Bill Fantini, radio news director at WHYY in Philadelphia, resigned Dec. 9. Fantini recently developed a state-funded series of positive stories on the environment that some reporters and observers have called unethical. [Read Current‘s report on the controversy.]

” . . . Ultimately, it’s a state agency buying good coverage,” comments a broadcast journalism professor on ethical lapses at WHYY-FM, in today’s Philadelphia Daily News. Current reported last month on breaches in journalism ethics and sponsorship disclosure in environmental reporting at WHYY.

The Houston Chronicle reports that prosecutors filed new arguments in the Texas jury taping case.

KCTS is “in the midst of a severe financial crisis that has some concerned about whether it can, in the words of a board member, ‘sustain the operation,'” according to the Seattle Weekly.

Attorneys for Frontline and production executive Michael Sullivan explained the rationale for taping jury deliberations in a Texas death penalty case during a Dec. 2 press conference. An attorney representing District Court Judge Ted Poe, who is defending his order to allow the taping, faced off with the prosecutor on the case on the NewsHour. A Google news search found several recent newspaper editorials opposing cameras in the jury room.

Radio World‘s Skip Pizzi says digital radio may fail because it promises better sound but little new content. In the same issue, a reader asks how digital radio will affect subcarrier services.

The latest Eastern Public Radio newsletter covers Vinnie Curren’s CPB appointment (see below), successful fund drives, format advice and more.

Bill Moyers came out swinging three days after the Nov. 5 midterm elections, and the target of his jabs—America’s right wing—came swinging back. Conservatives said he made a hysterical partisan attack on Republicans in his commentary on PBS’s Now with Bill Moyers Nov. 8. Lamenting the GOP sweep of both houses of Congress, Moyers slammed the majority party’s agenda, which he believes will “force pregnant women to give up control over their own lives,” use “taxing power to transfer wealth from working people to the rich” and give “corporations a free hand to eviscerate the environment.” The Now host also railed against the close ties between Republican leaders and the religious right.

Public radio producer Aimée Pomerleau just set up a website, Scorcher Radio.

CPB named Vinnie Curren, g.m. of WXPN in Philadelphia, its senior v.p. of radio.

Pacifica appointed Don Rojas to manage WBAI, its New York station.

An activist raises concerns about Eva Georgia, general manager of Los Angeles Pacifica station KPFK-FM, in an article for the L.A. Independent Media Center.

Prosecutors in a Houston capital murder case are challenging a judge’s order to allow Frontline to film the upcoming trial and jury deliberations, according to an Associated Press wire story.

Frontline producer and reporter Martin Smith discusses “In Search of Al Qaeda”, which aired last night on many PBS stations.

A profile in today’s Washington Post describes the Nov. 24 debut of Skinwalkers as a defining moment for PBS President Pat Mitchell.