Tavis Smiley and Clark Atlanta University have donated $25,000 each to establish the Sheryl Flowers Scholarship at the university. Flowers, a Clark graduate who helped shape Smiley’s public radio talk shows, died of breast cancer last June at the age of 42. She was supervising producer of his daily NPR show starting in 2002 and e.p. of the two-hour weekly Public Radio International show that had its 5th anniversary in April. The PRI show is produced in a Los Angeles studio named for Flowers. The scholarship includes an internship with Clark’s WCLK-FM and with the Smiley show.

How do you define success for a media project that reaches beyond broadcast and tries to engage audiences Web 2.0-style? In an evaluation of its Makers Quest 2.0 initiative, the Association for Independents in Radio, Inc., and American University’s Center for Social Media assert the time has come to break from the ratings-based methodologies developed for public radio by researcher David Giovannoni in the influential CPB-backed study Audience 88. “Looking forward, we must recognize as a point of departure that the current system puts highest value on media that attract and hold the greatest number of individuals in one place for the longest amount of time,” write co-authors of “Spreading the Zing: Reimagining Public Media through Makers Quest 2.0,” a report released early this month.

American Public Media is cutting production of American RadioWorks, the investigative documentary series that won a duPont-Columbia Silver Baton in January. MinnPost’s David Brauer reports that Executive Editor and host Stephen Smith and some members of his team will remain at APM to produce coverage of higher education and sustainability, which are priority editorial topics for APM. “Some of this work will appear as ARW docs, some will be shorter in nature and appear in regular programs such as Marketplace or as specials,” writes Judy McAlpine, senior v.p. of national content, in a memo to staff. “Along with the documentary work, we will continue to build out smaller features and online content as part of these projects.

Mickie Edwardson, who helped found University of Florida’s pubradio WUFT-FM in 1981, died May 15 at age 80 following complications from an accident, according to the Gainesville Sun. Edwardson began as a producer-director at WUFT-TV soon after its launch in 1958. When the station announced a format change to news in August 2009, she told Current (July 6, 2009) she was concerned for the students. “I’m worried that the new shows won’t provide the educational component that the current programs provide,” said Edwardson, who at the time of her death was a retired journalism professor and still produced opera specials during WUFT pledge drives.

Tiny WCTE, Upper Cumberland Public TV in Cookeville, Tenn., got a shout-out from PBS President Paula Kerger in her opening remarks at the PBS Annual Meeting in Austin. “It isn’t only the smallest station in Cookeville, it’s the only station,” Kerger said. It’s an area rich in music, culture, character — and characters. During a recent visit Kerger met Hippie Jack, who arrived there to start a commune in the 1960s and never left. Now he works with the station, including pledge shows, and 130 PBS affiliates nationwide carry his “Jammin’ at Hippie Jack’s” music festival. It’s a good example of keeping viewers engaged with the arts, one of three of Kerger’s visions for pubcasting: To reimagine children’s media, reinvent journalism and reconnect all Americans with arts and culture.

People consuming public affairs coverage because of duty or a fascination with policy create a demand for news with context, details, debate, and reason. But those watching public affairs in search of drama create a demand for covering politics as a horse race or morality tale with winners and sinners.

Detroit Public Television senior development veep Kelley Hamilton is moving to the University Liggett School, an independent day school in Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich., to head up a $10 million endowment campaign, according to Crain’s Detroit Business. While at DPT, she helped the station wrap up a $22 million push last year. Hamilton had been with the station since 1996.

Pubcasters are streaming into Austin for the big PBS Showcase/Development Extravaganza/Annual Meeting/Networking-a-palooza. First up, PTPA meeting. A Twitter Critter from the latest incarnation of Public Media Digest is currently Tweeting, follow along here. Current will be blogging here Monday evening through Thursday afternoon so check back often.

A $12 million capital improvement project is nearly complete at dual-licensee WHYY in Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Inquirer says. The Dorrance H. Hamilton Public Media Commons adds 8,000 square feet to WHYY’s 60,000 square feet of studio and office space. The biggest part is the 4,100-square-foot Lincoln Financial Digital Education Studio, which doubles as a studio and auditorium. Two new media training rooms provide would-be filmmakers with classes in audio, video, digital editing and studio lighting. WHYY President William J. Marrazzo told the paper that a primary goal is to get more station members and community residents — both young and older — into pubcasting via digital production.

Two of NPR’s top technologists recently back from the NAB Show share the microphone to weigh the pros and cons for stations that might boost their digital signals to improve listeners’ reception of HD Radio. Dennis: Digital radio broadcasting is a reality now in most American communities, though adoption is still modest. About 2.5 million receivers have been sold, but assuming multiple receivers for early adopters and counting methodologies, household penetration might be roughly 2 percent — about as many households as in  a market the size of Washington. Public radio has aggressively invested in digital radio transmission. Some stations, such as WAMU in Washington, have also made significant programming investments in new channels.

When Duquesne University declined to accept bids for WDUQ-FM by its staff and supporters, an alliance of Pittsburgh foundations stepped in to put the sale on hold May 4. Adding an unusual time-out to the high-stakes playbook of colleges divesting broadcast properties, the foundations acquired a 60-day option to develop plans recasting the station with a stronger focus on news and information. “The foundations’ goal is to give the community time to put forward the best possible bid” and not to purchase the station, said Grant Oliphant, president of the Pittsburgh Foundation. Local foundation leaders want to explore possibilities for a “much more aggressive news and information focus” for WDUQ, he said.

WWOZ in New Orleans will broadcast live on May 16 from Gulf Aid, a benefit concert to provide financial relief to Gulf Coast fishermen affected by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Performers scheduled to appear on two different stages at Mardi Gras World River City include Allen Toussaint, Kermit Ruffins, Ani DiFranco, Lenny Kravitz, Soul Rebels Brass Band, and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band with Mos Def and Terence Blanchard. The concert, a ticketed event that kicks off at noon CT tomorrow, is the brainchild of Susan Nash, a public relations rep who has promoted Louisiania’s seafood industry; WWOZ recruited musicians to the cause and partnered with business sponsors to present the concert and establish the nonprofit Gulf Relief Foundation to process donations and distribute funds to fishermen and wetland recovery efforts.

MiND, the recent web-and-broadcast reincarnation of Philadelphia’s pubstation WYBE (Current, April 21, 2008) is devoting the month of June to special programming for and about the local LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community, reports the Philadelphia Gay News. Five-minute, viewer-created pieces dominate the indie pubchannel’s format. MiND is soliciting those short video submissions from the gay community for special one-hour shows on June 23 and June 26 on its Channel 35, as well as a presentation June 30 at the Piazza at Schmidt’s, a popular open air plaza in the city. MiND reformatted earlier this year to focus on a different theme each month, such as Earth Day in April and volunteerism in May.

“We don’t celebrate failure and we should,” writes the thought-provoking pubmedia guru Rob Bole in his Public Purpose Media blog. “We always blame a lack of communication of successes, but I am beginning to believe it might be a lack of communication about failures that is the true culprit.”