Nashville Public Television recently severed all ties to the Metro Public Schools that once held its license, but it faces a $1.1 million shortfall with the end of local subsidies, reports the Tennessean. NPT looks to replace the public monies with datacasting revenues.

In the Chicago Sun-Times, public radio bigshots including Terry Gross, Ira Glass and Larry Josephson weigh in on the appeal of Howard Stern.

The Washington Post‘s Lisa de Moraes pokes fun at PBS President Pat Mitchell’s explanation of why Tucker Carlson deserves a show on PBS (scroll down). But other TV critics loved it when Carlson, appearing at the TCA summer press tour, ripped Fox’s Bill O’Reilly. “Tucker Carlson is funny, disarming, charming even,” opines a critic for the Times-Picayune.

Jeff Smith, enthusiastic host of The Frugal Gourmet, died at age 65, reports the Seattle Times. Once one of public TV’s most popular talents, Smith’s broadcast career ended after a sex scandal.

“Having now been bleeped, I can only say that it doesn’t feel very good. It feels kind of dirty.” Richard Dreyfuss, star of a new PBS police drama that was edited for naughty words, lambasted the FCC’s crackdown on broadcast indecency and its chilling effects on speech and creativity. The San Francisco Chronicle‘s Tim Goodman reports on the controversy and why PBS is in no position to challenge the FCC.

The Philadelphia City Paper profiles WHYY, which hits its 50th anniversary this year.

Just found: the sporadically updated Community Radio Report.

NPR Ombudsman Jeffrey Dvorkin looks at perceived contradictions in the network’s reporting — including use of the terms “terrorist” and “militant,” a dilemma which has dogged NPR (and other news outlets) before.

Broadcasters commenting on the FCC’s proposed rules for digital radio have generally asked for loose restrictions and freedom to apportion digital bandwidth as they see fit, according to a Radio Magazine summary.

The Washington Post profiles the Public Radio Exchange.

NPR Ombudsman Jeffrey Dvorkin asks whether the network’s music reviews are too “incomprehensible” to most listeners. “They seem to tell most of us not to bother listening — this information is not for you, but only for the people who are part of the scene,” he writes.

NPR’s Bob Edwards has received about 20 job offers in radio, TV and academia since March, reports the Lexington Herald-Leader. “I’m listening,” he says.

Other print media have failed to make the transition to TV, but a report published in the San Jose Mercury News about the New York Times‘s TV venture with Discovery Communications says the cable channel has a distinct Timesness.

The Washington Post reports on Discovery Communications’ new business delivering streamed video to classrooms. “The long-term hope is that as households become better wired, we can provide a digital library,” says Donald Baer, senior executive of strategy. “Once we deliver in the education field, Discovery will be the brand you can trust and bring into the home.”

Bob Edwards tells the Memphis Commercial Appeal that he has “not a clue” what his specific reporting duties will be at NPR, and doesn’t quibble with a reporter’s assertion that Morning Edition has lost its distinctiveness.