CPB reacted Jan. 8 to the attack on journalists at the French satirical publication Charlie Hebdo by announcing grants totaling $7.5 million to four public media newsrooms. “Now more than ever it takes so much courage to be a journalist,” said CPB President Pat Harrison in an to public media managers. “To understand that every word you may write, every cartoon you might draw could be your last. The chilling effect this can have may result in stories not told, reports not filed, journalism watered down.” CPB awarded the grants in memory of eight journalists who were killed. The money is given “in support of freedom of the press and freedom of expression,” Harrison said.

NPR says the new show is public radio’s biggest program launch ever.

Sssshhh . . . the sound of public radio is about to get a little quieter. But if all goes according to a plan unveiled last month by the Public Radio Satellite Service, listeners won’t notice the change in audio levels for programs distributed to stations around the country. On Feb. 26, PRSS plans to remove a 6 decibel (dB) boost that was added to its uplinked audio levels in 2013. The higher levels had been adopted to adjust for differences between PRSS technical standards and those of the European Broadcast Union (EBU), which were built into IDC SFX 4104 Pro satellite receivers adopted by PRSS during its last technical upgrade.

The pubcaster is issuing a $5.75 million bond to buy the commercial FM signal and try to grow its Open Air audience.

Raymond Davis, a veteran broadcaster who influenced and nurtured the bluegrass music scene as a music host for WAMU in Washington, D.C., died Dec. 3 of leukemia. He was 81. Davis capped his 65-year career in radio broadcasting as an afternoon host on WAMU’s all-music station Bluegrass Country. He joined the pubcaster in 1985, when the station split its weekday format between NPR News programs and bluegrass, and retired in 2013. Davis started in radio at age 15 with a job at WDOV-AM in Dover, Del., according to a tribute page on WAMU’s website. He spent 38 years at WBMD in Baltimore, where he hosted live broadcasts from Johnny’s Used Cars.

Michael Riley, a former head of ABC Family, is the new president of Los Angeles-based KCETLink, the independent public media station and satellite TV channel. Riley succeeds Al Jerome, the KCET executive who led what had been PBS’s flagship station in Los Angeles through its acrimonious 2011 split from PBS. He spearheaded the station’s subsequent merger with noncommercial satellite broadcaster Link TV in October 2012. Dick Cook, board chair for KCETLink Media Group, cited Riley’s “strong track record in brand-defining content creation, strategic partnerships, acquisitions and digital leadership — both domestically and across international markets” in Monday’s announcement. Riley began in the job immediately.

A behind-the-scenes look at Invisibilia, NPR's new radio show.

New York’s WNET is reversing its decision — at least temporarily — to shift independent documentaries from primetime on its main channel to the secondary WLIW on Long Island, which reaches a far smaller audience.

The FCC is considering giving public radio stations at least two additional years — and maybe even a complete exemption — from a proposed agency regulation that could soon require other radio stations to start publishing public file records online, the agency said in a recent notice. “We recognize that some radio stations may face financial or other obstacles that could make the transition to an online public file more difficult,” said the FCC, in a notice of proposed rulemaking released December 18. “Accordingly, we believe that it is reasonable to commence the transition to an online public file for radio with stations with more resources while delaying, for some period of time, all mandatory online public file requirements for other stations.”

The show's interview with a newspaper editor spurred a listener to take action.

The governor of Massachusetts gets a surprise call during his appearance on a public radio show.

Plus: CPB offers funds for spectrum auction planning.