An NPR listener complains to ombud Jeffrey Dvorkin that applause often follows audio clips of President Bush, but not Sen. John Kerry. You’ll now hear applause after both.

Boston’s WBUR-FM is selling WRNI, its Rhode Island station. The Providence Journal condemns the decision: “The people who have been so generous in funding the start-up and operation of WRNI have been treated shabbily.” (More in the Journal, the Providence Phoenix and the Boston Herald.)

Classical music, liberal-friendly talk programming and rock tunes couched in mellow ambiance might sound like familiar public radio fare. But they’re also three formats where some commercial competitors seek to stake a claim. Corporations big and small are prospecting all three areas for profitability, prompting varied reactions from pubcasters. Some warn against getting too comfortable with the newcomers, while others greet them as business partners. Coming in the new wave of would-be competitors: Neo-Radio, a style of presenting contemporary music that, much like public radio, avoids hype and puts the listener’s desires first; progressive talk, the left-wing’s alternative to Rush Limbaugh that recently got a boost when some Clear Channel stations began carrying Air America programming; and a classical music network for commercial stations, under development by ABC Radio Networks and WQXR, the commercial classical station in New York.

Contrary to a myth popular in public radio, our audience is not going to die off anytime soon. The audience today is significant in size and influence and continues to grow even though Americans in general are listening to less radio than in the past. The primary audience indicators — loyalty, share and weekly cume audience — suggest there is room for even more growth. Fall 2003 AudiGraphics data show that 40 percent of all stations with an average quarter-hour audience of 2,000 or more have an average listener loyalty of less than 33.3 percent. That means that typical public radio listeners spend less than one-third of their radio listening time with their favorite public radio station.

The Cincinnati Business Courier profiles WGUC-FM.

In a Sept. 11 address to the Society of Professional Journalists, Bill Moyers looks back on his career and affirms the importance of journalism. “I approach the end of my own long run believing more strongly than ever that the quality of journalism and the quality of democracy are inextricably joined,” he says.

A Houston Chronicle editorial praises Tavis Smiley for his $1 million donation to Texas Southern University.

The New York Sun celebrates CPB’s $4.5 million subsidy of the new TV series featuring the Wall Street Journal‘s editorial writers. Journal Editorial Report debuts this Friday on many PBS stations.

NPR and PBS host Tavis Smiley gave $1 million to Houston’s Texas Southern University to support a communications school named after him, reports the Houston Chronicle. (More in USA Today. Via Romenesko.)

A Indiana broadcaster’s attempt to force timeshares with educational stations is “an affront to the taxpayers,” says a former educator in the Indianapolis Star.

Triplearadio.com interviews Judy Adams, p.d. of WDET-FM in Detroit.

Actress Susan Sarandon will host the upcoming season of Independent Lens, which begins Oct. 26 on PBS.

“Friends of mine at WDUQ, I thank you for helping me to kill my television,” writes a University of Pittsburgh student in praise of NPR. “You’ve taught me that the world continues to turn without breaking-news visuals of exploded body parts.”

Users of Audible.com can now subscribe to Public Radio International’s BBC Newshour, Brain Brew, Whad’Ya Know? and The Next Big Thing.

Citing a poor funding climate for arts programming, WGBH cancelled Art Close Up, a pared down version of its Emmy-winning series Greater Boston Arts.