Om-buddies? Not really.

“Comments continue to drift in about the PBS program on the Armenian genocide,” CPB ombudsman Ken Bode writes in his latest column, which features remarks from several of his readers on the issue. One commenter: Michael Getler, public TV’s other ombudsman, who took exception to the way Bode, in his initial column on the matter, characterized the PBS monitor’s comments on The Armenian Genocide controversy. Replied Bode: “I am happy to have Mr. Getler state clearly, as I thought he did not in his original posting, his opinion that the events in Turkey, did indeed deserve to be considered as genocide. Anyway, I think that is what he is saying.”

WNET eyes capital campaign to finance its expansion

With the election of financier James Tisch as chairman of Educational Broadcasting Corporation — and Paula Kerger’s recent departure as executive v.p. of its flagship New York station — the pubTV licensee with a $100 million endowment is contemplating another major capital campaign, reports the New York Times. “In order for us to be what we need to be, we’ve got to have at least twice what we have in endowment,” says WNET President Bill Baker.

Douridas charged for cocaine possession

Chris Douridas, a deejay at KCRW-FM in Santa Monica, Calif., was charged yesterday with one count of cocaine possession, reports the Los Angeles Times. Douridas had been booked for poisoning and kidnapping as well, but the Los Angeles district attorney’s office was unable to support those charges. If found guilty of possession, Douridas could face three years in prison and fines of up to $10,000.

Digital Distribution Consortium for pubradio convenes

Todd Mundt writes that stakeholders in public radio have formed a Digital Distribution Consortium to map a shared digital infrastructure for the system. “Ultimately, we sense something bigger still — the opportunity to create new models for how networks, big stations, small stations and independent producers can relate to each other. That one piece alone could change everything,” say the consortium’s charter and principles. “Our effort, today and tomorrow, is to describe the services we want to create or enable — the ‘it’ that we’re aiming for,” writes Mundt in another post. UPDATE: The consortium now has a public wiki.

KOOP rebuilds

KOOP-FM in Austin, Texas, is building new studios after two fires destroyed the community station’s old home and knocked it off the air earlier this year, reports News 8 Austin.

In Texas, Fighting to Keep Brahms on Air – New York Times

Lovers of classical music are fighting to keep KTPB in Kilgore, Texas, on the air, reports the New York Times. “Just because we live out here in the middle of nowhere doesn’t mean we have to be a cultural void,” says a executive director of a nearby symphony orchestra.

Study: Few consumers know that HD Radio offers multicast capability

A radio audience research firm found that only one percent of respondents to a telephone survey knew that HD Radio can provide more channels of programming. “Our research reveals that radio needs to explain HD Radio and its benefits for listeners,” writes Mark Kassof. Meanwhile, Rob Pegoraro of the Washington Post writes that he returned his Boston Acoustics HD Radio out of frustration with the on-again, off-again status of a few multicast channels in the Washington area.

Radio exec gets probation

The Detroit Free Press reports that Michael Coleman, g.m. of WDET-FM in Detroit, was sentenced to two years’ probation June 22 for embezzling from Michigan Radio, his former employer.

Technology360: NPR vs. PBS web traffic

Dennis Haarsager uses Alexa to compare web traffic for NPR.org and PBS.org and finds them pretty close. But the website of New York’s WNYC-AM/FM draws more traffic than that of WNET-TV.

McCain amendment would help LPFM

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is sponsoring an amendment to a telecommunications bill (PDF) that would ease protections for full-power FM stations from possible interference from low-power FMs, according to the Prometheus Radio Project. The low-power advocates are trying to drum up support for the amendment as debate on the bill opens this week.

Interview with Michele Norris

“I meet someone, and, after they figure out what I do, they tell me how much NPR means to them,” says All Things Considered host Michele Norris in an interview with Ohio’s Columbus Dispatch. “I never heard that with ABC. I never heard ABC talked about by viewers in such reverential terms. I think, if we went off the air tomorrow, people would march in the streets.”

Van Cliburn opposes sale of Texas music station

Closing pubradio station KTPB will “devalue Kilgore College as an institution of higher learning,” pianist Van Cliburn wrote to the college trustees, according to the Longview (Texas) News-Journal. The trustees decided in April to sell the East Texas classical music station to Christian pop purveyor EMF Broadcasting, which has 180 frequencies across the country. Cliburn went to high school in Kilgore.

PBS: pixilate that dirty mouth!

The Boston Globe reports on new PBS guidelines requiring producers to completely bleep compound swear words (such as “mother f*****!”) and visually blur the mouths of people who swear on camera.

Dvorkin heads to CCJ

Jeffrey Dvorkin is leaving his post as NPR’s ombudsman to serve as executive director of the Committee of Concerned Journalists and the Goldenson Chair of Community Broadcasting at the Missouri School of Journalism. Dvorkin was NPR’s first ombud and held the job for six years after serving as its v.p. of news. In his farewell column, he offers advice to his successor: “Know that public radio listeners are overwhelmingly smart, passionate and insistent. You will find that it is important to take their comments seriously, but never personally. You’ll live longer if you do.”

‘Jimmy Jimmy BoBo’ Lehrer Makes Birthday Party Newsworthy

The Washington Post reports that a three-year-old Minnesotan boy recently enjoyed a very special birthday party with, of all things, a NewsHour with Jim Lehrer theme. Henry Schally is a major fan of the show and knows its personalities by name. “When correspondent Kwame Holman started delivering his report, Henry yelled out ‘Kwame Holman!’,” according to WCCO-TV in Minneapolis.

OTM interview about Public Insight Journalism

For the professional media, Public Insight Journalism is the way it can remain relevant [RealPlayer audio file], says Michael Skoler of Minnesota Public Radio/American Public Media in an interview with Bob Garfield of On the Media. MPR is sharing the online/database system for expanding journalists’ sources with several other pubradio stations. In Current, Skoler describes five ways PIJ helps reporters do their job better.

calendarlive.com: 800 WORDS – Laugh liberally

A Los Angeles Times writer examines the conservative’s distaste for A Prairie Home Companion. “With the arrival of Robert Altman’s new film ‘A Prairie Home Companion,’ Keillor and ‘APHC’ have the opportunity to be hated by a much wider audience,” he writes.