WCNY in Syracuse, N.Y., has laid off seven employees in a staff restructuring. “We are being prudent as we grow,” station President Robert Daino told Current. “We are continuing to hire in some areas of the organization. And we’re realigning staff to where we believe we need to focus.” The cuts, first reported June 23 by the local Post-Standard newspaper, were made across several departments. Daino said that programming and community services “will not be impacted in any way.” The station is currently advertising for a radio program director, web developer and part-time producer. WCNY, a dual licensee, now employs 54 full-time staffers.

The station has produced its nightly newscast from studios at the university since 2011.

The Supreme Court rejected a request Monday from the Minority Television Project (MTVP), licensee of public TV station KMTP in San Francisco, to review a circuit court ruling that upheld a ban on political and public-issue commercials on public television. The justices turned down the case without comment, allowing the December 2013 decision of the 9th Circuit Court to stand, which upheld barring the advertisements. In its petition, MTVP asked the court to overturn its 1969 decision in Red Lion Broadcasting Co. v. FCC, which allowed the government to restrict some broadcast content. That aspect of the case prompted amicus briefs from organizations including the libertarian-oriented Cato Institute.

Georgia State University announced Friday that it is searching for a new FM frequency for student-hosted music programs, which will soon be cut from daytime hours on GSU’s WRAS-FM. Starting Sunday, GSU will air public radio news and talk programming provided by Georgia Public Broadcasting from 5 a.m. to 7 p.m., replacing the student music shows. The agreement, announced May 6, has drawn criticism from GSU students and WRAS fans. In its announcement, the university said it has hired engineers and media consultants to look into broadcasting the student-produced content on an FM translator. That idea was first suggested by a group of WRAS supporters known as Album 88 Alumni in a proposal sent to the university Wednesday.

The organization resulting from the merger of the St. Louis Beacon and St. Louis Public Radio is already realizing benefits from the union, six months after it took effect. That’s according to the editor of the combined news organization, who gave a progress report on the collaboration June 20 at the annual Public Radio News Directors Inc. conference in Arlington, Va. “It’s not easy, day-to-day, but it’s paid off,” said Margaret Freivogel, who also founded the Beacon. The new newsroom operates under the banner of St. Louis Public Radio. Freivogel told attendees that public radio stations are in an ideal situation to pursue collaborations and bring the strengths of their multimedia coverage to new audiences.

Shows that air on U.S. public radio will once again be spared.

Plus: an interview with the creator of Vicious, and a boost for Reading Rainbow from Seth MacFarlane.

PBS and New York’s WNET joined major commercial networks Wednesday in hailing a U.S. Supreme Court decision that found the business model of Internet TV service Aereo in violation of the 1967 Copyright Act. In a 6-3 decision, the high court held that Aereo’s business model of charging subscribers for access to an individual antenna and DVR service for over-the-air broadcasts violates the 1967 Copyright Act. The majority found Aereo’s operations more akin to those of a cable company, regardless of the technology it employs, binding the company to the same rules governing broadcast transmissions. Those rules require cable companies to pay networks for the content they transmit.

Aikman hosted the Native American culture show for more than 20 years, while working as a floor director for Colorado Public Television.

New Hampshire Public Radio is purchasing WCNH-FM, a 250-watt classical station that has been broadcasting from the state network’s Concord studios for two years. WCNH’s owner, Highland Community Broadcasting, was formed in 2000 to apply for a low-power FM license to air classical programming when NHPR transitioned from that format to news and talk, according to Scott McPherson, NHPR’s operations and finance v.p. Highland later applied for and received a full-power license in a 2007 FCC filing window. In 2012, WCNH asked to use NHPR’s studio and automation equipment to produce and air content. In exchange, NHPR aired WCNH’s classical content on its Classical New Hampshire HD2 channel.

Frontline, public television’s investigative news showcase, announced two major donations Wednesday, including the largest grant from individuals in its 30-year history. Most of the $5 million from Jon and Jo Ann Hagler, longtime supporters of producing station WGBH, will create a reporting endowment for the program to ensure the series’ long-term sustainability. The remaining $1.5 million will support existing programming and digital efforts over four years. Meanwhile, a two-year, $800,000 gift from the Ford Foundation will back a new cross-platform Enterprise Journalism Group. The funds will pay for initial recruits for the in-house group of digital journalists and producers. The gift brings the Ford Foundation’s 55-year support of WGBH to almost $20 million.

Kate Taylor, an influential children’s media executive and producer at WGBH, is leaving public broadcasting in July after 42 years. Taylor joined the Boston pubcaster’s mailroom in 1972. She worked on the original version of Zoom from 1973-77 and executive-produced the updated version in 1997. She also served as associate director of children’s and cultural programming at PBS from 1982-86 until returning to WGBH as director of children’s programs. During her long career, she won a Peabody Award and multiple Emmys. “The productions that have benefited from Kate’s talents have changed the face of children’s media,” said Brigid Sullivan, WGBH v.p.

The Center for Public Interest Journalism at Temple University shuttered nonprofit news website AxisPhilly June 13 after two years of reporting that earned national recognition but failed to meet the school’s expectations for local impact. Yet CPIJ, which is operated by Temple’s School of Media and Communications, is embarking on another digital news venture. It is helping to launch Brother.ly, a Philadelphia-focused news startup headed by Jim Brady, former editor-in-chief of Digital First Media. CPIJ launched AxisPhilly in 2012 with a two-year, $2.4 million grant from the William Penn Foundation. The site’s first director, Neil Budde, left after the first year as CPIJ looked to restructure the site to make it self-sustaining.