Quick Takes

Planet Money’s Adam Davidson under fire for losing his cool

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“It’s important for journalists to treat whomever they are interviewing with respect — and to keep their opinions to themselves,” writes NPR Ombudsman Alicia Shepard in her latest column. But Adam Davidson, the lead correspondent for Planet Money, “did neither” when he interviewed Elizabeth Warren about her watchdog role for the Troubled Assets Relief program, Shepard concludes. Davidson’s May 6 interview with Warren, who chairs the congressional oversight panel of TARP, was “really cringeworth stuff,” the Columbia Journalism Review’s Ryan Chittum wrote on May 14. In Shepard’s June 1 response to complaints about the piece, NPR News Chief Ellen Weiss says the interview was “unsuccessful from the start.” “It was confrontational without being illuminating,” adds Uri Berliner, the deputy national editor working with the Planet Money team.

Quick Takes

Josh Groban charms PBS staff

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Sometimes working at headquarters definitely has its perks. About 100 lucky PBS staffers turned out yesterday when singer Josh Groban stopped by Arlington, Va., while in town to tape WETA pledge breaks for his new special. He chatted with employees including Betty Hickey, who said she has every one of his CDs and has been a fan “since before he was a big star.” As he departed, according to one insider, Groban told the crowd, “I just want to thank you guys for all the great work you’re doing.” A round of applause followed him.

Quick Takes

Soldier’s story grows more complex, PBS ombudsman says

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Michael Getler, PBS ombudsman, is updating his recent column investigating the background of an injured soldier, Army Sgt. Jose Pequeno, and his caregivers. They were honored in PBS’s popular National Memorial Day Concert on May 24. “In the aftermath of last week’s column,” Getler writes, “more letters arrived and some of them continued to describe a real-life situation that is even more tense and complicated than it appeared.”

Quick Takes

Comcast strikes new deal in West Virginia

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Comcast in West Virginia has reached an agreement to make the state’s pubTV station available to customers there — but despite negotiations with Gov. Joe Manchin and Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), the deal is little different from the original. Comcast will not put West Virginia PBS back on its basic and standard cable tiers, which Charleston station requested after receiving angry calls from listeners. Comcast’s compromise: It agreed to provide free digital converter boxes to customers for two years instead of one. Meanwhile, in Georgia, Comcast yesterday “clarified” the channel shift of WNGH, Georgia Public TV, in Chattanooga, Tenn. Here’s Current’s May 20 story on the controversy.

Quick Takes

Looks like he made it

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It’s summertime, and that means the popular PBS broadcast of A Capitol Fourth is just around the corner. Word comes that longtime pop star Barry Manilow will open and close the show this year. Also appearing is Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin. Actor Jimmy Smits hosts.

Quick Takes

Random House knows a lot about project

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Random House is releasing details of its partnership with PBS to develop The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That!, which premieres in fall of 2010. The project is just entering development, according to the Animation Insider website. PBS announced at Showcase last month that comedian Martin Short has signed on. The show will center on Sally and Nick, 6-year-old neighbors, and their adventures with the Cat in the Hat — and, yes, Thing One and Thing Two.