The author of a book arguing for the innocence of five convicted Cuban spies found himself disinvited from an appearance on Miami’s WLRN-FM last month, only to be reinvited after the station’s g.m. caught wind of the cancellation. Stephen Kimber, a journalism professor at the University of King’s College in Halifax, Nova Scotia, was slated to appear on WLRN’s Topical Currents Sept. 17 to discuss his new book, What Lies Across the Water: The Real Story of the Cuban Five. The book examines the 2001 Miami trial of the Cuban Five, who were convicted for conspiracy to spy on the U.S.

Talks between NPR and CPB about expanding the network’s Code Switch to a local and regional level are on hold as NPR President Gary Knell departs for his new job. A CPB draft business plan for 2014, released last month, said that the corporation “is considering building on the success of the NPR Code Switch initiative by extending it to local stations as a regional initiative.” The cross-platform production aims to examine issues of race, culture and ethnicity, and spark discussion on social media platforms and NPR’s website. It launched in May with a $1.5 million, two-year grant from CPB. Discussions about expanding Code Switch beyond its current operations are now in a holding pattern, however, as NPR looks for a new chief executive.

An environmental activism group says it has more than 70,000 petition signatures demanding the resignation of conservative billionaire David Koch from the board of WGBH, the Boston Globe reports. “David Koch has essentially dedicated himself — and tens of millions of dollars — to deliberately mislead the public about climate change,” Emily Southard of climate-change education group Forecast the Facts, told the newspaper. “That’s completely incompatible with an organization like WGBH, which is dedicated to public education.” She said some 50 activists plan to picket the pubcasting station Wednesday and deliver the petition to the board of trustees during their meeting.

Veteran pubcaster Ted Krichels will become CPB’s new s.v.p. for system development and media strategy, effective Nov. 4. Krichels replaces Mark Erstling, who remains with CPB but will focus solely on issues concerning the upcoming television spectrum auctions and subsequent channel repacking. In his new role, Krichels will oversee CPB’s efforts to ensure that public television and its related digital and visual media services are universally available across America. Krichels has more than 25 years experience in pubcasting management, most recently as associate v.p. and g.m. of Penn State Public Broadcasting in University Park, Pa., and previously as c.e.o. of KBDI in Denver.

Frontline received seven of PBS’s nine News & Documentary Emmy Awards, at ceremonies Oct. 1 in New York City. Nature and American Experience rounded out the honors. PBS was second to CBS, which won 12. Frontline creator and Executive Producer David Fanning also received the Lifetime Achievement Award. “David has combined his unmatched reportorial instincts with a fine filmmaker’s sensibilities, and the result is a series that is unlike any other on television,” said PBS President Paula Kerger.

Middle Ground, the forthcoming radio show centered on Middle America, has taken to Kickstarter.com to raise $92,500 to cover operating costs for its first six months. The show is the brainchild of Celeste Headlee, former co-host of The Takeaway from PRI. Headlee has enlisted other pubradio veterans including Jacob Conrad, who worked with her on Day to Day, and Sue Goodwin and Ken Rudin, her colleagues on NPR’s Talk of the Nation, which went off the air in June. The show’s Kickstarter premiums range from $5 to $10,000 and offer everything from thank-you notes and computer mouse pads to executive producer credits and dinner with Headlee and Rudin.

Boston’s WBUR has joined Slate in producing a six-episode personal-health podcast, The Checkup.

Kenn Couch, interim g.m. of KVCR-TV in San Bernardino, Calif., has been placed on leave, according to the Press-Enterprise in Riverside, Calif. Officials with licensee San Bernardino Community College District said Couch is on paid administrative leave as of Sept. 30. Couch has been serving as interim g.m. since the departure of Larry Ciecalone in May 2012, two months after Ciecalone was placed on leave. Officials gave no reason in either case. The newspaper reported that KVCR has been under pressure to become financially self-sustaining. Under Couch, KVCR launched FNX: First Nations Experience, the country’s first 24/7 television channel for indigenous peoples, in August.

Pacifica is replacing its recently canceled half-hour news program Free Speech Radio News with a news show produced by Feature Story News, an independent broadcast news service that operates nine bureaus in the U.S. and abroad. Free Speech Radio News was carried by more than 100 public radio stations before delivering its last program Sept. 27. The grassroots-oriented news operation behind the progressive news show was forced to shut down as it ran out of cash. The Pacifica Foundation, which is struggling to keep two of its own stations afloat, was unable to meet its financial obligations to the program, accumulating nearly $200,000 in unpaid bills.

PBS LearningMedia, a digital classroom resource for K–12 educators, topped more than 1 million registered users this month. Operated through a partnership of PBS and the WGBH Educational Foundation, the website offers more than 30,000 pieces of content to its users. The site is also rolling out a new premium tier with enhanced features; that service is now distributed statewide in Kentucky, New York and South Carolina. As part of its ongoing effort to promote classroom use of digital technology and build its user base, PBS LearningMedia launched “Get Your Tech On,” offering free access to its webinars and how-to guides through Nov.

The Alabama Supreme Court on Sept. 27 threw out a lawsuit filed following the 2012 dismissal of two top executives from Alabama Public Television, reports the Birmingham News, ruling that the pair did not have standing to sue under the state’s Open Meetings Act. Former APT Executive Director Allan Pizzato and Pauline Howland, former deputy director, claimed the Alabama Educational Television Commission violated the open meetings law when they were dismissed. Pizzato and Howland were fired at the commission’s June 12, 2012, meeting after commissioners went into executive session to discuss Pizzato’s “general reputation, character, and job performance.” This lawsuit was filed the next month.

ATLANTA — Representatives of classical radio stations resolved last week to work toward creating a new organization to represent their format within public radio, a tactic to fight shrinking audiences and build a stronger case for classical radio. During sessions held Sept. 18 and 19 at the Public Radio Program Directors Association conference in Atlanta, station representatives examined research demonstrating that, while more public licensees are broadcasting classical music, listeners are also turning to digital platforms for classical. Arbitron’s most recent Public Radio Today study identified 188 noncommercial FM, AM, HD and streaming stations devoted to classical music, an increase from 178 in 2011.