Quick Takes
Monday roundup: APT kicks off; WTVI boosts revenue
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Plus: Jian Ghomeshi and the CBC’s bigger problems; and Melody Kramer’s proposal for convening communities.
Quick Takes
Tuesday roundup: Rosen fires back on ombud debate; new podcast app hits Apple store
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Plus: Beat Making Lab returns to PBS Digital Studios, and John Oliver joins Muppet-like creatures to sing about prisons.
Programs/Content
Ombud’s critique of NPR series prompts rebuke from top brass
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“My finding is that the series was deeply flawed and should not have been aired as it was,” the ombudsman wrote. Top NPR execs stood by the investigative reports.
Programs/Content
Ombud answers watchdog’s concerns about public radio’s America Abroad
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The ombudsman for America Abroad, a monthly public radio show covering foreign policy and international affairs, has responded to criticism from the media watchdog group Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting regarding a recent show about developments in energy technology. In a May 31 blog post, FAIR said that the April episode of America Abroad “sounded like an infomercial” for fracking, the hydraulic fracturing process used in natural gas production. FAIR pointed out that the show was funded by the Qatar Foundation International, a philanthropy funded by the royal family of Qatar. Qatar is a leading exporter of natural gas — in 2011, it was the world’s top exporter, according to the International Gas Union. FAIR also took issue with the appearance on the show of Henry Jacoby, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor involved with a study about the future of natural gas. The MIT Energy Initiative, which produced the report, includes oil and gas companies as members, and the study’s advisory committee included representatives from natural-gas industry groups.