Quick Takes

PRSS posts a new version of its “Public Radio Resource Guide”

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The Public Radio Satellite System has updated its “Public Radio Resource Guide,” listing everything from technology and equipment services to training, funding and underwriting, membership organizations and conferences. “There is an overwhelming volume of information online of interest to the public radio community,” Pete Loewenstein, NPR v.p. for distribution, said on the Radio World website. “Our new guide is an effort to put some of this information in a format that’s easier for stations and producers to access.” And it’s free.

Quick Takes

WGBH’s Dot Diva hopes to increase computer geekiness in young women

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 The Sept. 27 launch of Dot Diva, a new initiative co-sponsored by WGBH to get young Massachusetts women interested in computing, is already sold out. The kickoff will be at the Microsoft New England Research & Development Center in Cambridge and feature an interactive fashion show, tech music demos, an “Artbotics” art installation and local college fair. It’s funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to increase the number of college-bound girls studying for a career in computer science. Women are still underrepresented in the field, according to WGBH.

Quick Takes

NETA heading for Music City USA in January

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Grab your guitars, the NETA Nashville 2011 conference registration is now officially open. Once you’ve registered for the January event you can visit the confab’s Facebook page. Not sure what that means? Then you’d better stop by the conference Social Media Help Desk while you’re at the Loews Vanderbilt Hotel. That’s a new kiosk that will be “staffed by friendly experts in the use of Facebook, Twitter, texting and all sorts of handheld devices, ready with advice or a helping hand.”

Quick Takes

WNET.org partners up for “At the Paley Center” interview show

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Angela Lansbury, Jimmy Fallon, Brian Williams and Joel Grey are among celebrities set to appear on At the Paley Center, a new interview series produced by a partnership of Paley Center for Media and WNET.org’s Creative News Group, the two announced Wednesday (Sept. 22). Hosted by Pat Mitchell, president of the Paley Center and past president of PBS, returns to the network as host. Each half-hour program in the six-part series features a conversation with someone who has made a significant contribution to media, particularly television. First up is actor/activist Ted Danson on Oct.

Quick Takes

Columbia U selects NPR’s Siegel for John Chancellor Award

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NPR’s Robert Siegel, senior host of All Things Considered, will receive the 2010 John Chancellor Award for Excellence in Journalism, Columbia University announced today (Sept. 23). Siegel was chosen “in recognition of his extraordinary career at NPR where he has engaged millions of listeners with journalistic rigor and professionalism for more than 30 years,” the announcement said. A nine-member committee selected Siegel for the award, which comes with a $25,000 prize. The honor will be presented Nov.

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Autobiography by NPR’s Michele Norris tackles tough memories

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“The Grace of Silence,” the new book by All Things Considered host Michele Norris, reveals painful parts of her family history, reports the Christian Science Monitor. While researching her ancestors, she discovered that soon after her father came back home to Alabama after World War II, he was grazed by a policeman’s bullet. Norris said the title refers to her father’s attitude after that incident. “He was part of a generation of black men and black veterans who were marginalized in the military and society and had every reason to be angry. It was easy to see how they’d become malcontents and grouse their way to their end of their lives.

Quick Takes

Break out those pink iPods for the NewsHour

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PBS NewsHour’s Jim Lehrer spoke on a panel Wednesday (Sept. 22) addressing “The Death of Old News” at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, reports the Las Vegas Sun. Lerher talked about how the program is partnering with news websites including ProPublica, GlobalPost and NPR to reach a broader audience.“I couldn’t care less if someone is watching the program on their pink iPod, just as long as they are watching,” Lerher said. The event was sponsored by the Black Mountain Institute, a center for writers and scholars at the university.

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Pop star Katy Perry a little too “Hot” for Sesame Street

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Katy Perry’s snug-fitting gold bustier proved a bit much for her appearance on Sesame Street. Her “Hot & Cold” music video with Elmo has been pulled from an upcoming show, Us magazine reports. Sesame Workshop told the gossip mag that the decision was made following “feedback we’ve received” after the video went up on YouTube. It’s since been removed from Sesame’s YouTube channel, but is still available through Perry’s channel. (Oh and by the way: Look closely and you’ll see there’s flesh-colored netting up to Perry’s neck topped by a dainty bow.) The pop singer debuts on Sesame Street on Dec.

Quick Takes

Forget CliffsNotes, just call the pubcasting Homework Hotline

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Starting Oct. 4, West Virginia students get help with their homework for free, says the Register-Herald in Beckley, W.V. The Homework Hotline show, approaching its 20th year, airs Mondays through Thursdays on West Virginia Public Broadcasting. It started out by offering assistance to students while the show was on the air. Now, teachers often later correspond with the kids by e-mail or phone to ensure everyone gets help. “The teachers that work with the show are very dedicated,” said Dennis Adkins, executive director of West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

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Candidate says request to alter speech for airing on WGTE showed bias

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The Republican candidate for Lucas County (Ohio) auditor on Wednesday (Sept. 22) accused Toledo’s WGTE-TV/Channel 30 of favoring the Democratic incumbent, according to the Toledo Blade. Gina Marie Kaczala said she was told by a WGTE production assistant that part of her two-minute campaign speech for broadcast was “inappropriate.” Kaczala later discovered that the assistant’s brother-in-law is on the staff of the incumbent, Anita Long. Marlon Kiser, president WGTE, denied Kaczala’s charges.

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Heat continues on university official who canceled TPT airing of agriculture doc

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University of Minnesota Vice President Karen Himle, who pulled the plug on a documentary that was to run on Twin Cities Public Television in October, is being asked to resign by a sustainable agriculture advocacy organization, according to the local Star-Tribune. Himle canceled the broadcast of “Troubled Waters: A Mississippi River Story,” which was produced by the university. The paper reported that Himle is married to John Himle, c.e.o. of Himle Horner Inc., a PR firm that represents the Minnesota Agri-Growth Council, an agribusiness advocacy association; he denied any role in the cancellation. The Land Stewardship Project is calling for her to step down. Himle has not spoken to the press but said through a university spokesperson that she made the decision after hearing concerns from faculty members about the science behind the film, which deals in part with agricultural pollution.

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KET head bows out of Birthright fundraiser

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Shae Hopkins, executive director of Kentucky Educational Television, has dropped out of a fundraiser for Birthright of Lexington, which provides assistance to women with unplanned pregnancies, reports the Lexington Herald-Leader. “Unfortunately, a normal vetting process of this event was not taken,” KET spokesperson Tim Bischoff told the newspaper in a statement. “Although Birthright International has a philosophy of avoiding direct involvement in political advocacy, after further consideration and out of concern that her participation could lead to the perception that she and/or KET are endorsing a particular cause, Ms. Hopkins has decided not to participate.” Hopkins was scheduled to be a celebrity auctioneer for the nonprofit’s Bid & Buy 2010 event on Nov. 6.

Quick Takes

What are the odds?

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It’s a good thing Ken Burns brought his glove to the Orioles-Red Sox game in Boston on Tuesday (Sept. 21). Yup, he snagged a foul ball. Burns is on one of his amazingly energetic promotional tours (Current, Oct. 13, 2009) for his latest PBS doc, Tenth Inning, which airs Sept.

Quick Takes

Local flavors to new pubradio shows on KPCC, Public Radio Delmarva

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“I want this show to always have one piece in it where someone listens to it and says, ‘You know what I heard on the radio today?’ and talks about it at the dinner table,” Madeleine Brand says in a Los Angeles Times feature on the Sept. 20 debut of her new morning show for KPCC in Pasadena. “Intellectually stimulated and delighted at the same time,” she says. “My goal is for it not to be reheated broccoli.”

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KCET and WETA present awards on Cap Hill to child-care providers

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Seventeen child-care providers were honored on Capitol Hill yesterday (Sept. 21) in ceremonies sponsored by KCET and WETA. It’s the third such outreach event for KCET’s A Place of Our Own and Los Ninos en Su Casa. Members of Congress helped present the awards, and PBS President Paula Kerger spoke. The child-care providers previously were selected as “Caregivers of the Week” by their local pubcasting stations.

Quick Takes

New social media outlet for NPR

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NPR’s social media team launched the NPR Tumblr, a short-form blog that will feature photos and quotes that play to the strengths of the blogging platform. Tumblr launched in 2007 and has more than 8 million users; it’s distinguished by its visual appeal and the ease with which users can post and share photos, text, links, music and video. In today’s first post, featuring an arresting image of a monarch butterfly, NPR’s Andy Carvin cites Fresh Air’s Tumblr as the inspiration for the network’s foray onto tumblelogging. In July, NPR hit a major social media milestone when its Facebook page surpassed one million fans.

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Two major pubTV stations among 11 broadcasters protesting content use by ivi

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WNET, WGBH and nine other broadcasters are signatories to several cease and desist letters to the Seattle startup ivi, which is selling Internet access to their live TV signals. And ivi has responded by filing a Complaint for Declaratory Judgment of Copyright Noninfringement (PDF) in U.S. District Court in Seattle on Monday (Sept. 20), in what it calls “a preemptive move to discourage needless litigation from big media.” All that then prompted the National Association of Broadcasters to issue a strongly worded statement Tuesday (Sept. 21).

Quick Takes

“State of Public Television” report: Haven’t hit financial bottom yet, CPB Board hears

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The CPB Board today (Sept. 21) heard an ominous “State of Public Television” update that predicts that licensees haven’t yet seen the worst of declines in state support, underwriting and philanthropic giving.CPB management commissioned Public Radio Capital for a systemwide analysis of fiscal year 2008 and FY2009 to assess pubTV station solvency. During that time, non-federal funding fell 16 percent. Although federal support to stations increased, aggregate revenues “continued their steep downward trend,” the report said. Community licensees saw a 22 percent decrease in corporate underwriting, with national producing stations particularly impacted.