Quick Takes

Pittsburgh jazz fans object to WDUQ format change

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A group of community leaders and jazz fans working to preserve music programming on Pittsburgh’s WDUQ, the NPR News and jazz station that has been in ownership limbo for more than a year, asked the FCC to delay the proposed license transfer to Essential Public Media (EPM), according to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. The expectant owner recently announced plans to convert 90.5 FM into an all-news station and move all but six hours of jazz programming to an HD Radio channel. Evan Pattak, chair of Jazz Lives in Pittsburgh, recently described the format change as “draconian” in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “From 100 hours [a week] to six — it’s a blow to this city’s cultural and artistic diversity. I can’t imagine any jazz fan who would find it acceptable,” he said.

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“Voluminous” FCC report on media future offers only “minor suggestions,” WSJ says

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The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the Federal Communication Commission’s highly anticipated report on the future of media, to be released Thursday, “holds little more than minor suggestions for rule changes, such as requiring broadcasters to put more information online.” The paper cites sources that have read what it characterizes as “the voluminous document.” The document also suggests that the Internal Revenue Service help struggling media companies get an easier path to becoming nonprofits. “It’s more of a history of media than a future of media [report],” said one FCC official who has read the report.

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Cooney Center to issue “Families Matter” report on media usage

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The Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop is releasing a new report, “Families Matter,” documenting how families with young children integrate digital media into their lives, today (June 7) at the E 3 Expo for electronic gaming in Los Angeles. Center Executive Director Michael Levine writes on Huffington Post that the findings include: Only half of parents are playing with their kids on newer platforms such as video game consoles; many parents are spending more time with their children engaged in traditional activities (TV, books, board games); and while more than half of parents are concerned about the effect of media usage on their children, fewer than 1 in 5 parents think their kids spend too much time with digital media.

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Senate spectrum auction bill markup set for Wednesday

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The Senate Commerce Committee is set to mark up a spectrum incentive auction bill Wednesday (June 8), but that could prove to be a “marathon undertaking,” according to Broadcasting & Cable. The bill, S. 911, contains nearly 100 draft amendments. It would allow the Federal Communications Commission to compensate broadcasters for giving up some spectrum, around 120 MHz total, to make room for more wireless broadband. It would also allow allocate the D block of spectrum to first responders for an interoperable broadband emergency communications network rather than auction it. The bill’s sponsor, Senate Commerce Committee chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), wants the bill passed and to the president before the tenth anniversary of 9/11.

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Yore gets promotion at Marketplace

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American Public Media is announcing J.J. Yore’s promotion from vice president/executive producer to vice president/general manager of pubradio’s Marketplace. APM said in a statement today (June 7) that in his new role, Yore will be responsible for overseeing all editorial and business operations activity. Yore was part of the team that created Marketplace in 1988. He has worked as a reporter, editor, and broadcast producer for the show. In his most recent role as executive producer, he oversaw Marketplace’s on-air and online programming.

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In New Jersey, NJN to become NJTV; radio licenses go to New York Public Radio and WHYY

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As expected, New York Gov. Chris Christie today (June 6) announced that New Jersey Public Media, a new nonprofit subsidiary of WNET/Thirteen in New York City, will take over the television stations of the New Jersey Network as the state ends financial support on July 1. NJN will now be known as NJTV and will continue to provide a nightly newscast, according to the New York Times. On the radio side, four state-owned licenses will be acquired outright by New York Public Radio, which operates WNYC and WQXR, and the remaining five will be purchased by the Philadelphia public broadcaster WHYY. NJN’s approximately 120 employees will lose those jobs, although they will be able to reapply for posts at the new entity, the paper reports.

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Harrisburg’s WITF lays off 18 staffers

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WITF in Harrisburg, Pa., last week told 18 employees they are losing their jobs, according to the local Patriot-News. That will drop the number of full-time staffers from 85 to 67. The layoffs were spread throughout the operation, including technology, development and programming. Those leaving include “two of WITF’s better-known radio personalities,” the paper says: Craig Cohen, host of Radio Smart Talk since it started in 2008 and a nearly 10-year employee, and Melanie Herschorn, local reporter/host for All Things Considered for the last three years. “Every layoff is really a painful experience this time,” said Kathleen Pavelko, station c.e.o. In February 2009, the station lost three staffers and a full-time unfilled position, and senior managers took a pay cut.

Quick Takes

CPB announces new ombudsman

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Joel Kaplan is the new ombudsman for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, effective June 1. Kaplan is currently associate dean at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, focused on its new graduate curriculum centered on multi-media storytelling and new media platforms. He has taught classes in news writing, investigative reporting, national political reporting, communications law, ethics and public affairs reporting. He’s also the author of two white papers for CPB that address the role of the ombudsman in achieving balance and objectivity within public media and in social media.“I look forward to working with CPB to improve transparency throughout the public media system,” Kaplan said in a statement, “encourage greater objectivity and balance in public media programming, and ensure the organization is responsive to audience comments and questions.” He is a member of the advisory board for the Tully Center for Free Speech and was the first academic elected to the Board of Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE). CPB established the Office of the Ombudsman six years ago (Current, April 11, 2005) as an independent office to inform the board of directors and the president of CPB about concerns related to the public media system. Ken Bode has served as ombudsman since then.

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WNET subsidiary will receive $4 million to run NJN, Star-Ledger newspaper reports

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Instead of paying for the state for management rights to operate New Jersey’s pubTV network, a new nonprofit formed by WNET/Thirteen will actually receive $4 million in fees and grants, sources with knowledge of the deal told the Star-Ledger. The subsidiary will receive a $2 million grant from the CPB previously awarded to NJN, and will keep about $2 million in tower rental fees that private companies pay the network, the paper said. A formal announcement of the five-year agreement is expected this week.

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Long-awaited FCC report on future of news coming June 9

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The Federal Communication Commission’s report on the future of media will be presented at the agency’s June 9 meeting, Broadcasting & Cable is reporting. An agency working group headed by veteran print journalist and Beliefnet founder Steve Waldman has been reporting on the topic since October 2009. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski and Waldman are also scheduled to appear June 10 at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism in New York, where they will discuss the report findings.

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All-classical broadcasts return to Rhode Island via student-operated WJMF

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Boston pubcaster WGBH will extend its classical music service into Rhode Island through simulcasts on Bryant University’s student-operated radio station WJMF in Smithfield. The programming partnership, announced yesterday, includes a power-boost to WJMF’s 225-watt signal; the migration of student-programmed broadcasts to HD Radio, mobile DTV, and smartphone platforms; and a summer internship program for Bryant students. WGBH Radio’s 2009 signal expansion — the complex acquisition and signal-swap that converted commercial classical WCRB 102.5 FM into 99.5 All Classical, a WGBH-owned and operated noncommercial outlet with a much smaller service area — left classical-music audiences in Providence, R.I., without a full-time music station. “We are absolutely delighted to be returning to an area with so much vibrant cultural activity, and look forward to sharing it with the rest of the region,” said Benjamin Roe, WGBH managing director for classical services.Student broadcasters at WJMF aren’t objecting to the deal, according to the station website. In addition to offering their station on new platforms, the deal provides for a 1200-watt signal carrying WJMF’s HD Radio channel into Providence.

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Web-based reality series now online from WGBH and AARP

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WGBH and AARP are co-producing a web-only reality series, 5 Weeks to a New Life, focusing on “revitalizing a marriage and other relationships, staying sexually active throughout life, looking good without resorting to Botox, financing dreams and living a life with purpose,” they said in a statement. The program follows two married couples and four singles facing the challenges of middle age, with guidance from personal-growth experts. The content “was designed not only to spark our thinking about what we want, but to inspire us to move forward,” said Laurie Donnelly, executive producer of WGBH’s lifestyle programming.

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South Dakota Public Broadcasting reducing staff by 15 percent

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Due to a nearly 17 percent cut in state funding, South Dakota Public Broadcasting is eliminating 10.5 full-time positions for the upcoming fiscal year. The pubcaster said in a statement that jobs are being cut from outreach and education, engineering, television, radio and marketing — 15 percent of the total staff will be gone as of June 8.In addition, it’s reorganizing the education and outreach department into an online-based service, and ending initiatives including Ready to Learn and the overnight and daytime educational TV programming block. “The cuts made to the FY2011 budget required a system-wide analysis,” said Julie Andersen, executive director.”It’s tough all over in our industry,” SDPB spokesperson Fritz Miller told Current, immediately following a luncheon for departing colleagues on June 2. “We’re absorbing the cuts as best we can and look ahead to brighter days, keeping in mind that the people we serve depend on us.”

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NBR opens Denver bureau with Rocky Mountain PBS

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Nightly Business Report has launched a news bureau in Denver as part of an agreement with Rocky Mountain PBS. The bureau, which opened Wednesday (June 1), will cover stories of national interest happening in the region. NBR also opened a Silicon Valley bureau last November and recently began broadcasting on Sirius XM radio as part of an ambitious expansion process planned by owner Mykalai Kontilai, whose NBR Worldwide purchased the show last year.

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Schiller appointed digital chief for NBC News

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Former NPR President Vivian Schiller will join NBC News in July as chief digital officer, overseeing digital strategy of both NBC News and MSNBC.Her responsibilities include strategic oversight of NBC’s digital extensions on the web and in mobile, interaction with the joint venture that oversees the msnbc.com digital network, and directing new emerging properties such as EducationNation.com and theGrio.com. She reports to NBC News President Steve Capus, who said her journalistic background and digital expertise brings “a strong new pillar to the NBC News leadership team.”Schiller, who served as NPR president two years, laid the groundwork for a national and local digital service strategy between NPR and its member stations. She resigned in March after her management team became mired in political controversies over a series of missteps, beginning with the mishandled firing of former news analyst Juan Williams.

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New Hampshire PTV cuts 20 full-time employees anticipating state funding fall

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New Hampshire Public Television is eliminating some 20 full-time positions to offset an “impending loss” of $2.7 million in state funding, which will be a 30 percent reduction in its $8.8 million annual operating budget. NHPTV spokesperson Grace Lessner tells Current that the full-time staff of 49 will fall to 30 as of July 1. Most of the affected staffers were notified on Wednesday (June 1), spokesperson Lessner told Foster’s Daily Democrat. She said cuts come from all departments, including administration, production and content. “It was devastating,” she said.

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Project VoiceScape presents teenage filmmakers with grants

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Fifteen projects by 22 teenage filmmakers will receive grants through Project VoiceScape, a collaboration between Adobe Youth Voices and P.O.V., public TV’s longest-running showcase for indie nonfiction films. The Adobe and PBS Foundations jointly announced the grants today (June 1). Here is a list of the winning programs (PDF).

Quick Takes

Alicia Shepard signs off as NPR Ombudsman

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In her last column as NPR Ombudsman, Alicia Shepard credited NPR for demonstrating a commitment to transparency and accountability by employing a journalist as an internal critic of its news coverage.”They say this is the loneliest job in the newsroom – the public thinks you are a shill for NPR and NPR employees think you are an internal affairs investigative unit,” she wrote. “Often I’ve felt a bit like a security guard at a private party. Just my presence – and fear of being named in a column – may help to keep folks working hard to live up to the ethics and journalism standards that NPR has established.”Since taking the job in 2008, Shepard has critiqued NPR’s journalism during a period of audience growth, service expansion, and the upper-management upheaval sparked by the October 2010 firing of news analyst Juan Williams.Her biggest regret from her tenure as Ombudsman, Shepard told Columbia Journalism Review in a recent Q&A, was not pushing NPR’s leadership harder to address the conflicts created by Juan Williams’ dual roles as an NPR analyst and Fox News pundit: “I saw the value of Juan Williams to NPR, but it just seemed that there was never a clear understanding of what his role was. By October of 2010, I felt that it really had become an untenable situation and difficult for him to straddle the role of being more of a provocateur on Fox and a straight news analyst on NPR.”

Quick Takes

Vivian Schiller may be headed to NBC

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NBC News reportedly plans to hire former NPR President Vivian Schiller to lead its digital division. “People familiar with the company say Schiller, who once ran the New York Times’ Web site, will report to NBC News chief Steve Capus,” Peter Kafka reports for All Things Digital.