You might have noticed that we’ve been a bit lackadaisical about the frequency and regularity of these roundups. Some have even tweeted in consternation. Well, we’re going to aim for a modest goal of bringing you a roundup every Friday with the week’s best linkage from the public media world — some items you may already have seen and hopefully some fresh bits and pieces as well. And these new, improved roundups will be longer! Yes, that’s right, 75 percent more roundup FREE if you act now. So let’s get started.
Easily one of the most relished, retweeted and laughed-about #pubmedia-related stories this week was the Washington Post‘s revelation that Illinois Rep. Aaron Schock — a Republican, no less — has an office inspired by the dining room from Downton Abbey. According to ThinkProgress, Schock has previously voted to defund public broadcasting. Will he follow suit next time around, or let out his inner public TV fan and support Downtonesque redesigns of other Congressional offices? We can only hope. Meanwhile, if Current moves into new offices anytime soon, we’re thinking more of a Frontier House motif. Future roundups will be delivered via Pony Express.
My congressional office always had more of an unintentional Antiques Roadshow kind of decor to it, really.
— John Dingell (@JohnDingell) February 3, 2015
If you need inspiration for your own redecoration but Downton‘s not your cup of Darjeeling (what kind of tea do they drink on Downton?), visit Pittsburgh’s John Heinz History Center. The museum recently opened an exhibit of Mister Rogers’ TV set and props, the first time they’ve ever been on display to the public. Fred fans should make sure to listen to next week’s episode of our podcast, which will feature a visit to the museum.
Public media can’t get enough of conferences. Now there are even more. The National Federation of Community Broadcasters has decided to hold six regional summits this year instead of its customary annual conference. “The summits are going to be jam packed with valuable content, powerful presenters, and time to mingle,” NFCB promises. And this one’s short notice, but South Carolina ETV is holding two discussions next week about women in public media. Also, check out the lineup for this TED event in Vancouver in March. It’s just rotten with public media stars, including Roman Mars, Dave Isay and the Kitchen Sisters.
If you instead find yourself in San Francisco, you can try out Detour, a new app of walking tours that TechCrunch says are “more like listening to an episode of This American Life or Radiolab.” That could be partly because some public radio people have joined the company, including Marketplace alum Ben Adair and Robin Amer, who used to be at WBEZ in Chicago.
What else is in store for digital audio this year? Pop Up Archive checked with some producers and others who should know. There was also this event Thursday at the New School in New York where Sarah Koenig, Benjamen Walker, Alix Spiegel and Alex Blumberg talked about podcasting. I haven’t watched it yet, but I’m assuming Koenig didn’t say anything revealing about what’s in store for the second season of Serial. If she had, Slate would already have posted eight think pieces.
In strictly old-media developments, Mary Cliff, who has spun folk music on the air in Washington, D.C., since 1973, is now without a show after WAMU-FM revamped the schedule of its bluegrass-focused station, reports the Washington Post. The Cleveland Plain Dealer notes the 50th anniversary of the city’s WVIZ-TV with a look at the station’s history. And a public radio station in Great Falls, Mont., is in danger of becoming history. KGPR is in danger of losing CPB support, according to the Great Falls Tribune, and community members are discussing what to do about it.
As you head into the weekend, enjoy this week’s public media–themed song, which I will try to make a regular feature.