The New York Times previews the TV debut of This American Life: “Mr. Glass was greeted as a conquering rock star in various American cities during a recent live tour, and Showtime is hoping that the rabid, embedded fan base of “This American Life” — as well as the tsunami of media coverage generated by reporters who love to write about someone who actually tells real, live stories — will give it visibility in a cluttered television universe.”

NPR, Clear Channel and other broadcasting groups filed challenges yesterday to the Copyright Royalty Board’s ruling on webcast fees, reports AP. NPR also plans to take the matter to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C.

Assignment Zero, a web-powered collaboration between citizen and professional journalists, recently began assigning stories to volunteer reporters, according to the New York Times.

PBS Ombudsman Michael Getler reports and comments on criticism that The War, the Ken Burns documentary series debuting in September, ignores the contributions and sacrifices made by Hispanic-Americans during World War II. “[W]hat interests me most among the critical public statements, and the questions and criticisms raised by viewers in letters to me, is whether, during the six years of production, anyone did actually think about the Hispanic veterans,” Getler writes.

Curious George, the top-rated PBS Kids show, is having trouble selling all of its underwriting slots, according to Advertising Age. Could part of the problem be that PBS prohibits product placement in its programs?

WNYC, Public Radio International and other partners plan to produce a morning show that will go up against NPR’s Morning Edition and pursue a younger audience, reports the New York Times. “We have a vision of what we think is needed, and we think we are the right people to do it,” says WNYC President Laura Walker. (More details from WNYC, via PRPD’s blog.)

Some Friday levity: This video puts a Ken Burns spin on The War that Divided NBC’s “The Office” and its fans. (Audio mildly NSFW.)

Independent producer Barrett Golding laments the state of public radio conferences in a Web 2.0 world: “Once there was a time-honored tradition of spending conference nights genuinely interacting with real folk, i.e., chasing hookers and hootch. Nowadays, everyone runs back to their hotel rooms to blog, stream, cast, and flickr.”

Ira Glass of This American Life talks about the TV version of his radio show in a chat on the Washington Post‘s website: “This week we just finished a six-city tour . . . and in some of the cities, when I’d ask the audience ‘were you worried when you heard we were doing a TV show?’ they’d ROAR back yes. In Minnesota our director Chris Wilcha joked it’s like when Dylan went electric and a guy in the audience yelled ‘Judas!'”

Jake Shapiro has blogged the transcript of an e-mail interview with Current in which he discusses efforts to create a digital distribution system for public media. “I think some version of it will happen, and soon,” he says. “The question is whether it will be a truly collaborative venture or something just one or two players begin together.”

Sirius Satellite Radio renewed its programming deal with NPR and will carry the network’s forthcoming news show aimed at younger listeners.

A Philadelphia Weekly writer waxes poetic about public radio: “. . . [L]istening to NPR in a warm cab during winter might be the best transportation experience in existence.”

In a long article, Washingtonian magazine looks at NPR’s evolution from alternative news source to high-profile outfit that might be recovering some of its old spirit. “We’re moving away a little from this gray wash that I’ve been hearing too much of,” says Susan Stamberg. “It’s starting to breathe again in ways that remind me of the very earliest days, when we would take any chance, do any goofy thing.”

On June 4, Chicago Public Radio, news and information WBEZ-FM 91.5, will launch a new radio station by splitting off one of its repeaters, WBEW-FM 89.5 in Chesterton, Ind., just southeast of Chicago by Lake Michigan. This new radio station will refashion WBEZ’s public radio mission to a target audience formerly unreachable by WBEZ. This new station will be built on community radio sensibilities but without the characteristic schedule of special-interest shows. In fact, it will have no shows at all. It will air a continuous, seamless talk-based stream completely devoted to Northwest Indiana and Chicago metropolitan area culture, issues and selected music.

WFCR-FM in Amherst, Mass., will shift its all-news AM feed to a local station owned by Clear Channel, reports the Republican. Clear Channel will be able to sell underwriting spots on the station as part of the arrangement.