Programs/Content

Cocktails to honor Big Bird and friends? That’s the spirit

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When public radio managers gathered for November’s Super-Regional Meeting in New Orleans, home to Bourbon Street and the drive-through daiquiri bar, NPR Chair and ideastream COO Kit Jensen mentioned in passing during a panel discussion that her station has its own official cocktail. The “ideaScreamer” is a mix of Grey Goose orange vodka, cranberry juice and a twist of lime, garnished with a lightstick stirrer, according to Peg Neeson, ideastream community relations director. “It’s really quite pretty in a martini glass,” she said. No one at ideastream can recall when the ideaScreamer was created, possibly due to overindulgence in the drink. But bartenders at The Passenger in Washington, D.C., still remember exactly when and how they decided to make a Big Bird, even though the drink was created as a special offering several months ago.

Quick Takes

Sesame Street will re-air hurricane special

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Sesame Street will broadcast an edited version of its five-part special on hurricanes on Friday, Nov. 9.  Editors cut the original to eliminate segments on storm preparation, focusing the new version on dealing with the aftermath of a storm, according to Entertainment Weekly. In the original program, first broadcast in 2001, a storm ravaged the iconic neighborhood of Sesame Street, leaving Big Bird’s nest in ruins. This is the third airing for the hurricane special. Sesame Street re-ran the entire series in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina assaulted the Gulf Coast.  Last week, during an Oct.

System/Policy

Presidential sparring puts pubcasting in political bull’s-eye

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GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s pledge to defund PBS, which he reiterated during the Oct. 3 televised presidential debate, set off a flurry of advocacy activity by pubcasters working at both the national and local levels. PBS had already spent several months developing its ValuePBS.org site, trumpeting the importance of public TV, and sped up its launch to the day after the debate. Stations sprung into action to alert their viewers and listeners, sending waves of them to the grassroots-advocacy 170 Million Americans website — which has since garnered 50,000 new fans. “Thousands of people are coming to our aid,” particularly on Twitter and Facebook, said Pat Butler, president of the Association of Public Television Stations advocacy organization.