Current (https://current.org/2004/06/)
NPR Ombudsman Jeffrey Dvorkin asks whether the network’s music reviews are too “incomprehensible” to most listeners. “They seem to tell most of us not to bother listening — this information is not for you, but only for the people who are part of the scene,” he writes.
NPR’s Bob Edwards has received about 20 job offers in radio, TV and academia since March, reports the Lexington Herald-Leader. “I’m listening,” he says.
Other print media have failed to make the transition to TV, but a report published in the San Jose Mercury News about the New York Times’s TV venture with Discovery Communications says the cable channel has a distinct Timesness.
The Washington Post reports on Discovery Communications’ new business delivering streamed video to classrooms. “The long-term hope is that as households become better wired, we can provide a digital library,” says Donald Baer, senior executive of strategy. “Once we deliver in the education field, Discovery will be the brand you can trust and bring into the home.”
Bob Edwards tells the Memphis Commercial Appeal that he has “not a clue” what his specific reporting duties will be at NPR, and doesn’t quibble with a reporter’s assertion that Morning Edition has lost its distinctiveness.
Blogger and public radio programmer Eric Nuzum is joining NPR in August as program and acquisitions manager, a new position.
NPR ombudsman Jeffrey A. Dvorkin addresses listener queries about the influence of fundraising concerns on the network’s editorial decisions in this column on NPR.org. Though he writes that there is a growing concern about the issue “both outside and inside NPR,” Dvorkin concludes that “it would take more than a few Wal-Mart underwriting messages” to corrupt the network’s journalistic integrity. (via Romenesko)
Big PDF of a conversation between Ira Glass, host of This American Life, and graphic novelist Chris Ware.
In a financial report (PDF), the c.f.o. of Pacifica warns that the network “cannot survive” its current level of spending on governance, which includes the cost of its elaborate board elections.