Quick Takes

Leaked survey shows Canadian pubcasters in a snit over new “Hub” management

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The Tyee, a British Columbian news and culture website, is reporting that a leaked survey of CBC journos tells “a mind-boggling tale of institutional incompetence. It’s a surprisingly amusing story, with great literary potential …” The main hubbub seems to be over the Hub, a layer of middle management that picks stories for cross-platform use. It’s part of an effort to integrate national radio and local TV so one reporter can serve both. Nearly half of the journalists insist it’s stopping them from getting a good story on the air, and, furthermore, they insist the Hub is a bunch of people “not qualified to be called junior reporters.”

Quick Takes

Fifty-six hours = $250,000

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Good news from Wyoming Public Radio: It reached its spring pledge goal of $250,000 in just 56 hours of on-air fundraising, according to a statement from licensee University of Wyoming. Jon Schwartz, g.m., said the station’s membership drives are consistently among the shortest in the country.

Quick Takes

OPB contractor found dead at tower location

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An Oregon Public Broadcasting contractor was found dead last weekend at its Stacker Butte, Wash., tower. Station spokesperson Becky Chinn told the Yakima Herald that his death appears to have been unrelated to his installation and maintenance work. She had no information on his age or hometown because he was not an employee. An autopsy is pending.

Quick Takes

Webbys go to five pubcasting efforts

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Muppets Studio won four Webby Awards — a major coup for its hilarious “Queen and the Muppets: Bohemian Rhapsody” — NPR.org won two, and one each for PBS, Frontline/World and Sesame Street in the honors for online excellence announced today. (OK, so technically Muppets Studio isn’t really a pubcaster, but those furry ones are definitely related to their Sesame Street cousins so we’ll claim ’em.) Each category had two winners, one voted on by judges including domestic doyenne Martha Stewart, Simpsons creator Matt Groening, and media maven Arianna Huffington, and the other, People’s Voice, selected by voters around the world. NPR’s awards came for Best Practices (People’s Voice) and Radio Podcasts (People’s Voice). “Bohemian Rhapsody” was a dual winner in the Music and Viral categories, taking both a Webby and a People’s Voice (the behind-the-scenes video of its creation is pretty fun, too). The Frontline/World site won a People’s Voice in News and Politics Series for its Carbon Watch, and PBS in the Youth Website category for its PBS Kids.

Programs/Content

Working with Bill

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In the beginning, there was CBS Reports. Then came Bill Moyers. It was 1976. Executive Producer Howard Stringer wanted to show the world that the hour documentary was still viable despite the gaggle of magazine-style news shows pushing their way to the screen. Accountants had discovered there was profit in the magazine format and wise men in good-looking suits informed us we were behind the times.

Quick Takes

Variety of SPJ awards for public broadcasters

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Several pubcasting shows and people scored Sigma Delta Chi awards for excellence in 2009 journalism. The honors, presented since 1932, are awarded by the Society for Professional Journalists. From Frontline World, the winner for documentaries (network, syndication, service or program service) is “Ghana: Digital Dumping Ground.” For feature reporting top 100 market or network syndication, the prize went to “California’s Three Strikes Law: 15 Years of Controversy,” by Ina Jaffe, Philip Bruce and Amy Walter of NPR. Mary Kay Magistad was named for “Created in China” from Public Radio International’s the World, for top 100 market or network syndication.

Quick Takes

Create chef scores best restaurant in the world ranking

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Claus Meyer (right) of the Create channel’s New Scandinavian Cooking has earned the No. 1 spot in the World’s 50 Best Restaurants Academy competition for his Noma in Denmark. It’s judged by famous chefs, food critics, restaurateurs and “well traveled gourmands,” according to APT. Noma’s specialty is modern Nordic cuisine, the same dishes that he helps create for the show with host Andreas Viestad and fellow chef Sara LaFountain. Other Create winners: Coming in second was Spain’s four-time winner El Bulli, featured on Spain …

Quick Takes

Recent development s.v.p. hire at PBS shared mortgage with Kerger

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For our RSS readers: The latest top story from Current.With PBS under increasing budgetary pressure, President Paula Kerger recently turned to Smithsonian Institution fundraiser Brian Reddington for the important new post of senior v.p. of development and executive director of the PBS Foundation. In January, when she told the PBS Board of Reddington’s selection, she said he was a friend of hers.Kerger did not mention that she, her husband and Reddington owned a condominium together in New York City from September 2003 to September 2006.PBS hired Reddington without engaging a search firm or advertising the opening, the network said last week in a statement responding to many but not all of Current’s questions.Read the full story here.

Quick Takes

WGBH intends on resuming voluntary tax payments, paper reports

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The Boston Herald is reporting that WGBH is one of several nonprofits that have fallen behind in its voluntary payments in lieu of taxes (PILOTs) to help pay for city services. A Boston official told the paper that WGBH’s contributions were “minimal, and their agreement lapsed when they moved into their new building” in 2007. WGBH spokesperson Jeanne Hopkins said, “We have provided PILOTs in the past, and we absolutely intend to do so again. We certainly understand the pressure the city is under and we want to do our part. …