Carvin
• Former NPR social-media maven Andy Carvin has accepted a job with First Look Media, the new nonprofit digital journalism venture founded by eBay co-founder Pierre Omidyar. Carvin announced the move on his website. His role is still being fleshed out, but he will help First Look “craft a newsroom where engaging the public is a fundamental aspect of everything we do,” he wrote. Carvin accepted a buyout from NPR late last year.
• SoCal Connected, the award-winning news series from KCETLink in Los Angeles, will soon return to the station thanks to a $1 million grant. The program went on hiatus in March 2013 when funding ran out. The next month its longtime executive producer, Bret Marcus, was among staffers laid off following the merger of noncom KCET with LinkTV.
• The producers of public radio’s Free Speech Radio News will return to publishing online content starting Feb. 11 and are working toward reviving their radio broadcast, according to a Feb. 2 post on their website. A major donor and other contributors have stepped up to provide enough funding to put the show back in business, and FSRN‘s former affiliates have also indicated they’re willing to pay for the show to bring it back. Previously airing on 100 stations, FSRN went off the air in September 2013, in part due to dwindling support from the cash-strapped Pacifica Foundation.
• The Poynter Institute’s website features a video interview with Patrick Cooper, director of web and engagement at NPR, discussing how the organization follows trends in its digital audience.