University probes management of St. Louis station
The University of Missouri in St. Louis is investigating "deficiencies" in management and accounting practices at its NPR News station KWMU, according to the Riverfront Times. In the alt weekly's lengthy expose, sources at the station and former employees say an investigation of manager Patty Wente [bio] is long overdue. In the article, Vermont Public Radio President Mark Vogelzang backs up accounts of Wente's abusive treatment towards employees and questions her professionalism in other arenas. "Speaking for myself, I've observed her to seem inebriated or under the influence when she's addressed the NPR Board," says Vogelzang, who serves on the board. "What's most dismaying is that her behavior is such a glaring contradiction to what we expect in public radio."
The first thing that should be said about the recent PBS series Carrier is that it is very good. The second thing is that its advance publicity is only partially accurate. The series shot aboard the U.S.S. Nimitz is not “Top Gun as Frederick Wiseman would have directed it." MORE
(Pictured above: crew members of the U.S.S. Nimitz, featured in the series.)
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No civic force was able to maintain pubcasting in the Rio Grande Valley until the diocese stepped in. Top: Msgr. Briseno. |
NPR and about 30 partner stations are working to make sure listeners can carry pubradio in their pockets — or on belt clips, for the less fashion-conscious — no matter whether they have web-capable cell phones. NPR Mobile Web and Voice, launched last summer with 10 participating stations, welcomes its third batch of partner stations May 1. MORE
Pittsburgh’s WQED is helping the government of Bermuda develop its first noncommercial TV station under a $200,000 contract publicized last week. Premier Ewart F. Brown said he wants CITV to make local programs to fill a media void for his constituents, who are “being fed a steady diet of programming from outside Bermuda.” MORE
From the everyday storytellers of StoryCorps to the amateur pitchmen and women currently being recruited for CPB’s My Source campaign, public broadcasters increasingly rely on their audience to contribute content as well as funding. Likewise, public broadcasting's new election 2008 projects will tap average Joes and Janes to outline their hopes and concerns for the nation. MORE
Earlier story: A small-town Utah public-radio outfit that expanded into Salt Lake City thanks to its founders’ deal-making acumen — and stirred controversy over their compensation — decided to sell two stations serving Salt Lake City. MORE
At least in theory, the tradeoffs for some stations aren’t pretty. With Option A, you risk losing CPB aid in the five or six figures. With Option B, you lose a bunch of your old friends. MORE
Not long ago it might have been a surprise that the gentle, horn-rimmed producer of This American Life could go on tour with a compact mixing board, fill five or ten big auditoriums, and slay his audience with a standup act seemingly about documentary radio — leaving fans weak and delighted by demonstrating his sure touch with an audio fader. It turns out those tours were just practice. . . . MORE
Days before beginning its spring pledge drive, pubTV station WNIT in Elkhart, Ind., lost one of two klystron tubes in its analog transmitter, leaving the station with roughly 20 percent of its broadcast power and a snowy picture as it prepared to plead its case to viewers. The worst was still to come. MORE
The new morning drivetime show originating from New York’s WNYC, The Takeaway with John Hockenberry and Adaora Udoji, debuted April 28 — initially on WNYC and several other stations stations. CPB announced a $1.5 million grant to the project. MORE
In Current's new Why & How feature, Associate Editor Katy June-Friesen talks with the producer of Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us Sick? MORE
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John Jay Iselin, ebullient president of New York's WNET from 1973 to 1987, died of pneumonia May 6, the New York Times reported today. He presided as the station matured and developed such major PBS series as Nature, Live from Lincoln Center and the NewsHour. The former Newsweek reporter went on to head Cooper Union, the free-tuition arts-architecture-engineering college in Manhattan. Iselin's predecessor, James Day, died less than two weeks earlier at age 89.
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WTTW and performers from Chicago's Second City and the comedy troupe Schadenfreude have produced IL-Informed, a comedy show that satirizes local issues--and the pubTV public affairs format. "The pilot is pretty funny, and that's more than I can say for most, if not all, public television," writes Time Out Chicago blogger Madeline Nusser. But "it doesn't quite live up to its potential," according to a Chicago Sun-Times review: "Interviews and investigative segments don't really follow the standard TV news format, and some of the news being spoofed is dated." The show features sketch comedy, newsmaker interviews and music. "Think the Daily Show meets Saturday Night Live--only completely local," says WTTW on the IL-Informed website. View a clip here and WTTW's promo here.
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At The Police's farewell show in New York this summer, every breath they take will be for trees and public TV. Proceeds from the concert will go to WNET and WLIW's arts programming and to MillionTreesNYC, the city's project to plant one million trees by 2017 and reduce The Big Apple's carbon footprint. The rockers pledged $1 million to the tree fund--no word yet on how much pubTV will garner. Tickets for the event will be available nationally via the WNET and WLIW websites.
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TV anchor Elizabeth Sanchez is the new host of A Place of Our Own, KCET's English program for parents and caretakers of young children and sister program of the Spanish-language Los Ninos en Su Casa. Sanchez, a Los Angeles native, most recently anchored for the ABC affiliate in San Diego, where she received three regional Emmys. She is the mother of a three-year-old and 17-month-old and joins two other hosts on the show.
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At the History Channel, home of Ice Road Truckers, the host of the new weekly series Tougher in Alaska, premiering Thursday, May 8 (10 p.m. Eastern and Pacific), is Geo Beach, 225-pound public radio producer, whose publicity photos support the network’s press release: “It wouldn't be a tough show without a tough host, and ... Geo Beach is just that. Since moving to Alaska, Geo has worked as a logger, firefighter and medic, and commercial fisherman -- including winter crabbing on the Bering Sea.” This week, Geo hunts for gold; next week, salmon. On July 31, the series gets around to waste disposal, also tough in Alaska.
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Real estate developer Edward H. Kaplan, chairman of the Maryland Public Broadcasting Commission, and his wife, Irene, will give MPT $1 million over the next four years to develop new programming. The gift is the largest in the state network's history.
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In his latest column, PBS Ombudsman Michael Getler takes note of some positive aspects of Bill Moyers' interview with the Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr., but goes on to say, "...I do feel that there were not enough questions asked and some that were asked came across as too reserved and too soft, considering the volatility of the charges." Viewers shared some stronger words with Getler.
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Talk shot host Diane Rehm tells a Michigan TV station that she expects to continue hosting her show for at least another five years. “[A]s long as my voice holds out, I’ll be there,” she says. (Via the PRPD blog.)
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Jim Lehrer and Robert MacNeil have been chosen to receive this year’s Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism, reports the Arizona Republic. The award is bestowed by the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.
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“The idea that we don’t see our future intertwined with public television and radio is absolutely not true,” says Michele Grant, the executive vice-president for news and sport at BBC Worldwide America, in a Guardian article about the British broadcaster’s loss of the U.S. distribution deal for its nighty news program via New York’s WLIW. The Guardian reports that the deal “broke down partly because the US channel wanted to combine BBC content with US content to produce a tailored programme for US viewers.” A Guardian blogger also weighs in with a commentary.
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CPB will give $3,000 to the stations that produce the three most compelling My Source radio testimonial spots, the corporation announced. CPB will also fly the top winning producer and the community member featured in his or her testimonial to the Public Radio Development and Marketing Conference in Orlando in July, where they will be recognized. The Development Exchange Inc. will manage the radio testimonial awards for CPB. The deadline for submitting testimonials is June 20th; tools and other guidelines are available at www.mysourcefor.org.
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Jim Lehrer will return to the Newshour in a few weeks after recovering from heart valve surgery, Linda Winslow, e.p., told PBS's new Engage blog. Winslow "said she’ll know Mr. Lehrer is feeling better when he starts phoning her with story tips and suggestions." Anchor duties will rotate among the Newshour correspondents until Lehrer returns.
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Daytime Emmy nominations announced this week by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences include 44 for PBS programs. Ten series produced by Boston's WGBH, including two foodie shows distributed by American Public Television, garnered 26 Daytime Emmy nods. Sesame Street, a perennial favorite in the annual competition, leads the pack of PBS Kids fare with 13 nominations. Nominees in three or more categories include Between the Lions, Design Squad, Curious George, Fetch! With Ruff Ruffman and From the Top: Live from Carnegie Hall. PBS has the second-highest tally of Emmy nods among commercial and cable TV networks, topped only by CBS. Winners will be announced June 13.
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James Day, co-founder of San Francisco's KQED and host of the influential weekly interview program Kaleidoscope, died last Thursday from respiratory failure. He helped establish public television's reputation for in-depth, serious programming and blazed the trail for pubTV on-air pledge drives and auctions. In 1995, he penned a history of public television, The Vanishing Vision: The Inside Story of Public Television. Current contributing editor David Stewart drew from Day's account for this feature on KQED's early years. Variety, the San Francisco Chronicle, and the New York Times have each published obits.
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CPB and PBS have selected 10 new pubTV stations to participate in Raising Readers, a program to improve the reading skills of 2-to-8-year-olds, particularly those from low-income families in areas with low reading scores. Funded by the U.S. Department of Education, the initiative pairs PBS children's programs such as Between the Lions with a literacy curriculum based on recommendations of the National Reading Panel. Ten stations have already partnered with community organizations to create local literacy programs. The new participants are WHRO in Hampton Roads, Va; Iowa Public Television; Louisiana Public Television; WLJT in Martin, Tenn.; WNPT in Nashville, Tenn.; WSRE in Pensacola, Fla.; KAET in Phoeniz, Ariz.; WFSU in Tallahassee, Fla.; WHUT in Washington, D.C.; and West Virginia Public Broadcasting.
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Etsy, the online crafts marketplace that hired NPR digital media chief Maria Thomas as its new c.o.o., produced a video to introduce her to employees. "I love that 'etsy' means connecting with something authentic," Thomas says. [Via Converge]
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A journalists’ group will hold an hour-long phone briefing for reporters about the DTV transition, Tuesday, May 20. The Foundation for American Journalists (FACS) aims to help journalists cover next February’s analog shutoff. Marcellus Alexander of the National Association of Broadcasters and Jason Oxmo of the Consumer Electronics Association will speak, starting at 11 a.m. Eastern time. Advance registration is required. Details at www.FACSnet. org.
The three pubradio stations that produce the “most outstanding and compelling” listener testimonials using CPB’s “My Source” theme will receive prizes of up to $3,000. June 20 is the entry deadline for the contest , which will be managed for CPB by pubradio’s Development Exchange Inc. Producer of the top spot will be flown to DEI’s Public Radio Development and Marketing Conference in Orlando, July 17-19. Guidelines are online.
WGBH Lab is accepting applications for Filmmakers-in-Residence slots. June 15 is the deadline for online entries. Selected producers will receive a stipend, working space in WGBH’s Boston home, video editing equipment, editorial guidance and access to the station’s staff. Details are online. The station’s first filmmaker in residence, Katrina Browne, used her time at WGBH to work on “Traces of the Trade,” about her unsettling discovery that her family long ago was deeply involved in slave trading. The doc opens this summer’s season of P.O.V. in June.
IMA has scheduled pubcasting's major web-oriented meeting for Atlanta next year. Public Media 2009 conference will run Feb. 19-21, 2009, following preconference sessions for station chief execs, Feb. 17-18, and techies and revenue-minded folk, Feb. 18, all at the Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel. Material from the February 2008 conference is on IMA's site.
June 30 is the entry deadline for the Association for International Broadcasting awards. AIB's Media Excellence Awards go to cross-border broadcasting producers and marketers in radio, TV and other media. AIB published entry guidelines in a PDF. Winners will be announced Nov. 12 in London.
Videos of popular speeches from WNET's Teaching & Learning Celebration are posted online. Primatologist Jane Goodall and ocean adventurer Jean-Michel Cousteau 's talks will remain online until May 14. See also Current's article about the third annual teachers' event organized by WNET/WLIW in New York.
The Beyond Broadcast conference, a major annual forum about public media, focuses on mapping and visualization and moves to D.C. this summer. American University’s Center for Social Media is planning the event for June 17 in collaboration with the Berkman Center at Harvard (its original host) and numerous other planning partners. The theme, Mapping Public Media, covers the shifting forms, functions and fiscal strategies of public media projects, as well as participatory geo-mapping tools such as Google Earth. Session topics include the varieties of public media, outreach to engage specific populations, business models. Registration fees: $100, early-bird discount until April 30; $125 thereafter; $50 for students. A limited number of scholarships are available to cover attendance costs. Info online at beyondbroadcast.net. More about the Center for Social Media at www. centerforsocialmedia. org.
Duke University’s Center for Documentary Studies still has room in its second summer institute on audio documentary technique. John Biewen, a former correspondent for American RadioWorks, joined by Duke and visiting faculty, will lead the “Hearing Is Believing II” course on constructing a documentary, Aug. 11-16, in Durham, N.C. Space is limited. Part I is fully booked and has a waiting list. More info online at cds.aas.duke.edu. Fee per course: $775. Discounts available to Association of Independents in Radio members.
The Third Coast Festival seeks submissions to its 2008 Radio Ephemera audio challenge, an open call for short audio stories (2:30 - 3 minutes) inspired by two of five pre-selected books. Entries also must include “the voice of a stranger.” The competition is a collaboration of TCF and the Prelinger Library of San Francisco. Producers of four winning submissions will be chosen to attend the Third Coast Audio Festival, Oct. 9 - 11 in Evanston, Ill. Other works will be played on TCF’s weekly show Re:sound and/or at listening events. All submissions will be archived online at thirdcoastfestival.org. Window for submissions opened April 1 and closes at midnight, Aug. 3. (Closing date in April previously was posted in error by Current.) For guidelines and instructions on submitting work, click here.
PRADO is seeking nominations for station-based Development Professional of the Year. Entry deadline: May 16, midnight, Pacific Time. The Public Radio Association of Development Officers will announce the recipient at the Public Radio Development and Marketing Conference, July 17-19 in Orlando, Fla. Guidelines are on PRADO's website.
Production partnerships between stations and independent producers can apply for ITVS aid. May 30 is the deadline for LINCS grants up to $100,000 from the Independent Television Service. Guidelines. ITVS has also issued its Open Call for indies' proposals for funding to complete pubTV programs. Deadline: July 18. Guidelines.
The conference for public radio and other Triple A music stations moves to Philadelphia this spring. Triple A Radio's Eighth Annual NON-COMMvention will be held May 29-31 in the studios and performance cafe of WXPN and its World Café Live venue, and at the Hilton at Penn. Showcase performances are scheduled each night. Attendees from radio stations (noncommercial or not) pay $85 to register; others pay $185. See the early details. You can preregister online. Questions: Tess Coffey, conference manager, 215-898-0628.
Prizes of up to $10,000 are offered in J-Lab's Knight-Batten Awards for Innovations in Journalism. Entry deadline: June 11. The judges will look for "novel efforts that seize and create opportunities to involve citizens in public issues and supply entry points that invite their participation or spark their imagination." Web.
