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The U.S. public wants more news coverage of climate change, surveys find

As hurricanes, floods, wildfires, and heat waves have intensified over the past decade, public concern about climate change has grown dramatically. Today, 65% of the U.S. public is worried about the issue, up from 52% a decade ago, according to nationally representative surveys conducted by scientists at Yale University and George Mason University.

Maryland Public Television

Success in sharing arts content inspires new programming co-ops for public TV

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Public TV stations are starting two new programming co-ops modeled after the Arts and Culture Major Market Group project, which gathers and repackages local content for more than 30 stations nationwide. WNET, which handles the arts project, now has producers compiling station contributions for a new technology initiative as well. The local segments feed into SciTech Now, a half-hour newsmagazine hosted by PBS NewsHour’s Hari Sreenivasan that premiered Oct. 1 in New York, Houston and Seattle. Another program-sharing pilot aiming for small and midsize stations, based at Maryland Public Television, draws from the popular genre of outdoors shows.

Programs/Content

This American Life story prompts $5M lawsuit over 1994 false confession

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A This American Life story may help a woman prove that Washington, D.C., police violated her civil rights when a detective obtained a false confession from her 18 years ago. Kim Crafton filed a lawsuit Sept. 3 against the Washington Metropolitan Police over the 1994 incident, which became the subject of an October 2013 TAL story. The report featured D.C. Officer James Trainum, who had interrogated Crafton, discussing what led to the false confession in her case. In February 1994, Crafton, who was 19 at the time, confessed to killing D.C. resident Lawrence O’Connell.

Quick Takes

NPR, WAMU limit use of Washington football team’s name

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An NPR editor has recommended that network journalists avoid referring to the Washington Redskins by their name and should instead use “Washington” or “the team” as much as possible. Standards & Practices Editor Mark Memmott provided the guidance Oct. 10 amid a growing backlash against a name that is a racial slur. Memmott said he is not calling for an outright ban, but that use of the name should be curtailed under the organization’s policy regarding potentially offensive language. “The team’s name is the name and our job is to report on the world as it is, not to take a position or become part of the story,” Memmott wrote.

Programs/Content

NPR podcast on Latino culture crosses over to radio

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An NPR podcast hatched from a friendship four years ago took a step in its evolution earlier this month, becoming a weekly radio show focused on Latino music and culture. Edited down from the weekly podcast’s 40 minutes, the half-hour Alt.Latino debuted Oct. 2 and is airing on stations in four markets, including Denver and San Francisco. The “alt” in the title refers to the show’s exploration of subjects that co-host and co-creator Jasmine Garsd sees as underreported by other media outlets. “We started off with a lot of indie music, but as the show grew we saw it more as delving deeper into Latin culture,” Garsd said.

Quick Takes

Public TV freelancers in Writers Guild approve contract extension

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More than 200 members of the Writers Guild of America who work as freelancers in public TV have ratified a two-year extension of their current contract, which includes raises in salary minimums and additional pension contributions from WGBH in Boston and WNET in New York. The guild represents members working on national programs including Frontline, American Experience, Nova, American Masters, Nature and Great Performances. After four months of negotiations, members unanimously approved the extension Tuesday. It provides a 2 percent raise in minimum salaries retroactive to July 1, which increases to 2.5 percent July 1, 2015. Employers also will contribute an additional .5 percent to the Producer-Writers Guild of America pension plan.

System/Policy

KET debate proceeds without Libertarian candidate who challenged exclusion

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When Kentucky Tonight host Bill Goodman introduced U.S. Senate candidates on the air the evening of Oct. 13, one was missing: Libertarian David Patterson, whose name will appear on the Nov. 6 ballot in Kentucky. Just 48 hours before, a federal judge in Frankfort rejected Patterson’s argument that Kentucky Educational Television violated his First Amendment rights by denying his request to be included in the broadcast. Patterson, along with the state and national Libertarian parties, contended that KET kept him off the program due to his political viewpoint.