Author: Mike Janssen
Mike has held the role of digital editor since 2014. Before becoming editor, he covered public radio and digital initiatives in public media for Current. Mike has also written for a variety of publications as a freelancer, was a Public Media Corps fellow, and has hosted talk and music shows on community radio stations in the Washington, D.C., area. In his spare time, he enjoys spending time with his family, playing banjo, cooking, and making coffee and cocktails.
Colorado net assigns idle AM to Triple A duty in Denver
Colorado Public Radio has found a new use for the spare AM frequency that it couldn’t sell. OpenAir 1340 took to the ...By Mike JanssenNovember 21, 2011Anonymous lender saves Salt Lake station from default
An unexpected intervention from an anonymous lender has saved Salt Lake City’s KCPW-FM from defaulting on a loan, ensuring that it will ...By Mike JanssenNovember 7, 2011Norman Corwin, auteur of radio’s golden years, 101
Norman Corwin, a radio writer and producer whose pioneering programs made him one of the most renowned creators of shows during radio’s ...By Mike JanssenNovember 7, 2011Two more feeds syndicate jazz to public radio
Public radio stations shopping for a plug-and-play jazz stream now have double the options to consider, with two newcomers to the field ...By Mike JanssenOctober 3, 2011Musicians’ stories join their music in Sound Tracks for PBS
Steve Talbot worked in public TV for more than 20 years before trying his hand as chief fundraiser for one of his ...By Mike JanssenSeptember 19, 2011FCC plan could give LPFM apps an edge over FM translators
Applicants for thousands of FM translators may have to reapply if the FCC goes through with its proposal to give new low-power ...By Mike JanssenJuly 25, 2011StateImpact pilot begins scrutiny of government in eight states
Pubcasters in three states have started airing reports and posting stories online as the first participants in StateImpact, a large-scale project spearheaded ...By Mike JanssenJuly 11, 2011Changes at Maine documentary school worry its devoted alumni
The departure of the entire four-person faculty from Maine’s small but influential Salt Institute for Documentary Studies has caused concern among the ...By Mike JanssenJune 27, 2011Panel to NPR: Rein in punditizing
NPR should have its journalists phase out any long-term contracts for appearances on other media outlets, monitor those appearances more carefully and ...By Mike JanssenMarch 7, 2011NPR’s Juan Williams fired for one too many opinionated comment
NPR President Vivian Schiller has apologized to public radio for how she and her executives handled last month’s dismissal of news analyst ...By Mike Janssen and Karen EverhartNovember 1, 2010FM, web audiences elusive so far for innovative Vocalo
Chicago Public Radio’s board, staff and executives didn’t mince words in their latest strategic plan about their bold experiment known as Vocalo. ...By Mike JanssenJanuary 11, 2010Disconnect between board and WHQR manager leads to departure
Stations struggling with mounting deficits often cut jobs, but the shears rarely lop off the highest rank as they did at WHQR ...By Mike JanssenDecember 14, 2009Vocalo.org shakes up Chicago airwaves with unconventional radio format
The afternoon team at Chicago’s newest noncommercial radio station is on the air, talking crime and punishment. Most public radio shows would ...By Mike JanssenNovember 10, 2008Stations court, flirt, propose and part by Monterey Bay
A proposed merger of two California pubradio stations fell apart when officials at California State University Monterey Bay voted to keep control ...By Mike JanssenMarch 3, 2008Baltimore’s WYPR takes heat for dismissing longtime host Marc Steiner
Listeners are flooding the station with emails, posting angry comments and picketing the studios.By Mike JanssenFebruary 19, 2008