Quick Takes

State orders W.V. network to craft plan, calls for review of executive’s performance

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The state Educational Broadcasting Authority has ordered West Virginia Public Broadcasting to develop a strategic financial plan by July 31, according to the Charleston Gazette. Authority members also called for a formal review of network Executive Director Dennis Adkins’ job performance.The newspaper said that as of April 30, contributions to the network are down 7 percent from the same time last year, and corporate underwriting is down 8 percent from 2011 and 36 percent from 2008.Mike Meador, finance director at West Virginia Public Broadcasting, said the agency also has been told by Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin’s administration to expect a 5 percent cut in its state appropriations next year, amounting to about $300,000. The state appropriation, $5.64 million in fiscal 2012-13, provides more than half of the network’s operating budget, which includes $300,000 for Mountain Stage and $45,000 to the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame.

Quick Takes

Pubcasting stations’ transit of Venus webcast attracts 436,000 worldwide

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The June 5 live webcast of the heavenly transit of Venus by pubstations WPBT2 in Miami, Las Vegas PBS and KNPB in Reno, was an “astronomical success,” the stations said, attracting more than 436,000 viewers worldwide from as far away as Australia and Japan.Viewers chatted with Bill Dishong, series producer for WPBT2’s Star Gazers, during the rare celestial event, during which Venus moved across the path of the sun, from 6 to 11 p.m. Eastern. The webcast was initially planned to originate at KNPB, but the transit wasn’t visible there due to weather conditions. Las Vegas PBS, contacted at the last minute, agreed to host the event.

People

Randy Feldman, at helm of WYES in New Orleans since 1990, to retire

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Randy Feldman, president and g.m. of pubstation WYES in New Orleans since 1990, will step down at the end of the year, reports New Orleans CityBusiness magazine. Feldman announced his retirement to WYES board members Monday (June 4) and said he wanted to focus on his personal life. He said he plans on finishing up private fundraising for the $2.5-million second phase of a capital campaign for construction of a new $7 million, 20,000-square-foot station facility. “This is as good a time as any,” Feldman said. “We’ll have funding and other things in place and then someone can take it home from there.”

Quick Takes

McCarroll to retire from Oklahoma pubcasting network by year’s end

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John McCarroll, executive director of the Oklahoma Educational Television Authority (OETA), will retire by the end of the year, he told the authority’s board this week. McCarroll arrived at OETA in 2003 from KLRU-TV, the PBS station in Austin, Texas. His accomplishments include completion of the $12 million digital conversion of the Oklahoma Network, which included replacement of 18 transmitters; a new OETA studio; and two regional Emmy Awards for his work on OETA projects. Dr. James W. Utterback, chairman of the OETA board, said it will form a search committee for McCarroll’s replacement.

Quick Takes

Universities becoming incubators for news startups, J-Lab reports

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J-Lab has posted an overview of university news websites, with information culled from its meeting last week with three dozen site editors and founders. The schools are becoming incubators for entrepreneurial news startups, according to J-Lab.”The degree to which student production of news stories for these startups is fully integrated in the curricula is still a nut that needs to be cracked,” notes J-Lab Executive Director Jan Schaffer. “But there is no question that students involved in these initiatives are learning not only how to produce stories on a faster turnaround than most classroom assignments, they are also getting firsthand experience in how to operate a news business.”Models vary widely; J-Lab has funded some 24 university news sites since 2005.J-Lab is supported by a $2.4 million grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, and is part of the School of Communication at American University (also the parent organization of Current).

Quick Takes

Mediation talks between Jefferson Public Radio and university system start tomorrow

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A mediator will start talks this week between representatives of Jefferson Public Radio and the Oregon University System, which holds the broadcaster’s license, in an effort to settle a dispute over JPR’s leadership structure. Retired federal judge Terry Lukens begins mediation talks tomorrow, according to the Mail Tribune. The university system terminated the contract of JPR Executive Director Ron Kramer in March (Current, April 9). A university audit advised that Kramer’s dual roles as head of the radio station and of a separate fundraising nonprofit had created a conflict of interest. The audit also said that JPR’s fundraising efforts were at odds with the university’s.

Development

Extolling public TV’s mission with an edge

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I love standing on a stage — especially in the American heartland — and saying to 500 public television supporters, “Fear is for people who don’t get out much. When we travel, we get out. And, in the same way, when we watch public television, we get out.”

There’s a lot of fear being pushed in our society these days, and as I see it, the flip side of fear is understanding. And, like travel, public television promotes understanding. As much as I love to talk about Europe and the value of a journey that takes you outside your comfort zone, I also love to talk about the mission of public TV to challenge us with new ideas — especially if they get us out of our comfort zones.

Quick Takes

Florida, Nevada pubstations join to live-stream today’s transit of Venus

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WPBT2’s Star Gazers, in partnership with KNPB, will live-stream today’s historic transit of Venus from Reno, Nev., starting at 6 p.m. Eastern. The stations, based in Miami and Reno, have previously partnered on other celestial events.During the transit, Venus will pass directly between the Earth and the sun. This will be the last transit of Venus to occur in this lifetime.Viewers can join the conversation here. Bill Dishong, series producer, will provide commentary, and Star Gazers host Marlene Hidalgo will answer questions from the online audience as the transit unfolds.

Quick Takes

Paul Bartishevich, longtime radio producer, dies at 53

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Radio producer Paul Bartishevich, head of Finger Lakes Productions International, died June 1 at his home in Trumansburg, N.Y., of an apparent heart attack. He was 53.FLPI produced and distributed daily radio programming to NPR affiliates nationwide as well as more than 120 countries and territories via the Voice of America and American Forces Radio. Popular titles, which reflected Bartishevich’s interest in science, nature and technology, included Bird Watch, Nature Watch, Animal Instincts, Ocean Report, Our Ocean World, EnvironMinute and Microbeworld.In 1998, FLPI founded and launched the Radio Voyager Network (RVN), which became the first English-language commercial radio network to broadcast throughout Europe. In 2010, it launched HearTheAnswer.com, to “educate citizens, young and old, about the importance of science and environmental research and discovery.” Bartishevich was also known for mentoring young people. Each of his interns was given a copy of Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich, an inspirational business text.

Quick Takes

U.S. terminates support of $20 million Pakistani “Sesame Street” project

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Following reports of corruption, the U.S. Embassy in Pakistan has terminated $20 million in funding for to develop a Pakistani version of Sesame Street, according to the Associated Press, citing a report in Pakistan Today.The USAID money was funding the Rafi Peer Theater Workshop, a local group working on the program with Sesame Workshop. Embassy spokesman Robert Raines confirmed that the funding was terminated but declined to provide details. Pakistan Today, citing unnamed sources close to the project, said “lack of proper planning, mismanagement and financial irregularities have all been rampant throughout the project, leading to an initial delay of a year and a half and finally the suspension of aid.” Rafi Peer has denied the allegations, and said the U.S. government ended its participation after providing $10 million due to lack of funds.UPDATE: Sesame Workshop provided this statement to Current.“Sesame Workshop was surprised and dismayed to learn about the serious allegations made against Rafi Peer Theatre Workshop. Beyond what we have read in the press, we do not know the specific details of these allegations.

Quick Takes

Publisher, editor of El Paso news nonprofit fired as it awaits 501(c)3 status

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The publisher and editor of Newspaper Tree, a nonprofit newsroom in El Paso, Texas, have been fired “as a result of internal disputes,” leaving just one employee, an investigative reporter, according to El Paso Inc.Newspaper Tree is one of several nonprofit news organizations that have been waiting for more than a year for federal approval of their 501(c)3 status (Current, May 14). It is currently offline due to that delay.Publisher Louie Gilot and editor Reyes Mata III were fired late in May. Investigative reporter Debbie Nathan remains.Newspaper Tree Board President Richard Pineda, an associate communication professor in University of Texas at El Paso, confirmed that Gilot and Mata are no longer employed, but declined to discuss details. “I can’t comment on the personnel issue, but what I can say is the board is still committed to the mission we started with and the goals we have,” Pineda told El Paso Inc.

Quick Takes

Panetta presents Vietnamese official with diary researched by “History Detectives”

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U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta presented a diary to Vietnam’s defense minister in Hanoi Monday (June 4) from the body of a North Vietnamese soldier killed in a 1966 firefight near Quang Ngai that had been provided to the Defense Department by the pubTV program History Detectives. The diary contains several entries and a photo of two young women, according to PBS.”I’m pleased that History Detectives could, through Secretary Panetta, be part of a continuing process of reconciliation between our nations,” said Wes Cowan, lead investigator for the show. “The diary and photograph are small reminders that the combatants who were lost on both sides were not simply warriors, but real people who will forever be remembered by their loved ones.” Marjorie Garner brought the diary to History Detectives for a friend, U.S. Marine Ira Frazure. After firing subsided in the 1966 battle, Frazure found the body of a North Vietnamese soldier in a machine gun pit with the small red journal on his chest.In return, Vietnam’s Minister of Defense Gen. Phung Quang Thanh turned over to Panetta several letters from a U.S. soldier killed in the conflict.

Quick Takes

Some 14 percent of PBS.org monthly visitors are localized to stations

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Currently about 14 percent of the monthly visitors to PBS.org are localized to a station, reports Kristin Calhoun, director of PBS Interactive, on the PBS Station Products & Innovation blog. Localization overlays have been seen by 4,409,464 site visitors, with 453,301 clicking the “Choose My Station” button.”Think of PBS.org as a big prospecting platform for PBS member stations,” Calhoun writes. “More people declaring an affinity for a favorite station means more touch points for a visitor to PBS.org to engage with their local station. They have direct links to station support pages, custom TV tune-in information and access to their local station’s content via efforts like Project Merlin. And user survey data tells us that localized PBS.org visitors are more engaged, they spend more time on the site.”

Quick Takes

Catholic League complains to NPR about coverage of abuse trial

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The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights has asked NPR to respond to a complaint about a recent report on a sex-abuse trial involving church officials. The web version of Barbara Bradley Hagerty’s May 27 report opens as follows: “A clergy sex-abuse trial in is reaching a crescendo in a Philadelphia courtroom. One defendant is James Brennan, a priest accused of trying to rape a minor, which is not that unusual.”Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League, took issue with the “not that unusual” portion of that paragraph. “In this day and age when it is considered taboo to make sweeping generalizations of a negative sort about so many demographic groups, it is astonishing that NPR would allow this bigoted swipe at Catholic priests,” he was quoted as saying in a post on the Catholic League’s website. Out of all the nation’s priests, few have been accused of molestation, and charges of rape have been less common than cases of “inappropriate touching,” he said.“I hasten to add that I have done several interviews with NPR recently and have found their correspondents to be very professional,” Donohue said.

Quick Takes

Host of Iowa PTV’s “Market to Market” dies unexpectedly at his farm

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Mark Pearson, host of Iowa Public Television’s nationally syndicated Market to Market, died unexpectedly Sunday (June 2) at his farm in rural Madison County of an apparent heart attack. He was 54.The Des Moines Register reported that emergency responders were summoned to the residence around 5:30 p.m. Central. “Iowa Public Television lost a friend and a colleague today,” the station said in a statement late Sunday, “and the state of Iowa lost a smart, enthusiastic, and talented agricultural broadcaster with the passing of Mark Pearson.””For more than 20 years, Mark was Market to Market — reporting on the latest news in agribusiness while providing critical insights for viewers across the nation,” the statement said. “A true ambassador for rural America, Mark spoke extensively on the national circuit and was recognized wherever he went. He was gregarious and kindhearted, yet he took the business of agriculture very seriously.

Quick Takes

Eaton anticipates increased Emmy competition for “Downton Abbey”

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The regal Downton Abbey’s Emmy-category switch from mini-series to drama could put it up against “American TV’s real aristocracy,” reports Deadline.com, such as Mad Men, Breaking Bad, The Killing and Game of Thrones. “We’re going to be in a whole other orbit,” said Rebecca Eaton, Masterpiece e.p. “We won against some very stiff competition last year from HBO, for which we all remain enormously proud. But in American TV, the drama series track clearly is the faster track. It’ll be interesting to go toe-to-toe with those very different shows and see how we do.”Season 1 of Downton had four episodes; Season 2, seven — exceeding the six that generally define a regular series and prompting the category change.

Quick Takes

French Chef’s love of felines subject of upcoming book by ex-pubcaster

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Former WTTW producer Pat Barey is co-author of a book coming out in August about a little-known aspect of Julia Child’s life: Her love of cats. Julia’s Cats: Julia Child’s Life in the Company of Cats draws on letters and original interviews to reveal the famous pubcasting chef’s love of felines, from the very first, Minette, that arrived at the Childs’ doorstep soon after she and her husband Paul arrived in Paris. Co-author is Therese Burson, Barey’s partner in the film production company Tellens.

Quick Takes

Ahl departs post at Iowa Public Radio, resigns presidency of PRNDI Board

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Jonathan Ahl, news director of Iowa Public Radio, left his job Thursday (May 31), according to The Gazette in Cedar Rapids. Mary Grace Herrington, c.e.o., declined to say “what led to his departure or whether he was terminated,” the newspaper said. Ahl had joined the station in July 2008.Ahl also submitted his resignation to PRNDI Board president, effective immediately. He was in his second term in the office. George Bodarky, news and public affairs director at WFUV-FM in New York, will serve as PRNDI acting president until the board election June 30.”PRNDI would like to thank Jonathan Ahl, affectionately known as ‘the chief,’ for his strong commitment to the organization over the years,” the organization said on its website.