• Our article about St. Louis Public Radio’s coverage of events in Ferguson prompted journalism consultant Judith Smelser to think about how stations prepare reporters to cover crises. Noting that the station’s journalists lacked the protective gear some other reporters had, Smelser calls for a “new, hard look” at how to keep journalists safe. Local newsrooms’ shift to serving as primary news sources “has implications for reporter safety and the investments stations need to make to ensure it,” she writes. “Too often, that piece of the puzzle simply isn’t part of the conversation.”
• Public Radio Exchange’s Jake Shapiro sits down with Erik Diehn, formerly senior director of business development at New York Public Radio and current v.p. of business development at Midroll Media, to discuss dos and don’ts of “joining the podcasting revolution.”
• The Dish’s Bill McKibben continues his look at what he deems the “golden age of radio” with an appreciation of WBEZ’s Sound Opinions. “It hits the perfect middle ground between geeky-obsessive and overly broad and obvious: that is to say, between the Internet and TV. It’s companionable, smart, and a wonderful hour,” McKibben says of the music criticism show.