A mediator will start talks this week between representatives of Jefferson Public Radio and the Oregon University System, which holds the broadcaster’s license, in an effort to settle a dispute over JPR’s leadership structure. Retired federal judge Terry Lukens begins mediation talks tomorrow, according to the Mail Tribune. The university system terminated the contract of JPR Executive Director Ron Kramer in March (Current, April 9). A university audit advised that Kramer’s dual roles as head of the radio station and of a separate fundraising nonprofit had created a conflict of interest. The audit also said that JPR’s fundraising efforts were at odds with the university’s.

WPBT2’s Star Gazers, in partnership with KNPB, will live-stream today’s historic transit of Venus from Reno, Nev., starting at 6 p.m. Eastern. The stations, based in Miami and Reno, have previously partnered on other celestial events. During the transit, Venus will pass directly between the Earth and the sun. This will be the last transit of Venus to occur in this lifetime. Viewers can join the conversation here. Bill Dishong, series producer, will provide commentary, and Star Gazers host Marlene Hidalgo will answer questions from the online audience as the transit unfolds.

Radio producer Paul Bartishevich, head of Finger Lakes Productions International, died June 1 at his home in Trumansburg, N.Y., of an apparent heart attack. He was 53. FLPI produced and distributed daily radio programming to NPR affiliates nationwide as well as more than 120 countries and territories via the Voice of America and American Forces Radio. Popular titles, which reflected Bartishevich’s interest in science, nature and technology, included Bird Watch, Nature Watch, Animal Instincts, Ocean Report, Our Ocean World, EnvironMinute and Microbeworld. In 1998, FLPI founded and launched the Radio Voyager Network (RVN), which became the first English-language commercial radio network to broadcast throughout Europe.

Following reports of corruption, the U.S. Embassy in Pakistan has terminated $20 million in funding for to develop a Pakistani version of Sesame Street, according to the Associated Press, citing a report in Pakistan Today. The USAID money was funding the Rafi Peer Theater Workshop, a local group working on the program with Sesame Workshop. Embassy spokesman Robert Raines confirmed that the funding was terminated but declined to provide details. Pakistan Today, citing unnamed sources close to the project, said “lack of proper planning, mismanagement and financial irregularities have all been rampant throughout the project, leading to an initial delay of a year and a half and finally the suspension of aid.”

The publisher and editor of Newspaper Tree, a nonprofit newsroom in El Paso, Texas, have been fired “as a result of internal disputes,” leaving just one employee, an investigative reporter, according to El Paso Inc. Newspaper Tree is one of several nonprofit news organizations that have been waiting for more than a year for federal approval of their 501(c)3 status (Current, May 14). It is currently offline due to that delay. Publisher Louie Gilot and editor Reyes Mata III were fired late in May. Investigative reporter Debbie Nathan remains. Newspaper Tree Board President Richard Pineda, an associate communication professor in University of Texas at El Paso, confirmed that Gilot and Mata are no longer employed, but declined to discuss details.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta presented a diary to Vietnam’s defense minister in Hanoi Monday (June 4) from the body of a North Vietnamese soldier killed in a 1966 firefight near Quang Ngai that had been provided to the Defense Department by the pubTV program History Detectives. The diary contains several entries and a photo of two young women, according to PBS. “I’m pleased that History Detectives could, through Secretary Panetta, be part of a continuing process of reconciliation between our nations,” said Wes Cowan, lead investigator for the show. “The diary and photograph are small reminders that the combatants who were lost on both sides were not simply warriors, but real people who will forever be remembered by their loved ones.”

Currently about 14 percent of the monthly visitors to PBS.org are localized to a station, reports Kristin Calhoun, director of PBS Interactive, on the PBS Station Products & Innovation blog. Localization overlays have been seen by 4,409,464 site visitors, with 453,301 clicking the “Choose My Station” button. “Think of PBS.org as a big prospecting platform for PBS member stations,” Calhoun writes. “More people declaring an affinity for a favorite station means more touch points for a visitor to PBS.org to engage with their local station. They have direct links to station support pages, custom TV tune-in information and access to their local station’s content via efforts like Project Merlin.

The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights has asked NPR to respond to a complaint about a recent report on a sex-abuse trial involving church officials. The web version of Barbara Bradley Hagerty’s May 27 report opens as follows: “A clergy sex-abuse trial in is reaching a crescendo in a Philadelphia courtroom. One defendant is James Brennan, a priest accused of trying to rape a minor, which is not that unusual.” Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League, took issue with the “not that unusual” portion of that paragraph. “In this day and age when it is considered taboo to make sweeping generalizations of a negative sort about so many demographic groups, it is astonishing that NPR would allow this bigoted swipe at Catholic priests,” he was quoted as saying in a post on the Catholic League’s website.

Mark Pearson, host of Iowa Public Television’s nationally syndicated Market to Market, died unexpectedly Sunday (June 2) at his farm in rural Madison County of an apparent heart attack. He was 54. The Des Moines Register reported that emergency responders were summoned to the residence around 5:30 p.m. Central. “Iowa Public Television lost a friend and a colleague today,” the station said in a statement late Sunday, “and the state of Iowa lost a smart, enthusiastic, and talented agricultural broadcaster with the passing of Mark Pearson.” “For more than 20 years, Mark was Market to Market — reporting on the latest news in agribusiness while providing critical insights for viewers across the nation,” the statement said.

Now on current.org: The recent million-dollar Ford Foundation grant to the Los Angeles Times highlights the heightened competition that public broadcasters now face for philanthropic dollars in a fast-changing media world.

The regal Downton Abbey‘s Emmy-category switch from mini-series to drama could put it up against “American TV’s real aristocracy,” reports Deadline.com, such as Mad Men, Breaking Bad, The Killing and Game of Thrones. “We’re going to be in a whole other orbit,” said Rebecca Eaton, Masterpiece e.p. “We won against some very stiff competition last year from HBO, for which we all remain enormously proud. But in American TV, the drama series track clearly is the faster track. It’ll be interesting to go toe-to-toe with those very different shows and see how we do.” Season 1 of Downton had four episodes; Season 2, seven — exceeding the six that generally define a regular series and prompting the category change.

Former WTTW producer Pat Barey is co-author of a book coming out in August about a little-known aspect of Julia Child’s life: Her love of cats. Julia’s Cats: Julia Child’s Life in the Company of Cats draws on letters and original interviews to reveal the famous pubcasting chef’s love of felines, from the very first, Minette, that arrived at the Childs’ doorstep soon after she and her husband Paul arrived in Paris. Co-author is Therese Burson, Barey’s partner in the film production company Tellens.

Jonathan Ahl, news director of Iowa Public Radio, left his job Thursday (May 31), according to The Gazette in Cedar Rapids. Mary Grace Herrington, c.e.o., declined to say “what led to his departure or whether he was terminated,” the newspaper said. Ahl had joined the station in July 2008. Ahl also submitted his resignation to PRNDI Board president, effective immediately. He was in his second term in the office. George Bodarky, news and public affairs director at WFUV-FM in New York, will serve as PRNDI acting president until the board election June 30. “PRNDI would like to thank Jonathan Ahl, affectionately known as ‘the chief,’ for his strong commitment to the organization over the years,” the organization said on its website.

Paul Bartishevich, head of Finger Lakes Productions International, died June 1 [2012] at his home in Trumansburg, N.Y., of an apparent heart attack. He was 53. FLPI, founded in 1987, produced and distributed daily radio programming to NPR affiliates nationwide as well as more than 120 countries and territories via the Voice of America and American Forces Radio. Popular titles, which reflected Bartishevich’s interest in science, nature and technology, included Bird Watch, Nature Watch, Animal Instincts, Ocean Report, Our Ocean World, EnvironMinute and Microbeworld. In 1998, FLPI launched the Radio Voyager Network (RVN), which became the first English-language commercial radio network to broadcast throughout Europe.