Quick Takes

Ari Shapiro, Steve Bass lend musical talents to latest Pink Martini disc

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The new Pink Martini disc is out Tuesday, with guest performances by two pubcasters: NPR’s Ari Shapiro (or, as Pink Martini calls him, “the handsome and brilliant radio superstar”) and Oregon Public Broadcasting President Steve Bass. The latest from the Portland-based self-described “little orchestra,” whose sounds range from Latin and jazz to pop and lounge music, is “Get Happy.” Listen for Shapiro singing on “Yo te quiero siempre,” and Bass playing a short clarinet interlude on “She Was Too Good To Me.” Phyllis Diller’s final recording is also on the disc; the legendary comedian died six months after recording “Smile.” The eclectic cuts include songs in German, French, Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, Farsi, Turkish and Romanian.

People

Betty Cope, WVIZ founding g.m., dies at 87

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Betty Cope, the founding general manager of Cleveland’s pubTV station and one of the first women to ascend into television broadcast management, died Sept. 14 at her home in Bainbridge, Ohio. She was 87.

Programs/Content

Detroit PTV looks to bring cultural groups together through its new arts series

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Detroit Public Television is using its new arts series, Detroit Performs, to showcase the Motor City’s talents on a wider scale. Local reaction to the show, now 10 weeks into broadcast, “has been tremendous,” DTV President Rich Homberg said in a note to his Major Market Group (MMG) pubTV coalition colleagues. “Every day we are hearing from new producers, emerging organizations and raving fans.”

The series grew out of the MMG Arts content initiative, curated by WNET in New York City, and DTV’s five-year-old “category strategy,” which set a course for engagement and partnership around specific topics. Similar efforts include DTV’s Great Lakes Now, which evolved from a reporting focus into a conservation conference attracting more than 300,000 participants. “We wanted to find a way for Detroit Performs to create a voice beyond our city,” Homberg said.

Programs/Content

Pacifica’s financial woes drive Free Speech Radio News to shutter production

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The financial stranglehold on Pacifica is taking down Free Speech Radio News, a progressive news show that relied on the five-station network for the bulk of its operating costs. The show, airing weekdays on 100 stations, will close production Sept. 27 and lay off its staff, a core of part-timers and an international network of nearly 100 stringers. Owed nearly $200,000 in back payments by the California-based Pacifica Foundation, FSRN’s board of directors decided Sept. 13 to shutter the program, holding out hope that FSRN could be revived under a different production model.

Quick Takes

Manager at community radio KBOO-FM in Portland, Ore., resigns

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Lynn Fitch, station manager of KBOO-FM in Portland, Ore., has resigned after losing support from the community radio station’s board of directors, reports the Portland Tribune. On Sept.15, members of the KBOO Foundation elected four new board members, all recommended by the group Committee to Keep KBOO as KBOO, which opposed Fitch’s policies. The previous board had promoted Fitch from development director to station manager last year,  when the station faced increasing financial pressures. “The board had given Fitch a mandate to change personnel and other policies,” the newspaper noted, “but those provoked a backlash at the alternative station, long a voice for music, news and public affairs programming not found elsewhere on the Portland radio dial.” The station currently has about 4,850 paid members, down about 6 percent from last year, and no longer receives CPB funding.

People

Susan Farmer, Rhode Island politician and pubTV exec, dies at 71

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Susan Farmer, longtime president of Rhode Island’s only pubTV network, died Sept. 16 after a 12-year battle with cancer. She was 71. Farmer broke down barriers in Rhode Island by becoming the state’s first female secretary of state in 1982. After losing a bid for lieutenant governor in 1986, she was offered the position of president of Providence’s WSBE (now branded as Rhode Island PBS) the following year.