Hello there,

When I last wrote in May, I had been Executive Producer of On Point for just three months — and it was day one for our series, Amazon: The Prime Effect. Amazon has proved the perfect case study for the On Point treatment. It impacts our lives in so many more ways than most of us appreciate with an intentionality that is little recognized. The series has demonstrated how a show like On Point can deliver smartly produced, vibrant, original journalism.

Host Meghna Chakrabarti and Senior Editor Dorey Scheimer have taken us on quite a journey since then. In episode one, we learned just how relentless Amazon’s founder, Jeff Bezos, was in his ambition from the outset. It’s fair to say that ‘relentless’ was a corporate value. Type ‘relentless.com’ into your web browser if you need confirmation of that.

As we were putting together the episode about Amazon Web Services (AWS) , the company’s cloud computing arm, we tried estimating just how much of what we access online every day relies on AWS. Tim Bray, a leading engineer and former vice president of AWS, told us that Amazon has 50% of the cloud computing market, which is behind, in his words, “a very high proportion of things we access on the internet every day.” That Zoom call you were just on and the Netflix drama you binge-watched last weekend were both supported by AWS. Yes, Netflix relies on its biggest competitor to deliver its own product. What kind of power does that give Amazon? We should know that and that’s why I believe a project like The Prime Effect is essential listening for the public radio audience.

Most recently, in Episode 7, we learned that Amazon has partnered with more than 1,800 law enforcement agencies to enable them to access the Neighbors Public Safety Service — a digital platform that connects emergency services with Ring camera customers. Critics call Ring the largest civilian surveillance network the US has ever seen. And to think that 20 years ago Amazon was primarily known for selling books and CDs. We hope your audiences have found the series engaging and insightful; and don’t forget, some of these episodes are available as specials in APM’s quarterly specials package.

This week, as violence and chaos unfolds in Afghanistan, we’re hard at work, preparing an exploration of America’s longest running war for our next series to follow The Prime Effect. What can we understand from looking back over the twenty years since 9/11? We promise deep, rich, powerful conversations in this series slated for September, as On Point — which began as “special coverage” after 9/11 — marks its own twentieth anniversary.

I’d be remiss not to share that the On Point team was humbled, and yet exceedingly proud, to be honored by The Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) with the 2021 National Edward R. Murrow Award. Announced on Aug. 17, we won in the News Documentary category for What the President Knew. For this episode, we analyzed the early days before 9/11 and the COVID pandemic through the eyes of people who were at senior positions in the White House and national security services. The hour revealed what factors influence moments when Presidents make decisions that do not protect the safety of the American people. 

We are happy to talk to you about these episodes or any others. Share your feedback or questions about the show, anytime. Please reach out to your station relations representative – they’re always interested to hear from you! Keep an eye out for future communications from the On Point team – you’ll be hearing from us every few months. And I hope to run into you, virtually at least, at the PRPD conference next month. And thanks.

Jonathan Dyer
Executive Producer, On Point