In the Miami Herald today (Oct. 3), Executive Editor Anders Gyllenhaal updates readers on its collaboration with WLRN, pubradio and TV for south Florida. The partnership began seven years ago with construction of a studio in the paper’s newsroom. The radio staff is emphasizing breaking news, and two news-oriented broadcasts have been added each afternoon. (And we know what you’re wondering. Yes, he is of that Gyllenhall family. Anders is the uncle of actors Jake and Maggie.)

Writer David Fagin doesn’t quite understand the furor over pop star Katy Perry’s bustier on Sesame Street. He worked for the show several years back and reveals in a column on the AOL News opinion page that life behind the scenes is not quite as innocent as viewers might expect. Like when “certain members of the crew used to place postcards containing images of scantily clad women on the rack inside Mr. Hooper’s grocery store.” Or when the prop department snuck boxes of condoms next to the cereal in the store. And then there were the holiday parties: “Elmo and his pals would perform R-rated skits that would leave the audience in stitches.

NPR will be a dominant force in media in 10 years because its membership-based funding model is “finely tuned to the habits of millennial news consumers,” said Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist, at the Washington Ideas Forum Thursday (Sept. 30) at the Newseum in Washington, D.C. “I have a feeling that membership models and philanthropy models will be stronger than advertising-supported models, people will be willing to pay for news they can trust.” Check out the video of his comments, as well as the entire session, on the Atlantic’s website.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency on Thursday (Sept. 30) adopted the new digital message format for the Common Alerting Protocol standard, reports the Broadcast Law blog. That triggers the 180-day countdown for stations to update Emergency Alert System equipment to ensure that it is able to handle the new protocol. The format adoption is the latest step toward the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System, which expands the longtime alert system used by radio and television to other devices, including mobile phones and PC’s. One pubradio staffer told Current that stations may pay up to $2,000 to update each full-power transmitter — “a pain for small operators who are struggling,” he added.

Execs from the four Los Angeles-area PBS affiliates considering a collaboration met Wednesday (Sept. 28) to discuss a restructuring plan, according to the Los Angeles Times. No update on the continuing countdown to the possibility of primary station KCET going independent as of Jan. 1, 2011 (Current, Aug. 5, 2010). Heads of KCET, KOCE, KVCR and KLCS got together at KOCE in Huntington Beach. “We’re not spending a lot of time thinking about what this consortium would be like without [KCET] because we hope they’re still part of it,” said Larry Ciecalone, president of KVCR in San Bernardino.

An ambitious 18-part series of call-in shows on mental health premieres tonight (Sept. 30), produced by WDSE/WRPT PBS North, serving northeastern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin. The 30-minute Speak Your Mind, airing Thursday nights, aims to openly discuss mental health topics, increase public awareness and reduce the stigma of mental illness. It’s hosted by psychologist Dr. Caroline Phelps and former local news anchor Pat Kelly. Topics include depression, managing stress, family issues, learning and behavioral problems in children, anxiety and eating disorders. For 28 years the station has done Doctors on Call “to give the community the language they need to communicate with their doctors,” Juli Kellner, WDSE director of production and programming, told Current.

Four pubTV stations are joining in a STEM Collaborative to help middle-schoolers in science, technology, engineering and math, the stations announced today (Sept. 30). But this is no dry and dull initiative. Students will use geometry, algebra and proportional reasoning to build a skateboard ramp, measure a roller coaster, whip up recipes and plan a rock n’ roll tour. Maryland Public Television, Alabama Public Television, Arkansas Educational Television Network and Kentucky Educational Television will develop the digital-media projects. Math By Design, Scale City, ProportionLand Park and Rock n’ Roll Road Trip are all online at stemcollaborative.org, along with supporting materials for educators.

New Jersey Network staffers, state officials, professors from Princeton and Rutgers, civic and union leaders and viewers and listeners spoke Wednesday (Sept. 29) in Trenton at yet another hearing on the future of NJN, reports the Newark Star-Ledger. The paper quipped that the 11-plus hours of testimony “were as static and repetitive as the network’s nightly programming.” After the hearing, the 10-member task force seemed no closer to deciding how to wean the network from its state subsidy (Current, July 6). They’re facing a Dec. 31 deadline, but even that may now be in doubt. NJN interim executive Janice Selinger said a treasury official told the network that the administration would be willing to extend that.

Several major broadcasters, including PBS, and other content providers filed a lawsuit in New York federal district court against ivi TV on Tuesday (Sept. 28), alleging copyright infringement, reports Broadcasting & Cable. ivi sells an app that allows subscribers to watch programming as broadcast from various stations for $4.99 a month. It says it can do so because it is an online cable provider but does not fall under the definition of a cable system as far as the need to negotiate retransmission consent from individual stations. The signals from WNET/Thirteen in New York City and KCTS in Seattle are being broadcast by ivi, which uses a teaser on its website that says, “Watch the Berenstain Bears on PBS!”

WBUR’s Order in the Court 2.0, winner of a $250,000 Knight News Challenge grant, is working to set best practices for effective ways to cover courts using digital technology. It’s moving ahead to create an area in the Quincy (Mass.) District Court for live blogging and live-streaming of the court’s proceedings, along with a website for its daily docket. But all this raises issues of privacy vs. public interest. Project creator John Davidow, also exec director of WBUR.org, writes on MediaShift that he and his team met last week with Judge Andre Gelinas, a retired justice on the Massachusetts Appeals Court who is now special adviser to the chief justice for administration and management for information technology.

The Great Sesame Street Katy Perry Cleavage Kerfuffle continues, with Team Perry taking the lead. PBS Ombudsman Michael Getler said that after an initial spate of disapproving letters, “mail to me is running heavily in favor of Katy and her dress.” That would be the golden bustier-topped frock that sparked all this in the first place. (Check it out on YouTube, where her perky dance with Elmo is up to 4.3 million views.) One letter to Getler summed up the vibe: “Get a grip, prudes.” And speaking of cleavage, did you see Perry’s now-notorious Elmo shirt sketch on the season premiere of Saturday Night Live?

A 15-minute segment of One Voice, the latest doc from Minority Consortia group Pacific Islanders in Communications (PIC), is soaring high over the Pacific this month on Hawaiian Airlines. It’s featured on the airline’s “Hawaiian Skies” in-flight programming. The movie tells the story of the Kamehameha Schools Song Contest through its student directors. Every year, around 2,000 high schoolers compete in the competition, where teen leaders direct groups in Hawaiian four-part harmonies. The movie’s local Facebook followers who correctly answer weekly trivia questions on the song contest win prizes and are eligible for a two-night stay at the Waikiki Beach Hotel for the Hawaii International Film Festival screening of One Voice on Oct.

With the help of $300,000 from two major donors and a bank loan of up to $337,000, WLIU-FM management is now prepared to buy the station’s independence from longtime licensee Long Island University. The new nonprofit licensee, Peconic Public Broadcasting, said today it assembled the remaining $637,000 of the purchase price. Earlier this year, Peconic came up with a $213,000 down payment. Six supporters guaranteed the $300,000 loan from Bridgehampton National Bank. Peconic plans to pay down the loan with its ongoing capital campaign. After assuming ownership, the station will be able to seek capital donations on the air for the first time, a spokesman said.

Vegas PBS will produce the only live televised debate in the extremely contentious race between U.S. Sen. Harry Reid and GOP challenger Sharron Angle. And the Nevada Broadcasters Association is already ramping up security for the Oct. 14 event, reports the Las Vegas Review-Journal. During the last campaign event Faith Lutheran High School, a fistfight broke out in the audience. Bob Fisher, president of the state association, said it is limiting each candidate to 12 accompanying persons instead of 40 to accommodate security as well as local, national and international media requests to cover the debate. There will be no public audience.

PBS NewsHour isn’t resting on its recent Emmy laurels. It’s hired former CNN reporter Miles O’Brien to head a new science unit, reports the Associated Press. He’ll be joined by producer Kate Tobin, also from CNN, and reporter Jenny Marder, reassigned from the NewsHour’s national affairs unit. O’Brien left CNN in 2008 when the network disbanded its science and technology unit. NewsHour’s science unit is being funded through a $350,000 grant from two foundations and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. More here.