Quick Takes

Stations grow audience after going all-news

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The audience for WVXU-FM in Cincinnati grew 20 percent over the last year since the station was acquired by Cincinnati Public Radio and went all-news, reports the city’s Post. “I think our success will probably be a blueprint for … other markets,” says CPR president Rich Eiswerth. CPR’s WGUC-FM, which became all classical, saw no audience growth. Meanwhile, KAZU-FM in Pacific Grove, Calif., has attracted more listeners since an all-news switch, reports the Santa Cruz Sentinel, while community station KUSP-FM has lost some listeners and missed fundraising goals in recent years.

Quick Takes

So what’s indecent again?

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A sign of the times? Check out this photo of the mixing board in the main air studio at Pacifica’s KPFA-FM in Berkeley, Calif. And remember, it was a Pacifica station that brought about the establishment of broadcast indecency rules.

Quick Takes

Bill Kling at PRDMC

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Dennis Haarsager posts a speech delivered at this year’s Public Radio Development and Marketing Conference by Bill Kling, president of Minnesota Public Radio/American Public Media. “With audiences increasingly in control of when and where they listen, it is no time to take them — or our stature in the community — for granted,” he says.

Quick Takes

Carvin heads to NPR

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Andy Carvin announces on his weblog that he’s joining NPR as senior product manager for online communities. “In this role, I’ll essentially act as NPR’s Web 2.0 strategist, helping them develop new initiatives that encourage greater public involvement in NPR’s online activities,” he says. “These activities could take a variety of forms: online social networks, wikis, blogs, mobcasting, citizen journalism, original content sharing.” Carvin runs the Digital Divide Network and has worked for years on web education projects.

Quick Takes

Hear the Music, Avoid the Mosh Pit

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The Washington Post reports on performances by Suzanne Vega and other musicians in the virtual world of Second Life. Vega’s appearance was staged by public radio’s The Infinite Mind, which has built Second Life headquarters.

Quick Takes

NPR Praises Ed Gordon’s Substitute

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News and Notes host Ed Gordon tells Richard Prince he’s frustrated with “internal strife” at his show, while NPR says it has been working with Gordon to improve his performance. (Earlier column by Prince. Via Romenesko.)

Programs/Content

Video-rich website supports Eyes revival

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Before Eyes on the Prize returns to PBS Oct. 2 [2006] for its first broadcast in 13 years, PBS.org will unveil a major website built around content from the seminal documentary series. The site will offer streamed historic video from key moments in the civil rights movement, including speeches of the Rev. Martin Luther King. Nearly two hours of clips in all will be accessible on the Web in perpetuity. In October, American Experience brings back Henry Hampton’s 1987 television series, which redefined the way Americans talked and learned about civil rights and social justice.

Quick Takes

Banish The Bling

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NPR’s Juan Williams assails today’s African-American culture as “a virtual blueprint for failure” in a much-read Washington Post op-ed. “Where is the civil rights groundswell on behalf of stronger marriages that will allow more children to grow up in two-parent families and have a better chance of staying out of poverty?” he asks. “. .

Quick Takes

CJR March/April 2006 – Storytelling’s rise on public radio

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The Columbia Journalism Review examines the resurgence of personal narratives on public radio via StoryCorps, Transom, the Public Radio Exchange and This American Life. “We are social beings, and our lives got kind of fragmented — our media lives, our civic lives, our personal lives,” says independent producer Rob Rosenthal, director of the radio program at the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies. “Listening to these kinds of stories on the radio can connect us to one another.”

Quick Takes

Staff reunion at WKNO, Memphis

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Did you work at WKNO in Memphis? The pubTV station promises “great music, food and drinks” at its 50th anniversary staff reunion Sept. 30. Details on the station website or through 901-458-2521.

Quick Takes

What’s not to like about Elmo?

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Sesame Street is being destroyed by “idiot cuteness,” writes LA Times columnist Joel Stein. He blames “patronizing, baby-talking Elmo” and finds other adults who hate the furry red one.

Quick Takes

Good morning, Vietnam — decades after he fled, a radio host is going home

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Nguyen Qui Duc, host of public radio’s Pacific Time, is leaving the show Sept. 14 to return to Vietnam with his mother. “I had a lot of opportunity in this country, which has given us a lot,” Nguyen tells the San Francisco Chronicle. “But here, I’m on the computer 24 hours a day. Over there, I feel warmer in Vietnam.

Quick Takes

Viewers perceive sponsor influence in NewsHour report

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Did the NewsHour soft-pedal its reporting on BP, the giant oil company and program sponsor that drew wide criticism last week after shutting down its Prudhoe Bay production facility? Some viewers think so, and others who wrote to PBS Ombudsman Michael Getler don’t like the ads on PBS Kids Sprout.

Quick Takes

News & Notes dying on the vine?

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The St. Petersburg Times ponders the future of NPR’s News & Notes with Ed Gordon, which has lost 17 percent of the audience it inherited from The Tavis Smiley Show, which N&N was designed to replace, the paper reports. “Sometimes, I feel this show is being allowed to die on the vine,” Gordon said. “People say I haven’t connected with audiences. …

Quick Takes

Radio Host Raymond Whitfield; Started Groups for Youth, Inmates

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Another host who worked at WPFW-FM in Washington, D.C., has passed away — Raymond Whitfield, who died Aug. 2 at the age of 77, reports the Washington Post. Whitfield overcame drug addiction and went on to host two nationally distributed radio series about the criminal justice system.