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.
Quick Takes
Vermont PBS to replace show host after sponsorship controversy
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The host of Connect is a spokesperson for Vermont’s largest electric utility — which is a corporate sponsor of the station.
People
Susan Keese, journalist with Vermont Public Radio, dies at 67
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Keese “went out of her way to find the human element of any story.”
Quick Takes
Thursday roundup: Commercial classical wanes; Jane Seymour to host Detroit PTV show
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Plus: radio from a tugboat, and a Reading Rainbow parody.
System/Policy
Vermont PTV should be sanctioned for closed meetings, CPB IG finds
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CPB’s Inspector General has recommended that the corporation sanction Vermont Public Television in response to 22 open-meeting violations by VPT’s board dating from July 2011. In the May 5 report, IG Mary Mitchelson said that while 17 of the meetings were closed for appropriate reasons, such as personnel matters, the station failed to provide written explanations for why the meetings were not open to the public. The IG’s conclusions were based on interviews of board members who attended the meetings in question as well as an examination of documents detailing what business was transacted, the report said. Following the IG’s recommendation, the decision on whether or how to penalize the station rests with CPB’s management. Michael Levy, e.v.p., said CPB will respond to the IG within 90 days.
People
King departs Vermont Public Television after months of turmoil
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Vermont Public Television and its president, John King, “parted ways” Wednesday, according to a statement from the VPT Board. King’s departure follows months of tumult at the Colchester-based community licensee over his relationship with the board. “VPT is very grateful for John King’s many years of service to VPT and the public television industry,” said Pam Mackenzie, VPT board chair, in the statement. “We wish him nothing but the best in his future endeavors.”
King declined comment to Current. He joined VPT in 1987 as chief financial officer and rose to president in 1998. Charlie Smith, a Vermont business consultant and former state executive, took over Wednesday as interim president and c.e.o. for the next six months.
Quick Takes
Monday roundup: CPB Board gets nominee; public TV funding rebounds
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• President Obama has nominated Dr. Judith Davenport to serve as a CPB Board director, the White House announced Friday. Davenport, a retired dentist, co-founded Pittsburgh, Pa.–based Sheridan Broadcasting Corp. with her husband Ronald in 1973. She also serves on several other boards, including the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh and the Andy Warhol Museum. The nomination goes to the Senate for confirmation.
System/Policy
Vermont PTV Board approves tighter open-meeting rules
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The Vermont Public Television Board adopted new open-meeting requirements Wednesday following two investigations into allegations of more than 20 improperly closed meetings. The investigations by the board’s audit committee and CPB temporarily halted the station’s eligibility to use about $667,000 of its fiscal 2014 Community Service Grant from CPB. The audit committee determined that each of the meetings in question “involved sensitive personnel matters and therefore was properly closed in accordance with CPB’s open meeting requirements.” The board oversees one employee, VPT President John King. The board erred when it did not provide explanations on VPT’s website following each meeting of why the sessions were closed, the committee found. An anonymous Dec.
System/Policy
Vermont PTV Board admits to not issuing required follow-ups to closed sessions
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The only misstep the Vermont Public Television Board made regarding more than 20 closed meetings was not providing follow-ups as to why those conversations were not open, the board said at its meeting today.
System/Policy
Complaint alleges multiple open-meeting violations by Vermont PTV Board
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An anonymous complaint to the CPB Inspector General’s office has exposed a deep and ongoing rift between Vermont Public Television and its board.
People
Howard Klein, VPR volunteer
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Howard “Howie” Klein, a volunteer for 29 years at Vermont Public Radio, died March 6 from natural causes. He was 85.
Development
Insistent sponsors put newsrooms on alert
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Underwriters of public radio programs increasingly want to link their names more closely to particular stories and reporting projects, according to station executives, a trend that is requiring journalists to be more vigilant in fighting perceptions of potential conflicts of interest.
People
Live From Lincoln Center creator departs, McGee replaces Fornatale at WFUV, and more…
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John Goberman has produced more than 200 live national telecasts since launching the PBS performance series more than three decades ago. Goberman was cited by Symphony Magazine as one of the 50 most important individuals making a difference in American music. He pioneered the video and audio technology by which concerts, opera, ballets and plays could be telecast during live performances without disruption of performers and audiences. His television work has garnered 13 national Emmy Awards, three Peabodys and the first Television Critics Circle Award for Achievement in Music. Goberman plans to focus on producing another type of performance that he helped to pioneer — “Symphonic Cinema,” in which orchestral scores are performed live to the films for which they were originally commissioned.