Quick Takes

David Sedaris is guest-hosting Selected Shorts all month

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Public radio favorite David Sedaris, a frequent contributor to This American Life and other programs, is hosting weekly episodes of Selected Shorts this month. The first show of the series, released for broadcast April 28, paid tribute to the late David Rakoff, a writer and This American Life contributor who died of cancer last year. Another episode includes readings of three Dorothy Parker stories, including one by actress Parker Posey. Sedaris himself read a story by Frank Gannon on the May 12 program. Selected Shorts is produced by WNYC and New York’s Symphony Space, and is distributed by Public Radio International.

People

Roth retires after 45 years, Leonard takes helm at NET, and more . . .

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KUOW President Wayne Roth, a former NPR Board chair and past recipient of CPB’s Murrow Award honoring outstanding contributions to public radio, will retire in September. During his 45-year career in public broadcasting, Roth provided strategic leadership to public radio on both the local and national levels.

Programs/Content

Lacy coaxes creative talents to share stories of their lives

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The whole idea behind American Masters, the biographical series produced at New York’s WNET, was to build a library of America’s cultural history. To meet that goal, Executive Producer Susan Lacy had to mount high-quality productions in sufficient quantity to make an impression on TV viewers and potential subjects.

People

Pubcasters win total of 173 regional Murrow Awards

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NPR stations won 82 large-market regional Murrow Awards, while small-market pubcasters captured 91. Among all stations, WLRN in Miami topped public radio’s regional winners by taking 11 awards in 13 Murrow categories: overall excellence, breaking news, continuing coverage, feature reporting, investigative reporting, news documentary, new series, hard-news reporting, use of sound, writing and website. “We feel thrilled and humbled by the honor,” said Dan Grech, news director. “I couldn’t be prouder of the team.”

Four additional large-market pubcasters each won six Murrows: KQED in San Francisco, WBEZ in Chicago, KUT in Austin and WBUR in Boston. And four large-market stations each won four Murrows: KUOW in Seattle; St.

Quick Takes

Was resignation of billionaire Koch from WNET Board related to controversial doc?

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On May 16, David Koch, billionaire and powerful backer of conservative causes, resigned from the board of WNET in New York City. The resignation “was the result, an insider said, of his unwillingness to back a media organization that had so unsparingly covered its sponsor,” writes Jane Mayer in the New Yorker. The problem, according to the story, stemmed from a documentary examining Koch’s wealth and influence, “Park Avenue: Money, Power and the American Dream” by filmmaker Alex Gibney. The doc was set to run last year, just as WNET was about to begin a big capital campaign. Koch “had been planning to make a very large gift,” the story said.

Programs/Content

NYPR looking to boost coverage for classical station

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New York Public Radio has applied to the FCC to acquire 90.3 FM in Ossining, N.Y., from community licensee Hudson Valley Community Radio for $400,000. The broadcaster plans to use the new signal as a repeater for WQXR, its classical music station airing on 105.9 FM in New York City. Ossining is about 40 miles north of the city, on the eastern bank of the Hudson River. The addition of 90.3 FM would expand WQXR’s reach to areas of Westchester County that were within its coverage area when it was owned by the New York Times. NYPR’s 2009 purchase of WQXR was a three-way transaction with Spanish-language broadcaster Univision that involved moving the classical station to a weaker signal.

Quick Takes

California’s KCLU expands reach with new signals

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KCLU-FM in Thousand Oaks, Calif., will extend its range to the northwest next month when it begins broadcasting on a new full-power signal in Santa Maria and translator in San Luis Obispo. California Lutheran University, KCLU’s licensee, acquired KHFR and the translator May 6 from Family Stations Inc. The religious broadcasting chain is led by Harold Camping, whose frequent and faulty predictions of apocalypse have received widespread attention. The school paid $475,000 in the deal. The new signals sign on June 18 and will carry local news, traffic and weather.

Quick Takes

NPR, AIR unveil resource site for freelancers

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NPR and the Association of Independents in Radio have launched the Freelance and Station Contributor Resource Site, an online repository of information for reporters interested in filing stories with the network. “This first of its kind site includes Ethics Guidelines, examples of good freelance/station producer stories, ‘how stories go from idea to air,’ key editorial contacts, FTP filing guidelines, the most current AQH audience data for producers airing features on NPR programs, and more,” wrote AIR Executive Director Sue Schardt in an email announcing the site. Freelancers who want to sign up should go to nprstations.org and fill out the registration form, selecting “AIR” under “Station Where You Work.” Non-AIR members are also permitted to join by using the organization’s name. Schardt noted that many of AIR’s newest members are under 34 years old and have never worked with NPR. The site is dedicated to Bill Siemering, NPR’s first program director and a longtime AIR member.