Programs/Content
KPBS will boost coverage of elections and democracy with $3 million gift
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The new initiative will feature special coverage of democratic processes for San Diegans and Californians for the next three years.
Programs/Content
KPBS podcast seeks new audiences while highlighting San Diego culture
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Launched this month, “The Parker Edison Project” gives “complete creative freedom” to a local rapper and journalist.
System/Policy
KPBS lays off 3 staffers, moves 15 to part-time
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Like others in public media, the station is facing losses in underwriting and membership support.
Programs/Content
How KPBS met the challenge of taking on a long-form podcast
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The station’s 12th podcast, a look at the art scene in Tijuana and San Diego, pushed it to explore new strategies for keeping listeners engaged.
System/Policy
KPBS joins stations scaling back reading services as digital alternatives expand
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The station has ended locally produced readings from California newspapers, which relied on a part-time employee and more than 100 volunteers.
Quick Takes
PBS, KPBS partner with military-themed film festival for nationwide rollout
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The San Diego station will hold the flagship festival, featuring awards and premieres.
System/Policy
CPB inspector’s office asks for clarity in station accounting guidelines
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Some institutional licensees are hitting snags in accurately calculating the value of indirect support.
People
Tom Karlo: We need public media now more than ever
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Karlo began his career at KPBS in San Diego 44 years ago.
Development
Pubmedia executives, stations recognized at PMDMC
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Public media leaders were honored for excellence in fundraising and development.
System/Policy
Seven ways public media can attract a more diverse workforce
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Panelists at the Public Radio News Directors Inc. conference shared tips on recruiting and retaining people of color.
Tech
As NPR One draws younger audience, network aims to expand local presence
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Two-thirds of NPR member stations are now contributing.
Stations
Upcoming departure of COO prompts reorganization at KPBS
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Four associate general managers with expanded responsibilities will report to the GM.
System/Policy
While NPR employees negotiate, staffers at two stations approve first union contracts
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NPR staffers are taking to Twitter to call attention to union negotiations.
Podcasting
San Diego’s KPBS seeks pitches for new podcasts
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The station is taking a well-tested approach to developing new podcasts: asking its audience for ideas.
Quick Takes
KPBS’s Deanna Mackey to lead public TV’s Major Market Group
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Mackey takes the helm at the MMG in August.
People
Paul Steen, leader of KPBS in San Diego for 26 years, dies at 82
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Steen is credited with the decision in 1990 to add news to KPBS-FM’s format.
Journalism
Kansas City’s KCPT picks up gauntlet to expand local news coverage
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Three years ago, a delegation from Kansas City Public Television, including the board chair, trekked out to San Diego’s KPBS to evaluate how that station’s extensive radio, television and online news operation might be adapted in Kansas City. A few months later, an influential visitor to Kansas City, PBS NewsHour anchor Jim Lehrer, urged KCPT leaders to act on their nascent ambitions to develop a locally focused news service for the community. Over dinner at the restaurant Lidia’s, Lehrer “kind of threw the gauntlet down,” recalled Kliff Kuehl, KCPT president, challenging executives to step up the station’s commitment to news coverage. But the proposal to transform KCPT into a true local news hub remained mostly an aspiration until a surprise major grant from the Hale Family Foundation arrived in July 2013. Only then was the station able to turn its ambitions into something substantive and seemingly sustainable.
System/Policy
As newsrooms expand, employees at several stations push to unionize
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Public media employees have increasingly sought to organize unions during the past two years, spurred by expanding newsrooms, shifting management priorities and a desire for more influence in strategic planning.
Quick Takes
Wednesday roundup: Texas Tribune launches op-ed site, WRAS students protest GPB incursion
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Plus: Celeste Headlee tells Current about plans for Middle Ground now that she has a new job.
System/Policy
In review of pubTV stations, CPB’s Krichels sees ‘energy in the system’
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Ted Krichels, CPB’s senior v.p. for system development and media strategy, recently talked to Current about the 50-page “Public Media Models of the Future” report he co-authored this fall with PBS Director of Strategy Stephen Holmes. Edited, rearranged and condensed excerpts from that conversation follow. Current: How did you start the process? Did you survey the entire system, or was it more word of mouth? Ted Krichels: Stephen and I initially were collecting stations, ones you would have heard about.