Radio in the Digital Age: WNYC Host Shumita Basu Provides Insights on Engaging Younger Audiences

WNYC producer and reporter Shumita Basu shared her experiences of working at WNYC, one of New York’s leading public radio stations with School of Communication and media students this week. The station broadcasts programs ranging from shows found on NPR and BBC to more local and original content.

With young audiences being more engaged with social issues, Basu stressed the importance of engaging with the audience in order to develop more impactful programming. With topics ranging from gun control (the “March for Our Lives” campaign), intersectionality, and other political issues, Basu elaborated on the views of her audience, “I think it’s really rad that kids are intersectional these days.” When speaking of trying to create a platform for younger listeners, Shumita Basu had this to say, “We are trying to get more young people on the air generally, we just feel like it would benefit everyone to hear all these different kinds of voices.”

When asked by students on WNYC’s content and the nuances of live versus edited content, Basu had this to say, “It depends on the show some shows are prerecorded… it’s up to us whether or not we want to cover NPR, it’s a lot of puzzle pieces, it’s really a mix.” When giving advice to students, Basu stressed the importance of “Writing for yourself” and “Writing in your own voice.” That’s sound advice, she offered, for a news cycle that can often be portrayed as “stuffy.” With WNYC’s listener focused approach, Shumita Basu delivers vibrant and gripping content.

You can hear Basu on WNYC’s Morning Edition, where she responds to the news of the day with a New York/New Jersey angle. Whether she’s catching you up on a local story, debunking a partly-true post that’s in your news feed, or asking listeners to call in with their thoughts, her goal is to get people thinking about the role news plays in their day. Previously Shumita was the social media and digital producer at The Brian Lehrer Show, which involved interacting daily with the show’s highly-engaged, thoughtful audience across all digital platforms.