System/Policy
How stations are enhancing statehouse journalism with CPB funding
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With its latest round of funding, CPB has invested $4.9 million in its state government initiative.
Stanley Nelson, John Oliver among WGA members petitioning stations for fair freelancer contracts
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The petition accuses GBH, WNET Group and PBS SoCal of delaying their response to the union’s demands.
SPONSORED
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.
System/Policy
Five lessons public media can learn from commercial media
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A public radio and TV CEO shares gleanings from Columbia University’s Punch Sulzberger Program.
Podcasting
To boost income, podcasters look to partnerships, native ads and listeners
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Podcasters are creating business plans that are hybrids of unapologetically advertiser-based funding and direct listener support raised via crowdfunding, which in some cases is cultivated as monthly gifts.
People
Nycklemoe heads Mountain Lake PBS, NPR shifts news staffers, and other comings and goings in public media
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Nycklemoe succeeds Alice Recore, who became president in 2003 and retired Dec. 31.
Federal budget
Proposed federal budget includes level CPB funding, support for Ready To Learn, new interconnection system
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The CPB funds, which are approved two years before being paid out, not only stay at the current level but would include annual increases of roughly 2.2 percent through 2025.
Programs/Content
Louisiana network launches online archive of historic video
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A new digital archive co-created by Louisiana Public Broadcasting contains more than 500 hours of streamable online video, including civil-rights era broadcasts, Louisiana-themed cooking shows and speeches by political leaders. The Louisiana Digital Media Archive went live Jan. 20 after more than five years of development, featuring videos from both public and commercial broadcasters. “One of our missions is to create TV worth watching,” said Beth Courtney, president of LPB and a 30-year veteran of the station. “If we’ve made 40 years of TV worth watching, it’s worth saving.”
LPB inventoried and digitized video artifacts from the civil-rights and World War II eras as part of an American Archives pilot project in 2009, a CPB-funded effort to create a national archive of public television content.
People
Public media women team up to tackle gender inequality in leadership
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A group of female leaders has formed a committee to address issues of gender inequality in the executive ranks of public television and radio.
Programs/Content
How to pick theme music for your show, and how not to
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The art of radio and TV theme music and how to improve it.
"The Pub" Podcast
The Pub, Episode 3: Podcasting tests definition of public media, Indiana governor does too
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PRX CEO Jake Shapiro says “the definition of public media . . . has to be stretched.”
System/Policy
FCC schedules initial workshops on spectrum auctions
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The workshops will run nationwide between February and May.
Development
APTS restructures to support strategic goals for state-level advocacy, public service
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The Association of Public Television Stations has restructured its staff to align with recently adopted strategic goals, including efforts to promote best practices, increase state and federal funding and support advocacy for the system at large. Two key staffers are stepping up to manage the expanding workload. Kate Riley, director of government relations, has been promoted to v.p., government and public affairs; she will focus on advocacy and state and federal funding. Emil Mara, v.p. for finance and administration, will direct member services. The reorganization follows through on a strategic plan adopted by the APTS board of trustees in November, according to Pat Butler, president.