The Fund for Investigative Journalism, through the Gannett Foundation and the Green Park Foundation, has awarded 12 grants to journalists for travel and other reporting expenses to cover abuse of power, environmental degredation and corruption here as well as in Asia, Africa and South America. Recipients include reporters from newspapers, websites, specialized reporting centers and freelancers. Their topics are confidential until completed. The fund has supported investigative journalism by independent journalists since 1969.

Broadcasting and Cable reports that Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W. Va.) is expected to reintroduce – possibly as early as today (Jan. 26) – a bill to authorize auctions to pay broadcasters for voluntarily giving up their spectrum for wireless broadband use. B and C notes that the bill “would make it clear that the reclamation needs to be truly voluntary.”

San Francisco Weekly reports that KUSF DJs, fans and Ross Mirkarimi, a San Francisco supervisor, rallied in front of City Hall yesterday (Jan. 25), chanting “Whose station?” “Our station!” and “Shame on USF!” A week ago University of San Francisco officials literally pulled the plug on the station, which has been around since 1977, and soon after announced it would be sold to classical music channel KDFC. KUSF would continue online. After the rally, Mirkarimi introduced a resolution urging the university to reconsider the sale of the station.

The Association for Public Television Stations has hired two GOP lobbyists from Quinn Gillespie and Associates to help fend off proposals for public broadcasting funding cuts, according to the Hill. Marc Lampkin was general counsel for John Boehner (Ohio) when the Speaker was House Republican Conference chairman; John Feehery managed communications for former Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) and ex-Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas). “What I am facing here are 96 new members of Congress and 20 new senators that don’t know us yet,” said APTS Patrick Butler. “We read the papers like everyone else and we keep hearing about cuts to public television.

Idaho PTV g.m. Peter Morrill appeared before state legislators today (Jan. 25) to detail what would happen if the governor’s proposed 6.4 percent funding reduction is approved: Three IPTV positions would disappear, a $97,200 cut from last year would become permanent, and $1.3 million in capital replacements – including some mandated by federal law – could not be done.

The ITVS-supported doc “Waste Land,” by Lucy Walker and Angus Aynsley, scored an Academy Award nomination today (Jan. 25) for feature documentary. Last month it received the International Documentary Association Pare Lorentz Award at the IDI Documentary Awards ceremonies. A full list of nominees here.

KLRU is inaugurating its new Austin City Limits theater with a big bash on Feb. 26 in Austin’s 2nd Street District. The 2nd St. Soundcheck event will culminate with the first ACL taping in its new, $2.5 million Moody Theater, named for the Moody Foundation backer of the massive project. First up: A 90-minute performance by the Steve Miller Band.

Eight/Arizona PBS is celebrating its 50th anniversary of going live on Jan. 30, 1961; by 1964 it had its first Emmy Award for 400 hours of local programming. Viewers are sharing their memories of the station, and there’s a cool retro video that includes its first moments of broadcast. Is your station or network marking an important anniversary this year? Let us know!

Although it’s mainly bad news for KCET in its latest ratings, there is one bright spot: Ratings for its Saturday block of British faves such as MI-5 and Keeping Up Appearances are up 33 percent over this time last year, the Los Angeles Times reports. Overall, the first three weeks of its independence from PBS show a 38 percent plunge. Over its entire broadcast day, KCET lost half its viewers compared with last year. The station now averages 10,000 households a day, “a figure that suggests the station’s potential donor pool will be considerably reduced,” the paper notes.

In an interview with Baltimore Sun TV columnist David Zurawik, PBS NewsHour anchor Jim Lehrer said although it would be “possible” to cover breaking news on the weekends, “we just don’t have the resources right now.” Lehrer also noted: “… We’ve got to keep in mind, it’s got to be more than just the headlines. The headlines are already available in other places. We’ve got to take a NewsHour approach on Saturday and Sunday, just like we do Monday through Friday, or it is not working.” And, once again, Lehrer addressed his inevitable retirement. “Well, as you know I have stepped back a little, and I am going to continue to do that,” he said.

Public radio news veteran Michael Marcotte acknowledges feeling conflicted by the proposal by Minnesota Public Radio founder Bill Kling to cut institutional ties between universities and public radio stations. As a former news director, reporter, anchor for more than one university-owned NPR outlet, Marcotte writes in a blog post that he understands the simplicity of Kling’s argument – “Universities have different missions than public radio stations, so their goals clash.” “I have spent many an hour working on heat-shield policies, ethics statements, codes of editorial independence, etc. toward fortifying journalism at university licensees. This is because Kling’s point has its basis and I’ve [known] many news directors who needed back-up.

During an appearance on CNN’s State of the Union yesterday, former Secretary of State Colin Powell dismissed congressional Republicans’ proposal to cut the deficit by defunding public broadcasting. Congress won’t be able to balance the budget without going after the “real money” that’s spent on entitlement programs like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, Powell told host Candy Crowley. “You can’t fix the deficit or the national debt by killing NPR or National Endowment for the Humanities or the Arts. Nice political chatter, but that doesn’t do it. And I’m very put off when people just say let’s go back and freeze to the level two years ago…..That

KCET continues to weather challenges following its departure from the PBS system on Jan. 1. The latest is a cable glitch, according to the Los Angeles Times. Time Warner was supposed to convert KCET to an all-digital signal last week, according to station programming chief Mare Mazur. The switch “should not have affected any subscribers with digital boxes, which according to Time Warner represents about 90 percent of their customers,” Mazur said. But  KCET received complaints from viewers. The outlet has since been working with Time Warner to try to resolve the situation. The LA Times could not reach a representative for Time Warner Cable for comment.

News/jazz WDUQ-FM will be sold to a joint partnership between another Pittsburgh pubradio station, WYEP, and a new local nonprofit established by Public Radio Capital. Left out of the sale are Scott Hanley, g.m. of WDUQ, and his staff and supporters, who mounted a bid to preserve jazz music programming. Their aspirations conflicted with those of local funders who pushed for greater emphasis on news. The $6 million deal, announced Jan. 14, opens a new chapter for WDUQ, established by Duquesne University in 1937 and put up for sale a year ago. It also introduces a new playbook for Colorado-based Public Radio Capital, created a decade ago to expand the public radio family.