Looks like the “Big Bird defense” (Current, Nov. 29) might not be as effective in preserving public broadcasting funding as it was in the mid-’90s, when the yellow-feathered, towering character showed up on Capitol Hill to save the day. Back then, “it was Big Bird that killed us,” former House Appropriations Committee Chairman Bob Livingston (R-La.) acknowledged to Fox News just last month. In an interview published today (Dec. 4) with Americans for Limited Government, Rep. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), a leader in the effort to defund CPB, said that shows such as Sesame Street “are thriving, multimillion-dollar enterprises.”

ValleyPBS in Fresno, Calif., has eliminated three positions due to budget constraints, reports the local Business Journal. Paula Castadio, ValleyPBS c.e.o., said two receptionist positions were eliminated, in addition to the director of marketing. He said a drop in funding “across all fronts” led to the layoffs. “Our philosophy is to live within our means in the current environment,” Castadio said. “We believe that’s what our donors expect us to do.”

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has decided that the New Jersey Network may remain on the air after Jan. 1, when state funding for the network ends, in order to provide more time to work out NJN’s future, he told the Star-Ledger. Christie proposed ending state support earlier this year (Current, July 6) and the legislature has been researching the situation since then. The state wants to retain ownership of the licenses and would like to use a consortium of broadcasters to provide content. Possible partners include WNET/Thirteen in New York City and WHYY in Philadelphia.

The White House’s National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform fell short of the 14 members necessary to approve its plan for $4 trillion in cuts and tax increases over the next decade — which included killing off all funding for CPB. That means the plan will not move forward to the Senate for consideration. However, a majority of the panel, 11 members, did approve the proposal. President Barack Obama said the commission report “includes a number of specific proposals that I — along with my economic team — will study closely in the coming weeks as we develop our budget and our priorities for the coming year.”

The Adobe Foundation’s Adobe Youth Voices and the documentary series P.O.V. today (Dec. 3) launched Project VoiceScape, to fund middle- and high-school students to create nonfiction films using digital media tools. The projects will then stream on P.O.V.’s website. The PBS Teachers website will be the hub where educators can get advice from youth media experts on inspiring students to produce innovative content. That site also will also provide access to Adobe Youth Voices Essentials, a set of free curricula and resources.

An investigation over Burma’s supposed work on a nuclear weapon by Need to Know and ProPublica has led to a “quiet explosion and some pretty toxic fallout” among those involved, writes PBS Ombudsman Michael Getler in today’s (Dec. 2) column. The controversy was ignited by accusations between those supporting the “credibility and importance” of the allegations and the producers of the segment who are “raising the flag of caution.” “What’s interesting here, aside from where the truth lies,” he noted, “is that the dispute pits against each other people who formerly worked together, and involves well-respected journalistic enterprises and other organizations here and abroad that one would generally assume are on the side of the angels.”

The Federal Communication Commission’s plan to create space for more wireless devices on the spectrum includes tactics to improve the quality of TV signals in the VHF band weakened in the digital transition. One way to do that would be to increase the effective radiated power (ERP) of VHF stations in the FCC’s heavily populated Zone 1 (the Northeast and Upper Midwest). But that could complicate life for stations including WNET/Thirteen in New York City, according to TVNewsCheck. Broadcast consulting engineer Charles Cooper said the power boost would create problems with interference, particularly in the Northeast. Cooper said the high-V stations in New York City (WABC, WNET and WPIX) are now operating with ERPs of 12 kW or less.

The final co-chairs’ report of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform awaits a full-panel vote Friday (Dec. 3). Although CPB was recommended for elimination in the co-chairs’ draft of “$200 billion in illustrative savings,” the corporation was not specifically mentioned in the final report released Dec. 1. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that public broadcasting is safe. The final report refers to using that “$200 billion in illustrative 2015 savings” as a starting point for cuts. Meanwhile, two more commissioners have signaled they will vote for the plan; that means nine members have announced their support and one said he is likely to back the proposal.

Former NPR reporter and analyst Juan Williams is neither the first nor last news personality to land a lucrative gig at Fox News after being dismissed for politically incorrect remarks that offended liberals, reports Paul Farhi of the Washington Post. Andrew Tyndall of the Tyndall Report covering TV news, tells Farhi that Fox News chief Roger Ailes is being “opportunistic” with a string of recent hires, including Williams, former CNN host Lou Dobbs and local TV news veteran Doug McKelway, who was fired this summer by Washington’s WJLA for “gross insubordination and misconduct.” “It’s a way to play the culture wars,” Tyndall says of Ailes’s hiring spree, and jokes that Fox may be turning into “the safety-net network.

The Sundance Institute on Wednesday (Dec. 1) revealed the lineup of competition for the 2011 Sundance Film Festival in January. Two ITVS-funded docs are on the list: “If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation,” profiling a radical environmental group, in the U.S. Documentary competition; and “Family Portrait in Black and White,” in the World Cinema Documentary competition, an examination of interracial individuals and relationships in Eastern Europe. Other entries include “Being Elmo: A Puppeteer’s Journey,” which follows Kevin Clash, the man behind the iconic character. A Sesame Workshop spokesperson said it did not fund the project but provided access to Clash for the filmmaker.

“This show is a conversation between science and mystery,” says Jad Abumrad, host and producer of Radiolab, in a New York Observer feature about the WNYC series. “You’re right at the edge of what the science can tell you. Which to me is as much about, like, magical thinking and weirdness and poetry as the science itself.” BONUS for Radiolab fans: Abumrad was a featured speaker at 2010 MaxFunCon, organized by Jesse Thorne of PRI’s The Sound of Young America. You can watch a video stream or download audio of his presentation here.

Conservative talk show host Sean Hannity devoted six minutes of his Nov. 29 Fox News show to congressional Republicans’ pledge to defund National Public Radio, inviting political commentators Sally Kohn and S.E. Cupp to debate whether the federal government should subsidize public radio. Well, okay — it wasn’t a debate, per se — they shouted at each other and misrepresented basic facts about NPR’s history before Hannity wrapped up the argument. “Liberal propaganda is not the common good,” he said. “You wanna know why conservative talk radio works? People want to hear it.” If you watch it and wonder what was said amidst all the shouting, this summary of the transcript might help a little.

PBS has revealed the finalists of this year’s CPB/PBS Diversity and Innovation Fund (Current, April 19) request for proposals. More than 200 submissions were received in response to the RFP, PBS said. Sixteen now advance to panel review. They include State of the Re:Union TV from WGBH, a television version of the radio show that wrapped production on its second season this fall (Current, Aug. 9). Host Al Letson travels the country in search of “real America,” finding along the way compelling characters and “unveiling what makes our diverse country one nation.” Another finalist is It’s All Relative with Farai Chideya, former host of NPR’s News & Notes, a casualty of NPR budget cuts in March 2009.

KCET, the Los Angeles pubTV station dropping its PBS membership as of January, is one of nine station recipients, along with the PBS Foundation, sharing $2.2 million in membership challenge grants from the Newman’s Own Foundation. PBS announced the funding today (Dec. 1). “These grants will help us continue to serve those communities, foster rich civic dialogue, encourage participation in the arts and provide access to quality education,” Paula Kerger, PBS president, said in the statement. The PBS Foundation will keep $50,000, targeted to the arts. In addition to KCET, the stations are: Connecticut Public Television; KCTS in Seattle; Twin Cities Public Television in Minnesota; WAMC Northeast Radio in Albany, N.Y.;

A Republican Congressman hoping to keep his key committee chairmanship is citing CPB as an example of what funding he would cut, according to a story in today’s (Dec. 1) Press-Enterprise of Riverside, Calif. Rep. Jerry Lewis (Calif.) yesterday made a presentation to the Republican Steering Committee, which will decide who will head the House Appropriations Committee, which oversees federal spending. Lewis, the top Republican on the committee for six years, declined to reveal the specifics of his presentation, but cited to the reporter three examples of funding cuts he supports: $12 billion in unobligated stimulus funding, $40 million in the elimination of grants for green jobs and $440 million in savings by ending federal support of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.