NPR API: Open-Sourcing Syndication?

I was asked by the folks at the Center for Social Media to Write an Article:

A Peek Under the Hood of the NPR API

"In our new article, KJZZ webmaster John Tynan offers a first-hand account of his efforts to develop a widget that allows users to create tailored timelines of NPR pieces. In the process, he describes not only new tools for media makers, but a rising ethos of collaboration in public broadcasting. “A cultural shift in the public broadcasting world is leading to a deeper understanding that truly public media is now technically feasible,” notes Tynan, who suggests a several next steps that pubcasting organizations could take to nurture future experiments."

NPR / Timeline Mashup (Beta)

This is the companion blog for updates on a few select open source projects, such as the NPR Timeline Mashup. This mashup is an example of what can be done using the new NPR API.

• View a Sample Timeline.
• View the Latest NPR SIMILE Timeline (this particular sample is constantly being updated... at any given point it may return errors or alerts).
• Put a timeline on your site
  (Note: These scripts are in their early stages and are certain to change).

This script owes an incredible amount to the NPR Digital Media team. You can find out more about the NPR API here. You can also read about what they're up to on their blog Inside NPR.org

This also owes a great deal to the Simile Timeline project. You can read the documentation here, or ask a question about the timeline widget here.

If you would like to keep up with revisions to these pages, please feel free to checkout the latest files here or view additional details of the project here.