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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.

People

Independent Lens films take home honors, Midwest pubcasters receive Emmys, and more awards in public media

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INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY ASSOCIATION
Independent Lens took home four wins from the 30th annual IDA Documentary Awards. The public TV documentary series won the award for best curated series for the second year in a row, along with the Humanitas Documentary Award, ABCNews VideoSource award and Emerging Documentary Filmmaker Award. The Humanitas Documentary Award recognizes films that, according to the IDA, explore what it means to be human when facing differences in “culture, race, lifestyle, political loyalties and religious beliefs” that create barriers between people. Thomas G. Miller’s film Limited Partnership, about the struggle of a legally married same-sex couple fighting for U.S. citizenship for one of the partners, won the award. The ABCNews VideoSource award honors films that make the best use of news footage.

People

Kartemquin Films co-founder Jerry Blumenthal dies at 78

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Jerry Blumenthal, a founding partner of Chicago documentary house Kartemquin Films (Hoop Dreams, The Interrupters), died Nov. 13 after battling cancer. He was 78. “Jerry was my filmmaking partner for over four decades,” said Kartemquin co-founder Gordon Quinn in a statement. “His sense of story, people, politics, and art and artists, will be missed.

People

Frontline creates cross-platform investigative unit with help from Ford Foundation

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Frontline has hired two investigative reporters and promoted a digital specialist to create its first desk producing original investigative journalism across platforms.

The Enterprise Journalism Group, announced Wednesday, consists of new hires James Jacoby and Anya Bourg, who previously produced for CBS’s 60 Minutes. Frontline’s senior digital reporter, Sarah Childress, was promoted onto the team. The group is supported by an $800,000 grant from the Ford Foundation, announced in June. Over the next two years, the journalists will report major projects via text, video, photos, audio and graphics across Frontline’s platforms.

Raney Aronson-Rath, deputy executive producer, said journalistic flexibility is driving the project. “Maybe there’s a story that should go digital-first, so we get it up quickly,” she said.

Programs/Content

Colorado Public Radio, Colorado Symphony part ways after 15 years

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Colorado Public Radio and the Colorado Symphony have ended their 15-year relationship after a disagreement over the value of the symphony’s performances to the station and a demand for editorial control over coverage of the ensemble. CPR stopped airing symphony performances as of Nov. 30, ending an arrangement that had been in place since 1999. Colorado Symphony CEO Jerome Kern said that in addition to providing performances to CPR free of charge, the symphony had bought underwriting on the station, to the tune of about $91,000 in the last fiscal year. In the symphony’s eyes, it was giving CPR not only valuable content but cash as well, Kern said.

Programs/Content

APT’s Create and World gain carriage, audience

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Vme is not the only public TV multicast channel that’s gaining traction with viewers. Create and World, channels featuring how-to shows and public affairs programs, have the widest carriage and remain the most popular. Although audience data on PTV multicast channels is limited — in part because only 20 stations are able to subscribe to ratings services for their channels — viewership has grown 18 percent over the past four years, according to TRAC Media, which provides ratings analyses to local pubcasters. Lifestyle-oriented Create is the most dominant of the three channels. Since its national launch via APT distribution 10 years ago, it has secured carriage on 106 licensees and now reaches 78 percent of television households.

Programs/Content

NPR to close Kabul bureau

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When the 13-year international combat mission ends in Afghanistan Dec. 31, NPR’s Kabul bureau will also close. NPR decided in 2012 that it would close the Kabul bureau this year because of the planned reduction of U.S. troops in the country, according to an NPR spokesperson. Starting in 2015, coverage of Afghanistan will be handled by Philip Reeves, NPR’s correspondent based in Islamabad, Pakistan. “We are confident that Phil Reeves can cover the news coming from Afghanistan,” said Edith Chapin, senior supervising editor of NPR’s International Desk, through a spokesperson.