The Washington Business Journal reports on NPR’s search for new headquarters

“It was really a matter of going out with something else in mind, something beyond the tasks required for a good radio piece,” says NPR’s Howard Berkes in a Poynter Online Q&A devoted to multimedia story-telling. Berkes’ recent feature on Arizona physician and aerial photographer Michael Collier, which was the most e-mailed story on NPR.org for 48 hours and remained on the top-10 list for a week, is the starting point for this reporting how-to.

Frances Koncilja, an attorney who resigned from Colorado Public Radio’s board last week, is challenging the lack of transparency in decision-making by CPR leaders. “They’re talking about reducing the size of the board and selling the AM stations,” Koncilja tells the alternative weekly Westword, “and I find that an irresponsible way to govern an organization, especially when none of this was discussed at the board meetings.” CPR broadcasts its news and information service on AM stations in three markets. Board Chair Barry Curtiss-Lusher tells Westword that Koncilja’s criticisms are based on “a significant misunderstanding” about CPR’s long-term plans for high-definition radio services.

NPR reporter Lynn Neary surveys PBS’s nostalgia-driven music specials for All Things Considered. Coming soon: The Clash.

SaveWCAL, a group of St. Olaf College alumni who opposed the 2004 sale of the classical music station to Minnesota Public Radio, are challenging the sale in court, according to the Minneapolis/St. Paul City Pages. Attorney Michael McNabb argues that WCAL was a charitable trust created by its donors and held by the university, and St. Olaf needed a judge’s permission to liquidate it.

From 1,452, now there are 10. And they’re hot to talk. The online casting call created by Public Radio Exchange — part of CPB’s Public Radio Talent Quest — last week announced 10 finalists who advance to Round 2 of its nationwide competition to find new pubradio hosts. Each finalist gets $500, a blog and another chance to demonstrate what PRX calls “hostiness.” The competition at www.publicradioquest.com will intensify at each step in the contest ahead, although it was no breeze to survive the first round with more than 1,400 contestants. Since its start in April, the contest has become something of an obsession for many participants, keeping the site abuzz with interactivity, with some posting comments in haiku and limericks.

Public Radio Talent Quest announced 10 semi-finalists in its contest for new pubradio on-air talent. Contestants whose entries received the most online votes are compiled here and the judges’ favorites are here.

WETA-FM’s recent switch to an all-classical music format is paying off big time, the Washington Post reports.

Commissioners Kevin Martin (chairman) and Michael Copps aren’t happy about today’s court action. “I find it hard to believe that the New York court would tell American families that ‘shit’ and ‘fuck’ are fine to say on broadcast television during the hours when children are most likely to be in the audience,” Martin said in a statement. Copps warned that any broadcaster “who sees this decision as a green light to send more gratuitous sex and violence into our homes would be making a huge mistake.”

In potential tide-turning win for broadcasters, a federal appeals court in New York threw out FCC profanity rulings against Fox and ordered the commission to provide better justification for its controversial “fleeting expletives” policy, Broadcasting & Cable reports (PDF of ruling here). The decision was narrow in focus but casts broader doubt on the legal sustainability of the FCC’s holding that “fuck,” “shit” and their derivatives are presumptively indecent, regardless of context. The commissioners first staked out that position in the 2004 Bono decision, which, coupled with Congress’ later ten-fold fine level hike, left broadcasters more skittish than ever about airing edgy content (related story and timeline).

Faith Salie’s quick humor and willingness to express astonishment Valley-Girl style (‘Oh my God!’) gives Fair Game a “loosey-goosey” unpublic radio sensibility, according to the New York Times.

Youth Radio‘s recent move into new headquarters allows the organization to pursue plans to expand its media training program and production output, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

Don’t miss your chance to vote in the first round of Public Radio Talent Quest, an online search for new on-air hosts. Voting closes tomorrow, June 2.

Non-profit leaders in Salt Lake City, including KPCW-FM founder Blair Feulner, have “figured out a way to get rich running companies that don’t make money,” writes Salt Lake Tribune columnist Rebecca Walsh. “The United Way scandal it’s not. But it’s similar.” In 2005, Feulner was paid nearly $180,000 while the station ran a $600,000 deficit and its “low-wage journalists . . . [begged] for listener donations” twice a year.

Deutsche Welle, Germany’s overeseas broadcaster, now offers “DW-TV News” one-minute hourly newscasts for cellphones in English or German, the Association for International Broadcasting reports. It offered phonecast updates on World Cup soccer in 30 languages. Click for DW’s download or streamed video. Some U.S. pubcasters are reaching toward mobile audiences, Current found last year.