Current (https://current.org/2009/03/page/3/)
WFMU, the free-form community radio station in Jersey City, N.J., will be broadcasting live from South by Southwest this evening, beginning at 8 p.m. ET. The station teamed up with Aquarius Records to showcase 14 bands at Spiro’s in downtown Austin. Half of the sets will be broadcast live and others recorded for a later date.
The last broadcasts of NPR’s Day to Day and News and Notes transmit today from NPR West, the network’s production facility in Culver City, Calif. If you can’t listen live on an NPR station, audio streams from both broadcasts will be available via the shows’ websites (here and here) after 3 p.m. ET. The blog LA Observed has an appreciation of the “nice job” that Day to Day has done in saying good-bye to its listeners.
An online column about a PBS pledge-drive special, The UltraMind Solution, has sparked a debate on Salon.com. The show offers a combination of books, DVDs and home questionnaires to reportedly help participants sharpen their minds and lessen depression and anxiety. The program ran during pledge drives and related items were given as pledge bonuses. Dr. Robert Burton, a former hospital chief of neurology, calls physician and author Mark Hyman’s medical theories a “fringe opinion” and is troubled by the show’s appearance of an infomercial. Hyman responds that his program is based on sound medical research and is grateful for PBS’s “courageous stand” in airing the show.
Mr. Rogers has arrived in Pittsburgh. Well, actually it’s a 7,000-pound figure of the late PBS star. The nearly 11 foot tall likeness will be the centerpiece of a new Tribute to Children park on the Ohio River facing the city. The legendary Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood was produced for more than 40 years at the WQED studios in Pittsburgh. In other Fred Rogers news, everyone is encouraged to wear a cardigan sweater — his trademark — today in honor of what would have been his 80st birthday.
Reps from 30 Native public radio groups with new FCC construction permits for stations are invited to Native Public Media’s annual Native Radio Summit, April 1 at the National Federation of Community Broadcasters Conference in Portland, Ore. Native Public Media will make presentations on its New Horizons Project, which is assessing how Native stations serve their communities, and its Blueprint Project, which will assist the new licensees. NFCB Conference details at www.nfcb.org. Native Public Media: www.nativepublicmedia.org. Contact: Camille Lacapa, Network Services Manager at clacapa (at) nativepublicmedia.org or 602-810-8193.
In meetings with the NPR staff today, President Vivian Schiller announced that a new round of budget cuts is needed to meet revised revenue forecasts for 2009 and 2010. In addition to discretionary cuts made last week (including the cancellation of some newspaper subscriptions) NPR has reduced executive compensation by more than $500,000, according to Dana Davis Rehm, senior v.p. “The cuts that we made in December are not sufficient to cover what we need to do now,” Rehm said, describing “pressure on every single one of our revenue sources” and worries about the financial condition of stations. NPR management suspended contributions to retirement plans of all NPR executives from April 1 – Sept. 30. In addition, v.p.s at all levels will forgo salary increases this year and next and work without pay during the last payroll of 2009, Rehm said.
March 27 is the deadline for nomination for the Ralph Lowell Award, named for the late founder of WGBH. Questions to Kimberly Bowser at CPB, 202-879-9668. More information posted online.
After reading a memo leaked to Romenesko about NPR canceling its newspaper subscriptions, Hartford Courant columnist Rick Green fired off a terse blog entry that concluded, “Memo to self: cancel pledges to WFCR and WNPR.” And you can imagine the chain of reactions that set off. WNPR’s John Dankosky reported on the controversy, and appears to have defused it, here.
Teya Ryan, a former CNN producer and executive, has been named president and executive director of Georgia Public Broadcasting, the network announced today. Ryan, who starts April 1, is GPB’s first top exec in five years without “acting” or “interim” in her job title. Ryan started her career in pubTV at KCET in Los Angeles, produced environmental and business news for CNN and rose to head CNN Headline News and then in 2002 CNN’s domestic news channel. Her work has won seven Emmys and two cable ACE awards. In 2004 she briefly worked for then-PBS President Pat Mitchell, a fellow CNN alumna, to plan the PBS Public Square channel.
Pentagon officials today got a sneak peek at Coming Home: Military Families Cope With Change, a new Sesame Workshop special. On hand were Deputy Secretary of Defense William Lynn and Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki. The half-hour program starring Queen Latifah and singer John Mayer tells stories of injured service members returning home, and explores the struggles they and their families face. The program airs on PBS April 1 at 8 p.m. Eastern (check local listings). The show is part of Sesame Workshop’s Talk, Listen, Connect initiative.
The Public Radio Association of Development Officers is soliciting nominations for its 2009 Development Professional of the Year — a station-based individual who has demonstrated excellence. The recipient will be announced at the Public Radio Development and Marketing Conference, July 8-10 in San Diego. Nomination deadline: midnight, May 15. Rules and nomination form are posted at www.pradoweb.org. See more scintillating possibilities in Current’s Opportunities.
In a feature on the impending demise of NPR’s Day to Day, the Los Angeles Times reports that Bill Davis, president of KPCC in Pasadena, Calif., is trying to raise $500,000 to create a “daughter” of the Los Angeles-based midday show. Its last broadcast via NPR is Friday, March 20.
The FCC has released its list of stations terminated digital service on or before the June 12 deadline. Of PBS stations, 125 will transition on June 12. Of those switching before that deadline, 14 will do so this month, 37 in April, six in May and one on June 10 — that’s KRWG in Las Cruces, N.M. Why? Because June 12 is a Friday. “The regular phones aren’t manned over the weekend,” Glen Cerny, director of broadcasting, told Current.
NPR Music’s coverage of the 2009 South by Southwest music festival revs up in earnest tonight with a live stream of the NPR-sponsored showcase that features the Decemberists performing their new release, Hazards of Love. A guide to all the SXSW performances produced by NPR Music and pubradio stations is here, but you can also follow via this twitter feed and this blog. In this All Things Considered segment, NPR’s Bob Boilen previewed this year’s festival and reveals which bands he’s most interested in seeing live. SXSW coverage by hometown station KUT in Austin is here. KEXP in Seattle and KCRW in Santa Monica also offer exclusive live performances for their hometown and Web audiences.
Houston-area congressmen, University of Houston and Houston PBS are in the midst of a political drama regarding KUHT’s weekly political program Red, White and Blue. Soon after the November election the show, with local GOP and Democrat co-hosts, was suspended. It was one of the few local shows about politics. That prompted U.S. Rep. Al Green to write to UH Chancellor Renu Khator, saying in part: “The entire viewing area gained from the public discussions generated by the hosts in a format we observed to be both balanced and challenging.” State Rep. Ellen Cohen, D-Houston, also expressed her support to Khator. Recently General Manager John Hesse said the program will be reinstated, but a meeting last week with its co-hosts was postponed.
With its plans to launch a new political website in April, AOL is moving into the business of delivering original news content, according to this story in The Wrap. Top editor is Melinda Henneberger, a veteran of the New York Times, Newsweek and Slate; writers include Carl Cannon of National Journal, USA Today columnist Walter Shapiro, and Patricia Murphy, creator of citizenjanepolitics.com. AOL is calculating that the “glut” of experienced journalists looking for work has created a new opportunity “to create a New York Times-like empire on the Internet–one that is native to the web and knows how to use its strengths and quirks,” The Wrap reports.
Date and place: June 3-6 at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. The theme: Public Service Media from Local to Global. Henry Jenkins, founder of MIT’s Comparative Media Program and soon to be USC faculty member, will be the keynoter the first day. Other USC speakers include J-Prof. Michael Parks and comm Prof. Jonathan Taplin. USC will assist a number of attendees from overseas who might not come without aid; prompt nominations are sought.
Doug Mitchell, a former NPR producer who established the Next Generation Radio training program, has taken up a residency on Transom.org, where he shares insights from his experience and tips for those looking to recruit and train new public radio journalists. “Talent development must continue, not be eliminated,” Mitchell writes. “Find a way. Once you have the people you want, work to keep them. Don’t do things desperately, but methodically and deliberately.
Lidia Bastianich, host of the cooking show Lidia’s Italy on PBS, talks to The Dallas Observer about her passion for Italian food, and why she’s on TV: “I just want to divulge as much information as I can.” She also has five cookbooks, three other TV series and six restaurants to her name.
All three major bond-rating firms have now downgraded the Colorado Public Radio bonds that provided $4.7 million for the network’s 2001 expansion. The reason: CPR’s 2008 decision to take on the costs of an additional FM channel …