Nice Above Fold - Page 438

  • Radio Vieques activates in demilitarized zone

    Activists on the Puerto Rican island of Vieques have renewed hope for launching a community radio station after getting a fundraising boost from allies in their community and on the U.S. mainland.
  • Second journalist fired at Miami's WLRN

    Miami’s WLRN confirmed that host and reporter Phil Latzman was dismissed July 16. Latzman hosted a weekly public affairs show on the station, according to his bio. Earlier this month, the station also dismissed news director Dan Grech. The blog Random Pixels first reported the news of Latzman’s dismissal. Latzman has not responded to a request for comment.
  • Pisaneschi moves up to lead Idaho Public Television in August

    The next general manager of Idaho Public Television is Ron Pisaneschi, now its director of content. Pisaneschi takes over Aug. 5 from Peter Morrill, who announced his retirement in March. The State Board of Education announced Pisaneschi’s appointment today. “Idaho PTV is fortunate to have someone with Ron’s passion for public television and expertise in programming and operations ready to step up and lead the organization,” said Don Soltman, board president. During his 28 years at Idaho PTV, Pisaneschi has directed public information, marketing and programming. He also served on the Public Television Programmers Association Board of Directors from 2002-07, including as president in 2006.
  • Frontline teams with PRX to develop iPad app

    WGBH's long-running documentary program is partnering with the Public Radio Exchange to develop a free app for iPad users.
  • WPBT's Schneider accepts chief operating officer post at WETA

    Rick Schneider, president of WPBT in Miami, will take over as executive vice president and chief operating officer at WETA in September, the Arlington, Va., station announced today. Schneider will step into the position being vacated by longtime WETA exec Joe Bruns, who announced his retirement in April. WETA President Sharon Rockefeller said in the announcement, “I have worked alongside him in public broadcasting’s national organizations, and I know firsthand that Rick’s strong management experience is matched by his true dedication to public media. He brings with him superb knowledge of the national public broadcasting landscape and the complexities of managing a major-market station, and he shares our profound commitment to public service.”
  • Better programming would fix Pacifica, argues journalist

    A journalist and former employee of a Pacifica station diagnoses the network’s failure to attract listeners in an article in the Leftist Review. The election of President Barack Obama is in part to blame, writes Kellia Ramares-Watson, because it helped to mollify the network’s left-leaning audience. But she attributes much of the problem to programming. Stations, she writes, “need to stop their attempts to represent as many of the disparate groups in their audience as they can cram into 168 hours a week.” New York’s WBAI, she notes, aims to serve many audiences by programming hosts in monthly slots and narrowly targeting ethnic niches.
  • Mobile donors want to contribute even more, survey of 20,000 reveals

    Nearly 85 percent of donors using mobile devices would like to be able to contribute more money using apps, according to a new survey of more than 20,000 users by the mGive Foundation, which advocates for mobile giving. Those donors would like to contribute $25 to $50 via text, up slightly (from 82 percent) in 2012. Currently, those donations are limited to $10. Respondents say they like using their mobile device to donate because it’s easy, convenient and gives them control. Also, they want more information from nonprofits via text, the survey found. In a six-point increase over last year, 17.6 percent said they would like to receive surveys about the future of the organization;  32.8 percent, a 9 percent jump, wanted information about volunteering; and 18.6 percent, a 4 percent increase, wanted program information.
  • WBUR cites marathon reporting in endorsement of looser FCC indecency standards

    Boston's WBUR joined NPR and other news outlets in advocating for more leniency when it comes to indecency standards, citing its reporting of the Boston Marathon bombing as an example.
  • iHeartRadio, personalized service from Clear Channel, picks up APM content

    American Public Media content is now available on iHeartRadio, Clear Channel’s customizable digital radio service with more than 1,500 live stations playing pop, country, urban and rock music as well as talk programming and college radio. Several APM shows also are running on iHeartRadio Talk, the specialty channel that launched today. In addition to APM’s Marketplace, The Splendid Table and A Prairie Home Companion, iHeartRadioTalk includes programming such as ABC’s Good Morning America, HuffPost Live, Bloomberg News and Motley Fool Money. The beta version of iHeartRadio Talk provides iOS and Android access, with full mobile functionality coming this fall.
  • Public media wrestles with legality of unpaid internships

    As managers grapple with how to cultivate young, diverse talent as public media leaders, questions of whether to compensate interns — and even what constitutes a legal internship — become more complicated.
  • Indiana pubmedia stations to connect via high-speed fiber network

    A state-operated fiber network will soon link all Indiana pubcasters for the first time. Indiana Public Broadcasting Stations (IPBS), a consortium of nine public stations, will piggyback on I-Light, the high-speed network for local, state, national and international research and educational institutions. Roger Rhodes, IPBS executive director, said many stations will connect within the next month; others will come online as they complete their last-mile connection to the fiber backbone. The connectivity will allow stations to share content in real time and help them explore consolidation of back-office functions. IPBS is also drawing up plans for a possible joint master control; five or six stations are “very interested” in that, Rhodes said.
  • FOIA Machine, backed by CIR, makes it big on Kickstarter

    A Kickstarter campaign has given a boost to FOIA Machine, a project from employees of the nonprofit Center for Investigative Reporting that streamlines the often cumbersome process of filing Freedom of Information Act requests.
  • Rath goes from Frontline to WATC, Zuckerman steps in for Grech at WLRN in Miami, and more . . .

    Frontline's Arun Rath will join NPR in late September as host of Weekend All Things Considered, which is relocating to studios at NPR West in Culver City, Calif.
  • Delmarva Public Radio selects Whitehair as general manager

    Dana Whitehair arrives this week as the new general manager for financially struggling Delmarva Public Radio in Salisbury, Md., whose licensee will be reassessing the station’s future in three years. Whitehair’s experience includes four years as g.m. of WNCW-FM at Isothermal Community College in Spindale, N.C. He also spent 17 years at University of Texas at Austin’s KUT, 11 of those as manager of technical services, and worked as a broadcast engineer at WXXI in Rochester, N.Y. Most recently Whitehair was executive director of Foothills Connect Business & Technology Center, a nonprofit focused on expanding broadband service in western North Carolina.
  • Revived Foyle's War mysteries bring 1940's Cold War intrigue to PBS

    In a new three-part Foyle's War series on Masterpiece Mystery!, Chief Detective Superintendent Christopher Foyle comes out of retirement to work in the intelligence community, not the police force.