David S. Bennahum’s Center for Independent Media is one of the success stories in nonprofit news, reports Allan D. Mutter in his blog, Reflections of a Newsosaur. Since starting the center, which includes an online news network, in 2006, Bennahum has raised more than $11 million from hundreds of individual donors and some four dozen foundations. His advice: Don’t become overly dependent on a single funding source. Don’t concentrate on raising money from journalism-oriented institutions; rather, target funding to support issue-oriented reporting. He’s also focusing on advertising sales, revenue from live events and subscription products aimed at niche readers, perhaps politicians, lobbyists or state contractors.

The new Bernard L. Schwartz Center for Media, Public Policy and Education at Fordham University will research and promote the potential role of public broadcasting in news reporting, the Graduate School of Education announced today. Its work will study the nation’s newsgathering traditions and investigate “solutions for their survival,” a statement said. At the helm is Bill Baker, who was WNET’s president for 20 years. The center is funded by the Bernard and Irene Schwartz Foundation, which supports mainly New York-based educational, medical and cultural institutions.

With all the pubcasting 40th anniversaries this year, we couldn’t let this one pass unnoticed. Yes, for the 40th year, Wisconsin Public Television will offer “Once Upon a Christmas Cheery in the Lab of Shakhashiri,” hosted by University of Wisconsin-Madison chemistry professor Bassam Shakhashiri. Tickets to the taping this weekend were gone within a few days; broadcasts on WPT will be Dec. 21, 24 and 28. The special runs on stations nationwide, so don’t forget those magic words: Check your local listings.

The Sounds of American Culture, an annual radio series featuring recordings from the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry, brings the story of John Lee Hooker’s first hit song to this week’s edition of Studio 360. “Boogie Chillen” is the first of five new pieces to air; next week Carmen Miranda’s “O Que é que a Bahiana tem” gets the spotlight (more details here). Sounds of American Culture, produced by Ben Manilla and Media Mechanics with support from the Library of Congress, brings attention to the limited number of recordings that are added to the registry each year.

Tavis Smiley will do several primetime specials in addition to his regular weekly PBS show starting in January, his production company announced yesterday (PDF). The programs will be titled Tavis Smiley Reports. The first of the four hourlong programs, on Jan. 27, 2010, will go behind the scenes with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The March 31 episode will dissect one of the Rev. Martin Luther King’s pivotal speeches, delivered one year before his assassination. In the third, Smiley joins director Jonathan Demme on a visit to New Orleans and reports on its ongoing challenges after Hurricane Katrina. The fourth will be announced next year.

The House has passed the Satellite Home Viewer Update and Reauthorization Act by a vote of 394 to 11, with 29 members not voting. Association of Public Television Stations President Larry Sidman noted, “This legislation reflects a reasoned approach to the satellite carriage needs of public television stations across the country.” The bill allows satellite operators to carry out-of-market network TV station signals for viewers who don’t receive an adequate signal from their nearby station. The Senate version of the bill, the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act, passed the Commerce Committee on Nov. 19.

Virtuoso Voices, the production shop creating interview clips for classical music stations, has updated and republished its extended tip sheet on interviewing performers. “Interviewing 3.0” features advice from some of public radio’s best-known hosts (Bob Edwards, Robert Siegel, Susan Stamberg), as well as its most experienced music producers (David Brown, John Diliberto, Marco Werman and Brian Newhouse, among others). Terry Gross isn’t among those sharing trade secrets; but, reading through the guide, it becomes apparent that the craft of interviewing isn’t a secret, it’s a disciplined skill that has much to do with being prepared, listening carefully and not being afraid to ask the hard, obvious or even dumb questions.

For a week in February (Feb. 19-26), the FCC will offer 67 local FM frequencies assigned to specific cities and towns. The commission postponed the filing window from December on the request of public media groups seeking more time to prepare. (Original announcement.) Though the frequencies will be reserved for noncommercial use, they remain unused in the commercial FM band — that is, above 92.1 MHz. The places on the list were chosen because at least 10 percent of their population now have access to no more than one noncomm radio service. The FCC will use a point system giving preference to local applicants with local boards and to those who don’t hold other licenses.

What should public radio do about the aging of its audience, as documented in the latest Walrus Research report? Given that the trend parallels a much more profound shift of aging among the U.S. population as a whole, media analyst Mark Ramsey writes, any attempts to create “younger-oriented versions” of NPR’s tentpole news magazines would be the “wrong way to go.” “That’s like asking Lady Gaga to cover a Peggy Lee tune and expecting it to be a hit, assuming Lady GaGa would even be interested in covering it (which she would not),” Ramsey writes on his blog Hear 2.0.

Scholastic Media, the international children’s publishing, education and media company, is introducing iPhone and iPod apps for several kid’s shows including PBS’s Clifford the Big Red Dog and WordGirl. Clifford’s is titled BE BIG with Words; kids are rewarded with pictures of words they spell. For WordGirl fans there’s Word Hunt (above), in which players save a city from villains by using vocabulary words. They’re available from the Apps Store.

Getty Images, one of the world’s largest creators and distributors of still images, footage and multimedia, is now offering WGBH Educational Foundation’s extensive library of high-def footage, it announced yesterday. Included are series such as Nova, Frontline and American Experience, as well as limited runs. The agreement gives producers, filmmakers, corporate and entertainment clients access to the offerings. Check out WGBH’s footage here.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration has set Feb. 4 as the application deadline for most grant applications for the fiscal year 2010 round. (Federal Register notice.) An exception: Feb. 26 is the deadline for new noncommercial FM station projects filed in the FCC’s weeklong application window that closes the same day (see item above). The agency’s PTFP staff will hold webinars for applicants in coming weeks. NTIA staffer Walter Sheppard is seeking station executives to review applications—who aren’t applying for grants this year. wsheppard@ntia.doc.gov.

As the Federal Trade Commission convened its two-day workshop on how journalism can survive and thrive during the shift to web-based media distribution, Future of Public Media project Director Jessica Clark called for policymakers to look beyond proposals to provide the taxpayer support needed for public broadcasting to expand its role in journalism. “[S]erious policy proposals need to go further,” Clark writes for PBS’s MediaShift blog. “Simply producing additional news doesn’t address the demand side of the issue.” Clark calls for policy changes promoting public engagement with media. “This means more than just handing out yet another serving of information to a surfeited audience; it’s about engaging users at every phase–planning, funding, production, distribution, conversation, curation, and mobilization–to make sure that all stakeholders’ voices are included.”

Pacifica Radio’s new executive director, effective tomorrow, is Arlene Engelhardt, a programmer and former board president at affiliate station WMNF in Tampa. She was appointed by the Pacifica Foundation’s national board last week, succeeding Grace Aaron, the board chair who has served as interim director since January. The top staff position has been open since the resignation of Nicole Sawaya in September 2008. Engelhardt is co-host of Women’s Show, “an eclectic feminist/womanist radio magazine” on the Tampa community radio station. She has been a peace activist, an executive with United Cerebral Palsy and a v.p. of product development for a multimedia publishing company, according to Pacifica.

ITVS and PBS are offering more than 20 indie films via iTunes, according to ITVS. The initiative is part of the Independent Digital Distribution Lab, which kicked off in April to expand broadband distribution and explore revenue-generating partnerships for independent filmmakers and pubTV. Featured are films from Independent Lens, Global Voices and other series and broadcasts.