Quick Takes

University of Kentucky sues reporter at pubradio station it owns

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In a dispute over an open records request, the University of Kentucky filed a lawsuit against Brenna Angel, a reporter for its own public radio station, WUKY-FM. Angel has been covering problems in the pediatric cardiothoracic surgery program at Kentucky Children’s Hospital, which is operated by the university. The university filed the lawsuit in Fayette County Circuit Court against Angel last week. Angel had requested records related to pediatric cardiothoracic surgery at a university-owned hospital. WUKY is not named in the lawsuit.

People

Everhart promoted to Current managing editor

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Karen Everhart, a media reporter and editor who has covered public broadcasting at Current for more than two decades, has been promoted to managing editor. She joined Current in 1991 and has reported on the programming, politics and funding of both the public television and radio systems, as well as the growth of nonprofit news organizations specializing in investigative journalism and local news coverage. Prior to her March 2012 interim appointment, she was Current’s senior editor covering public radio and digital media.

Programs/Content

Boston audience plays along with High School Quiz Show

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Audiences of WGBH’s High School Quiz Show can now play against Massachusetts whiz kids through an online game that launched early this month. The Boston station’s digital team developed a browser-based game allowing viewers to play along during broadcasts of High School Quiz Show. The game is based on a technology that has become popular among quiz shows in England. The High School Quiz Show live game is running in its beta version, and will be available through the season’s championship episode, to be broadcast May 19. WGBH developers are testing the game on a total of eight shows this season, according to Hillary Wells, e.p. of children’s programming.

Quick Takes

The Office creator explains how PBS station ended up as fictional doc producer

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The New York Times reveals how PBS is figuring into the series finale of the hit NBC sitcom The Office. (Warning: Spoiler ahead.)

The final episode is actually a reunion of the Dunder-Mifflin employees whose lives had been captured by a (fictional) film crew from local PBS member station WVIA. The Times asked Creator Greg Daniels why he chose PBS as the producer of the documentary within the show. “I tried to think what outlet would shoot something like this and take nine years to do it,” Daniels replied.  

 

Development

A digital revolution for public radio fundraising

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Marketing consultant John Sutton has been forecasting what public radio will look like in 2018, and his predictions, published on his blog RadioSutton since February, have been provocative. Sutton is among the pubradio analysts who believe that federal funding “will be sharply reduced or gone in five years.” He also believes that digital listening will fragment the audience enough that eventually NPR will have to raise money directly from listeners or the current public radio economic model will collapse. Below, he lays out a proposal for overhauling public radio fundraising and how it makes both dollars and sense. Imagine a future in which listeners donate 26 percent more money to public radio at half the cost. Imagine that NPR has nearly $60 million more to invest annually in world-class journalism and development of new programs.

Is this imaginative exercise making you uncomfortable?