst nuclear energy accident in US history.”

Why It Matters: File under “The More You Know??“ The advent of AI comes with a cost. And that will eventually make its way to your station's bottom line. Nuclear energy was a pariah as little as 5 years ago, but we're going to increasingly need its output to keep energy costs at a reasonable level.

Biden administration opens up federal land to AI data centers (Rebecca Szkutak - TechCrunch)

Key Line: "The executive order’s emphasis on renewable energy here seems notable. Data centers currently consume 4% of all the U.S.’ power, according to the Electric Power Research Institute, and that figure is expected to grow to 9% by the end of the decade. Overall, data center power demand is expected to double over the next five years, according to a report by JLL."

Why It Matters: I'm glad there is an emphasis on cleaner energy, but I'm curious how this is different from drilling on public lands.

And finally…

'God's influencer' to be made first millennial saint in April (Tom Gerkin - BBC) - And finally, influencer culture (and a Millennial) comes to ranks of sainthood.

Have a creative, productive week!