NPR Music announced line-ups for three South by Southwest Music showcases, each of which will be webcast and broadcast live from Austin, Texas, March 16 – 19. The first, originating from Stubb’s on the evening of March 16, will headlined by soul singer Raphael Saadiq. A March 17 afternoon showcase features a “first listen live” performance of the indie rock trio The Antlers as they unveil their forthcoming, as yet untitled, record. The final showcase, scheduled for Saturday, March 19, is headlined by Bright Eyes, the indie/folk band fronted by Conor Oberst. Each showcase includes at least three additional musical acts, and one spotlights NPR Music veteran Carrie Brownstein in a new way.

Eight American public broadcasting projects have been selected for inclusion in INPUT (International Public Television), an annual weeklong public media showcase. It’s the only international conference strictly for media produced by noncommercial broadcasters. Projects scheduled to be presented at the event, May 9-12 in Seoul, South Korea, are Story Corps, American Documentary/POV; “Food, Inc.,” Robert Kenner Films/POV; FUTURESTATES.tv, season one, ITVS Interactive; “Nora – AfroPop: The Ultimate Cultural Exchange,” Movement Revolution Productions; “Reel Injun: On the Trail of the Hollywood Indian,” ITVS/Canadian Broadcasting Corp.; “Telling Amy’s Story,” Penn State Public Broadcasting; “The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers,” American Documentary/POV/ITVS; and “The Parking Lot Movie,” Independent Lens/Redhouse Productions.

In case you missed it, the Washington Post, a paper traditionally seen as being in public broadcasting’s corner, now views the system as a “nice-to-have” as opposed to a vital service. In an unsigned editorial in Saturday’s (Feb. 26) edition, titled “What government is for,” it said in part: “Public radio and television provide levels of serious news and cultural coverage and of civility that are otherwise not prevalent in today’s media. . . . It’s true that if Washington got the bigger, harder things right — controlling health-care costs and aiming entitlement programs at those who really need the help — there’d be enough left over for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Steve Waldman, a Federal Communications Commission senior adviser, gave a preview of his upcoming report, “The Future of Media and the Information Needs of Communities in a Digital Age” Monday (Feb. 28) for around 300 community foundation leaders at the Knight Foundation’s annual Media Learning Seminar in Miami. First, public media should not count on any federal support. “Government is not going to step in to fund this,” he said. “The nonprofit sector is going to have to rise up” to fill news coverage voids, he said. He broadly defines nonprofit news as including not only public broadcasters but also media centers, public access channels, low-power FM radio stations and schools running local news operations.

Vermont Public Television has completed upgrades to its Colchester, Vt., broadcast studios with four new digital HDTV cameras. Joseph Tymecki, chief technical officer, said in a statement that because the four older analog cameras had lasted nearly 20 years, “we wanted to be sure we were ordering studio cameras that would serve us well into the future.” The Hitachi SK-HD1000 cameras are outfitted with Hitachi TU-HD1000 camera control units, VF-HP840 8-inch color LCD viewfinders, RU-1200JY remote control units and Fujinon ZA-22×7.6BERM HD telephoto zoom lenses with 2X extenders. VPT also bought a Ross Vision multi-format production switcher, Chyron LEX3 live HD graphics system, Omneon server and Miranda router.

PBS host Tavis Smiley has posted a transcript on his Facebook page of his chat with Memphis broadcaster Myron Mays. “PBS is a network that is watched by movers and shakers and by people who run the country, power players and other influencers,” Smiley told Mays. “It’s a great platform for us to try to empower them and try to enlighten them and quite frankly try to expand their inventory of ideas. It’s a great platform to try to get them to reexamine the assumptions they hold. I think we’re doing the Lord’s work.”

PBS-commissioned research shows “overwhelming public opposition” to proposals to eliminate public broadcasting government funding, the network said in a statement today (March 1). Two firms on opposite ends of the political spectrum did the polling: Hart Research Associates, which has worked for several major Democratic organizations, and American Viewpoint, whose clients have included the Bush-Cheney campaign and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. In the telephone polling of 804 registered voters, a total of 79 percent think PBS should get “the same amount of government funding” or “more government funding” than it currently does. Fifty-six percent said they would be concerned “a great deal” if PBS was forced to significantly cut back on children’s educational shows.

Weekend snow and ice storms contributed to the cause of a fire that knocked out several channels from KNPB in northern Nevada. Viewers still can’t access 5.1 HD, the standard digital channel, Create on 5.2 or V-me on 5.3. The blaze, which destroyed a filter system in the transmitter, was discovered at 9 p.m. local time Sunday, during the premiere of Stewards of the Rangeland, a new KNPB production focusing on livestock management strategies. “KNPB engineering staff are working with the transmitter manufacturer to replace damaged parts, returning the signal as soon as possible,” a Monday (Feb. 28) release from the station said.

Gary Hustwit, director of “Helvetica” and “Objectified” on Independent Lens, is crowdfunding his latest project, “Urbanized.” He’s launched the funding drive on Kickstarter with a goal of $85,000 by March 23; as of Feb. 28, he has about $42,000. Hustwit and a his team are now editing, with post-production this summer on the documentary examining urban design. Donors can fork over from $10 to $5,000 for nifty perks: At the $2,000 level, it’s two VIP tickets to the world premiere, dinner that evening with Hustwit and members of the cast and crew, a “special thanks” in the film’s credits, 10 DVDs, two DVD box sets, two T-shirts and a set of the limited-edition prints.

The threat of a government shutdown apparently has been avoided until at least March 18, reports the Washington Post. Senate Democrats on Friday (Feb. 25) tentatively accepted a Republican plan to cut $4 billion in federal spending that President Obama has already targeted for elimination. CPB funding was zeroed out in the Continuing Resolution the House passed along to the Senate earlier this month (Current, Feb. 22).

Alaska public broadcasting stations could merge as soon as next month, according to today’s (Feb. 28) Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. The stations, including KUAC in Fairbanks, KTOO in Juneau, KYUK in Bethel and Alaska Public Telecommunications in Anchorage, have been in talks for two years. Those discussions were sparked by mounting financial problems that prompted layoffs and reductions in local programming starting in 2009. A committee has been hearing input from residents in communities that would be affected. General managers are not involved in discussions, “since their jobs or those of their employees could be affected,” the paper says. CPB supplied an $88,000 consulting grant.

Susanna Capelouto, Georgia Public Broadcasting’s news director, has left to join CNN. She’s been with GPB a total of 19 years, the first two part-time. She’ll be a producer for CNN Radio working with another GPB alum, John Supulvedo, producing long-form audio stories. Capelouto said last week she now plans to become “a loyal GPB volunteer,” network spokesperson Nancy Zintak told Current. Also last week, she was honored at the Georgia State Capitol by lawmakers with a House Resolution for her years of service to GPB; guests nibbled on a cake featuring her likeness on the icing. She reports to CNN on March 7.

The White House “reverberated like a long-ago basement sound studio in Detroit” on Thursday (Feb. 24), reports the Associated Press. The occasion: a PBS In Performance at the White House, “The Motown Sound.” Performers included Smokey Robinson, John Legend, Seal and Stevie Wonder — first lady Michelle Obama confessed he’s her favorite, “yes indeed.” And Motown founder Berry Gordy was in the audience. See a clip here.

The Public Broadcasting Management Association is departing its 30-year home at the National Educational Telecommunications Association. It’s time, said PBMA Vice Chairman Tom Livingston, president of Livingston Associates in Baltimore. “We’re grown now.” Coulter Nonprofit Management in McLean, Va., will work with PBMA. Livingston told Current that the group’s aspiration “is to become more significant in the leadership development area.” The system is facing “unbelievable challenges,” he said. If pubcasting is to have a viable future, “it’s going to take some great leadership. Basically there’s been no coordinated leadership development work in public media for 15 or 16 years. And I believe we can see the results of that in the state of our leadership today.”

Results of the third annual Public Radio Technology Survey measured dramatic growth in smartphone adoption among public radio listeners and their clear preference for Apple’s iPhone among mobile hand-held devices. More than a third of respondents now own a smartphone, a 29 percent gain since last year’s survey; within this subgroup of survey participants, 63 percent use the iPhone. The survey of 21,000 public radio listeners, conducted through a partnership of Jacobs Media and Public Radio Program Directors, also shows impressive gains in the number of respondents who listen to public radio via Internet streams. An infographic from Jacobs media sums up the 2010 survey findings; PRPD details top-line results here.