Quick Takes

It’s official: Pittsburgh’s new pubradio FM to go all-news, jazz migrates to HD channel

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Essential Public Media unveiled plans to operate 90.5 FM in Pittsburgh, the station now broadcasting NPR News and jazz as WDUQ, as an all-news station as of July 1.Dennis Hamilton, a public radio veteran who is director of consulting for Public Radio Capital, will manage the new station on an interim basis.Under a $6 million license transfer agreement now pending at the FCC, the station will get new call letters, and its new owners will reconfigure Pittsburgh’s public radio landscape by launching the city’s first all-news public radio service.Jazz music programming, which fans of current format had hoped to preserve, will air on an HD Radio channel and Internet audio stream; six hours of jazz programming are slated for Saturday nights on the main broadcast channel. JazzWorks, the nationally syndicated jazz programming stream originating from WDUQ, will continue production under the new owners.The partners behind the new station are Pittsburgh Community Broadcasting, licensee of Triple A station WYEP, and Public Media Company, a new subsidiary of Public Radio Capital. In addition, the Richard King Mellon Foundation, Heinz Endowments, and the Pittsburgh Foundation have jointly committed more than $3 million towards its purchase and operations, according to a news release.For the news service, EPM is developing two radio programs: Essential Pittsburgh, an hour-long interview call-in show; and Sounds of the City, a weekly news round-up. The line-up includes the pubradio mainstays already airing on WDUQ, such as NPR’s news magazines, Fresh Air, Marketplace and This American Life.The station will also publish news online at EssentialPublicMedia.org, and has forged a content partnership with PublicSource, a foundation-backed online news-start up run by Pittsburgh Filmmakers.

Quick Takes

Wisconsin cuts public broadcasting funding — then cuts some more

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The Wisconsin legislature’s budget committee today (May 25) approved slicing an extra half-million dollars from an agency that helps deliver the broadcasts of Wisconsin Public Radio and Television, the Superior Telegraph is reporting. The nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau says the two-year cut to the Educational Communications Board is atop the roughly 10 percent reductions to most state agencies. The move passed on a 12-4 party-line vote. Across the country, states lawmakers continue to target pubcasting dollars (Current, April 18).

Quick Takes

NPR Ombudsman: Criticism of Soros grant not confined to right-wing partisans

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Outgoing NPR Ombudsman Alicia Shepard reviews the network’s decision to accept an $1.8 million grant from George Soros’s Open Society Foundations last fall — a judgement call that, in the view of unnamed NPR journalists, put the news organization’s credibility as an impartial, trusted news source at risk. “[A] deep current of concern has run through the newsroom about taking money from someone with a well-known, documented political agenda supporting Democrats and Democratic causes,” Shepard writes. The two-year grant supports a worthy cause — launch of the accountability journalism project Impact of Government — but unwittingly opened NPR up to attacks from right-wing partisans. Shepard advises NPR to hurry up and announce additional funding for the project. “The sooner NPR can provide a varied list of funders .

Quick Takes

KET pubcaster knows Oprah Winfrey as a doggone good host

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All of America (well, nearly) is bracing for Oprah Winfrey’s final talk show today (May 25). But Bill Goodman, host of Kentucky Tonight on Kentucky Educational Television, can say he personally knew her way back when. He was news producer and assignment editor at CBS affiliate WTVF-TV in Nashville when Winfrey, then a 19-year-old college sophomore, anchored its weekend newscast. He tells A.M. New York that even back then, Winfrey was “a perfectionist and she worked very hard. As one of the first African-American women on the air, she knew that a lot of people were watching her.

Quick Takes

Deal pending to bring PBS to Orlando via two universities

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The Orlando Sentinel is reporting that a deal has been reached to keep PBS service in Orlando after affiliate WMFE-TV’s sale to religious broadcaster Daystar is finalized, perhaps as early as July 1. Under a proposed plan, columnist Hal Boedeker writes, the University of Central Florida in Orlando and Brevard Community College (home to PBS affiliate WBCC) in Cocoa will assume responsibility for broadcasting PBS in Orlando. Two UCF panels must agree. The university’s advancement committee votes Thursday morning, and the full Board of Trustees meets Thursday afternoon. “PBS still needs to approve this action, should the UCF Board of Trustees approve it,” Grant Heston, assistant vice president of news and information at UCF, tells the paper. “This is a potential big step.

Quick Takes

Social media magazine premieres at BlogWorld & New Media Expo

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A new publication calling itself “the world’s first printed magazine dedicated to focus exclusively on the evolving technology area of social media” is launching at the BlogWorld & New Media Expo 2011, going on this week in New York City. The Social Media Monthly includes articles by the Heritage Foundation’s Rory Cooper and U.S. Ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa David Huebner exploring the role of social media within the executive branch and diplomatic communications, and the cover interview with Duleepa Wijayawardhana, founder of Empire Avenue, a social media exchange. The premiere issue sports a specially designed cover by artist Yiying Lu, known for her famous drawings of the “Fail Whale” used by Twitter and the “Pale Whale” featuring Conan O’Brien.

Quick Takes

Pubmedia journalists join Nieman Fellows

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Three public media journalists are among the 24 new fellows selected by the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University. Jonathan Blakley, NPR foreign desk producer, will study history, politics and social media in sub-Saharan Africa, and  examine the media environment in the United States leading into the 2012 presidential election. Kristen Lombardi, staff writer at the Center for Public Integrity, will focus on legal and social conditions that promote wrongful convictions, particularly the impact of institutional misconduct and the consequences of systemic resistance to reform. And Jeff Young, senior correspondent with PRI’s Living on Earth, will look at the full costs of energy sources and how new media might convene a more meaningful discussion of energy choices. Established in 1938, the Nieman Foundation administers the oldest midcareer fellowship program for journalists in the world.

Quick Takes

Maryland Public Television selects its c.o.o., Larry Unger, as new president

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Larry Unger, Maryland Public Television’s current chief operating officer, has been named its new president. He’ll take the helm on June 30, when current President Robert Shuman retires after a 15-year tenure. Unger joined the station in 1997. Before coming to pubTV, he spent 11 years as executive vice president and group executive for the Bank of Baltimore. Unger also served for more than five years as an officer of public TV’s Major Market Group, an organization of the industry’s top 30 stations, and was instrumental in MPT’s digital transition.

Quick Takes

“Short-form” pledge campaign nets KALW $300,000 and 900 new members

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“We’re raising good will as well as money,” says Holly Kernan, news director and host at KALW/91.7 FM in San Francisco. Instead of interrupting programming for pledge spots, the station this month conducted a “short-form” campaign of 60- and 90-second spots, many of them humorous, featuring local celebrities, reports the Knight Digital Media Center. So how did it work? The station met its goal of $300,000 and gained 900 new members. Positive comments from listeners too, including: ““Love, love, love the new pledge drive format!”

Quick Takes

PBS announces first-ever line of PBS Kids-themed toys

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PBS launched its first PBS Kids line of preschool toys today (May 24), featuring 20 wooden playthings. They’ll be available exclusively on a new retail page, PBSKIDSshop.com, through early fall, and sold through other online and in-store retailers later. The toys include a Sounds of the World Rhythm Set, one of several musical toys; a Puzzle Playset Safari; building and construction toys, such as Exploration Blocks: City (image, PBS); and Three-Layer Puzzles in barn, camping and other themes. In addition to the new toy line, the online shop offers educational books, games, toys, DVDs, customizable apparel and more based on PBS Kids programs. Proceeds from the PBS Kids Shop will help fund children’s programming, PBS said. 

Quick Takes

StoryCorps seeks Muslim voices over July 4th weekend

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The StoryCorps listening project is partnering with My Faith My Voice, a platform dedicated to promoting the grassroots voice of Muslims in America, to record stories on July 4 weekend in Chicago. “The partnership will seek to humanize the American Muslim community and reflect the growing diversity of our country’s national landscape,” a statement said.”Storytelling is a powerful way to break down barriers and strengthen connections between people,” Haaris Ahmad, an MFMV Board Member, said in the statement. “It’s time for the Muslim community to add its stories to the rich diversity and tradition of the rest of the American family.”

Quick Takes

Huffington Post survey taking temp of viewers on PBS breaks question

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Current’s coverage of PBS’s announcement that it will begin an experiment this fall to insert local and national promo breaks into two shows has prompted a pro/con survey at Huffington Post. As of 2:10 p.m. Monday (May 23), “I hate it” has 72 percent of the votes, with “Whatever” claiming 28 percent.

Quick Takes

“Sherlock” wins top drama, supporting actor BAFTAs; none for “Downton Abbey”

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While the Masterpiece hit Downton Abbey failed to win BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) TV Awards for any of its three category nominations, its Sherlock grabbed two top trophies at ceremonies Sunday night in London, according to TV Squad. The detective show won best drama series and best supporting actor for Martin Freeman, who plays Watson.Freeman’s co-star Benedict Cumberbatch lost out in the best actor category to Daniel Rigby (Flyboys) for his role as legendary British comedian Eric Morecambe in Eric & Ernie. Rigby also beat out Doctor Who star Matt Smith.Downton Abbey was nominated for three major awards — drama series, supporting actor and audience favorite — but failed to win any. Full list of winners here.

Quick Takes

WTTW mulled leaving PBS; at least six other stations are “on the fence,” NYT reports

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PBS narrowly averted losing the membership of Chicago affiliate WTTW, the New York Times is reporting today (May 23). Earlier this year the board of WTTW-TV told management to consider withdrawing from the system, as KCET had done in January. “Our board, they are smart business people,” says Dan Schmidt, WTTW president, “and when they look at our business model they scratch their heads and they say this is upside down from a business standpoint.” He says his station pays $4.5 million a year in PBS dues, and yet “viewers can see that content on other stations and increasingly, whenever they want to on PBS.org.” WTTW had a $4.2 million operating deficit last year, Schmidt says.The paper says there are “murmurs of half a dozen more stations, at least — no one will name them on the record — that are on the fence and could leave,” depending on state and federal financing situations.

System/Policy

‘Required’ station fees for web services are just a ‘proposal,’ says NPR Board chair

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Plans to restructure NPR’s digital services to pubradio stations, in the works for months, have finally gotten down to specifics: what NPR will offer, what it will cost and who will pay. Based on prices that NPR has proposed — between $1,800 and $100,000 a year — some stations are now experiencing a new virtual variety of sticker shock. In round robin meetings that began in April, NPR execs have been briefing station leaders on their planned offering, a comprehensive package of technology support, training and content, but some station leaders reacted angrily after a May 12 NPR memo said all member stations would be required to pay fees for the services. Joyce McDonald, v.p. for member and program services, notified top stations execs — the so-called “authorized representatives” who speak and vote on behalf of their stations — of NPR’s plan to begin phasing-in new required digital services fees. The memo coincided with the NPR Board’s May 12-13 meetings in Washington, D.C.

Many misunderstood the message as a statement of board policy and a done deal, when McDonald intended to give station execs advance notice of proposed dues increases for next fiscal year, according to NPR. Reactions posted on the A-Reps message board prompted NPR’s top leaders to backpedal, reassuring stations that no decisions had been made.

Quick Takes

Marfa pubradio made “difference between life and death” in Texas wildfires, story says

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Marfa Public Radio continues to win praise for its April coverage of massive wildfires, the latest coming via a Texas Tribune story in today’s (May 22) New York Times. “Had MPR not been around on April 9, when an electrical malfunction in a former storefront less than two miles west of downtown Marfa ignited the largest wildfire in Texas history, it might have meant the difference between life and death for some West Texans,” it notes. “It was like standing at the mouth of hell,” said Anne Adkins, MPR’s office manager. “We didn’t have a news team, so we became the news team.” According to the story, half of the station’s $250,000 budget comes from CPB. A membership drive that was “all but derailed by the wildfire,” the story says, actually turned out to be the station’s most successful ever, raising more than $85,000.The station posted a wildfire wrapup on May 21.

Quick Takes

Twitter becoming “real-time news wire for the world,” analyst says

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New media analyst Mathew Ingram writes on GigaOM that there’s a growing demand not only for careful curation of news, but also “the need to start looking at news as a process and not as a pristine, finished product.” He cites the BBC, which has staffers assigned to pull in reports from Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, YouTube and other outlets for verification, similar to Andy Carvin’s work for NPR. “Twitter is becoming the real-time news wire for the world, and we need people who can make use of it as such … And we need new attitudes about how we look at journalism as well, now that everyone is doing it.”

Quick Takes

“The Fracking Song” is latest twist in explanatory journalism

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A ProPublic series on the environmental threats of drilling for natural gas inspired a new kind of news explainer: A song. David Holmes, a journalism student in New York University’s Studio 20 program, which focuses on adapting news to the web in innovative ways, tells Poynter, “We were concerned with building a better entryway into that investigation and we figured a song would be the perfect way to do it — especially since it’s called fracking.” “My Water’s On Fire Tonight: The Fracking Song,” has nearly 83,000 hits on YouTube since it was posted last week — along with lots of fans. “I don’t understand how ‘Charlie Bit Me’ can have more views than this,” quipped one.

Quick Takes

Chicago’s only noncom Latino radio station up for sale

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WRTE/90.5 FM in Chicago, the city’s only noncom Latino radio station, is for sale, and Chicago Public Media is interested. WRTE’s licensee, the National Museum of Mexican Art, is parting with the youth-run station, known locally as Radio Arte, and the building housing it due to budget woes.Museum President Carlos Tortolero tells WBEZ: “The funding, especially in radio, is going south. We have a building that’s costing us money. We tried to borrow some money to do some things and [banks] are saying, ‘No, no. You can’t.’ The banks are looking at us and saying, ‘Hey, you have to get rid of some of this stuff.’” Former Radio Arte volunteers are also forming a coop to attempt to buy the station.”For all intents and purposes Radio Arte is the city of Chicago’s only true community radio station that isn’t affiliated with a college or university, and therefore more of a hybrid college/community station,” notes Radio Survivor.