黑料新闻

Generation Barney

Why do we revisit the things we loved as kids? What is the lasting power of this media? The seven-part podcast 鈥�Generation Barney鈥� looks for answers in a great, big, purple dinosaur.

In late 2024, 黑料新闻 launched this narrative podcast after a year-plus of research, reporting, scripting, editing, and mixing. When we started the podcast, we thought about focusing just on 黑料新闻鈥檚 personal connection to Barney. Back in the 鈥�90s, the station 鈥渄iscovered鈥� and then helped launch Barney & Friends on PBS.

But we realized that there was a real opportunity to engage listeners beyond just 黑料新闻. So we zoomed out and used Barney as a way to explore bigger themes like love and hate, nostalgia, children and consumerism, music and memory, and more.

In the third episode, we dive deep into the world of Barney hate. Some parents found the character pretty annoying. Other grown-ups took things a step further. In some cases, the Barney backlash even got violent. The episode explores what Barney hate might tell us about our culture today 鈥� and how much our identities can get wrapped up in the things we love and hate.

The podcast may have been locally produced, but it鈥檚 had national reach. So far, the podcast has more than 430,000 downloads. It鈥檚 also been featured on all the major podcast apps and in The Guardian, Entertainment Weekly, People, Variety, NPR, and more. But what鈥檚 been most impactful has been the response from the podcast鈥檚 listeners. It turns out Barney鈥檚 messages of love and kindness really resonate today. One of our listeners said it best: 鈥淭his show is a testament to the power of empathy and connection in an age bordering on apathy and isolationism. May we all remember Barney for the love he invites us to bring into the world.鈥�

Original airdate: November 19, 2024
Murrow Award submission date: February 13, 2025