NPR is dropping distribution of World of Opera as of Nov. 11. The new distributor will be WDAV Classical Public Radio in Charlotte, N.C., and licensed to Davidson College. Lisa Simeone will continue as the show’s host, the licensee said. Simeone, a freelance radio broadcaster, was fired Oct.
Public radio is once again struggling to define the line between on-air talent who report as ethically bound journalists and those personalities who are permitted to express opinions. Freelance radio broadcaster Lisa Simeone, a veteran host of public radio documentary and music programs, was fired late Oct. 19 from Soundprint, the independently produced long-form doc series, for violating NPR’s ethics code. Her role as spokesperson for “October 2011,” an anti-war group aligned with the Occupy Wall Street movement that has staged protests in Washington, D.C., put her longtime affiliation with public radio in jeopardy. The Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call first questioned whether Simeone’s activism violated journalistic ethics in an Oct.