Ira Glass makes Newcity Chicago‘s list of “10 Chicagoans We Love to Hate,” with the author railing against “that nasally, whiney, apathetic drone affected by legions of Ira Glass wannabes clearing their throat, adjusting their horn-rims, with their microphone in the other hand.” (Via Romenesko.)

Bill Davis of KPCC in Los Angeles says an inaccurate article about Joan Kroc’s NPR gift hurt his station’s recent pledge drive returns, reports the Christian Science Monitor.

Minnesota Public Radio host Katherine Lanpher is being discussed as a “probable” co-host for comic Al Franken on a new liberal talk radio network, reports the Star Tribune. [Home page for Lanpher’s MPR show.]

A long Los Angeles Times profile of Frank Deford accuses the high-profile sportswriter and NPR commentator of broad hyperbole and a loose grasp of some facts. Many Romenesko readers, meanwhile, back up Deford.

The president of Joy Public Broadcasting opposed selling his station in Frederick, Md., to Baltimore pubcaster WYPR, reports the Baltimore Sun. “I don’t like NPR,” Lowell Bush said. “I don’t like the homosexual content.” His board outvoted him, however.

The Big Four commercial networks air 58 minutes of ads in primetime every night, 36 percent more than they did in 1991, MediaLife magazine reported. Their commercial breaks have gotten 41 percent longer since 1998.

Tom Keith, sound-effects guy for A Prairie Home Companion, discusses the Zen of his craft with the Capital Times: “You can’t just stand there and make the sound. You have to move, be the ski.”

“As the radio industry continues to consolidate, our responsibility to program challenging music and public affairs programs becomes that much greater,” says pubradio veteran Steve Robinson in the Boston Globe, which reports on his acceptance of an ASCAP award.

Elections for Pacifica’s Local Station Boards are looming, and candidates for the boards of KPFK-FM in Los Angeles and WBAI-FM in New York have started websites.

Baltimore public radio station WYPR bought WJTM-FM in Frederick, expanding its reach toward western Maryland, Radio & Records reported. Selling the Frederick outlet for a reported $1.2 million was a religious broadcaster, Joy Public Broadcasting. Both stations broadcast at 88.1 MHz.

PBS will carry the $7 million cost of Masterpiece Theatre for two years, President Pat Mitchell told TV critics during the winter press tour, but the network is perplexed and unhappy about it, according to Associated Press and Washington Post reports.

The Association of Independents in Radio Member Spotlight features sound artist and producer Aaron Ximm, Monday, Jan. 12 at 8 p.m. ET.

Elizabeth Campbell, founder of Washington’s WETA-FM/TV, died today of a respiratory ailment, Washingtonpost.com reported. She was 101. In a 1993 Current interview she pictured herself as a do-er who “didn’t have time for doubts.” More about Campbell can be found at WETA’s website.

Minnesota Public Radio will stop producing The Savvy Traveler March 26, according to the network. The show was unable to sell enough underwriting to support itself due to the travel industry’s post-9/11 downturn. Its spotty presence in major markets also weakened its appeal to potential backers. Savvy Traveler airs on 163 stations. [Show website.]

CPB and Target Analysis Group have released the second installment of the Public Radio Quarterly Index of Fundraising Performance.