The Cleveland Plain Dealer checks on WCPN-FM/WVIZ-TV four years after the stations merged and finds low morale and a struggling news department on the radio side, according to some accounts. “The feeling was that TV management, which basically took over, didn’t understand how public radio was done successfully,” says a former WCPN reporter.

Ten public interest groups have asked CPB for “increased openness and transparency in the way the CPB board operates and conducts its meetings.” “Citizens should not be kept in the dark about how the CPB does its work,” said Chellie Pingree, president of Common Cause.

Another article about the Prairie Home Companion movie, this one from the Washington Post. “It’s very difficult for him,” says director Robert Altman of his collaborator, Garrison Keillor. “It’s the first time he’s had anybody that can override him.” At PHC‘s website, Keillor responds to a dismissive comment about Lindsay Lohan, who recently wrapped her appearance in the film: “[A]ll of us around the movie set smile at the mention of her name and sort of miss her.”

In a meeting with Washington Times staffers, CPB Chairman Kenneth Tomlinson defended his efforts to correct what he sees as a liberal tilt in public broadcasting and said “NPR’s got real problems.” Tomlinson also appeared Sunday on C-SPAN’s Q&A.

Writer Rick Moody critiques public radio at Transom: “Oh, here come the exotic sitars, to indicate that the story is from another part of the world.”

The Public Radio Exchange v. 2.0 has arrived.

In an AP profile, On the Media hosts Brooke Gladstone and Bob Garfield cite The Daily Show as a primary inspiration.

Columnist Nat Hentoff says CPB Chairman Ken Tomlinson demeans Bush administration leaders by implying they need his “ham-handed” defense from criticism on public TV. Hentoff, however, concludes media should avoid these problems by rejecting government funding altogether.

The FCC has decided in favor of 14 Calvary Chapels seeking licenses for low-power FM stations. (PDF.) The National Lawyers Guild Center on Democratic Communications had opposed the would-be broadcasters, arguing that they had not sufficiently demonstrated a commitment to local broadcasting. The FCC at first agreed with the Guild, but the Chapels revised their applications and prevailed.

The winning of an award from Jazz Week magazine has prompted KUVO-FM in Denver to relax its dress code, reports the Denver Post. (A dress code in public radio? Must be a first.)

Sharon Percy Rockefeller, president of WETA-TV/FM in Washington, D.C., has been diagnosed with colorectal cancer, according to FishbowlDC. She will receive treatment in coming months and will hand the reins over to Joe Bruns, WETA’s executive v.p., during that time. (Statement from her husband, Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.V.)) (Via DCRTV.)

David Boaz of the Cato Institute offers ten top reasons to privatize public broadcasting.

Will Shortz, puzzlemaster for NPR’s Weekend Edition Sunday, has the hottest mind of the New York Times‘ male staffers, according to Gawker readers.

Columnist Robert Novak reports on the “surprising relationships” that weren’t disclosed during the July 11 Senate hearing on public broadcasting, which he describes as an orchestrated ambush of CPB Board Chairman Kenneth Tomlinson.

The Chicago Sun-Times goes behind the scenes with Wait Wait . . . Don’t Tell Me!, which recently switched to live tapings before an audience. “[W]e did it so long without an audience it was almost like a rehearsal, a six-year rehearsal,” says Doug Berman, e.p. “And we got so good at it that by the time we went out in front of an audience, it was great every time.” (Via Romenesko.)