Quick Takes

Monday roundup: WDET screens doc featuring Radiolab host; Poynter chats with NPR’s Memmott

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• Detroit’s WDET-FM staged the New York premiere Friday of The Pleasure of Sound, a documentary featuring Radiolab’s Jad Abumrad. In the short film, shot in Detroit in 2013, Abumrad and musician Matthew Dear discuss music and creativity. WDET will launch a crowdfunding campaign to cover distribution costs for the film in May and plans to distribute the documentary free to interested community organizations and pubmedia stations for screenings. The Pleasure of Sound previously screened in Detroit as part of a fall 2013 installation at the Museum of Contemporary Art. • NPR appointed Mark Memmott as its new standards and practices editor Thursday. Memmott is the founder of the Two-Way breaking-news blog and co-author of NPR’s 2012 ethics handbook.

Development

Outside consultant says WDET fundraising spots weren’t unethical

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Pitch spots requesting donations for an audio preservation project at Detroit’s WDET did not violate fundraising ethics, according to an accredited fundraising consultant who reviewed the campaign at the station’s request. The spots, which simulated tape decay of recorded music in the station’s library to solicit donations for the preservation project, prompted an internal complaint that WDET had misled listeners about the state of its collection (Current, Sept. 10). WDET General Manager J. Mikel Ellcessor, who approved the spots, apologized to staff and to listeners who donated to the campaign, and pledged to have an independent consultant evaluate the matter. Rick Kress, a credentialed advanced certified fundraising executive retained by WDET, reviewed an audio sample from the spots and other materials generated by the fundraiser — including the letters of apology.

Programs/Content

‘Takeaway’ shifts to middays in bid for broader carriage

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WNYC will move production of The Takeaway to later in the day and trim its length to one hour starting in September in an effort to boost carriage of the off-the-cuff news show that set out to challenge Morning Edition.

The New York station launched The Takeaway with co-producer Public Radio International in 2008 as an alternative to NPR’s morning blockbuster — the newscomer with a more spontaneous approach and increased audience interaction. But after four years, the show airs on the primary broadcast signals of 55 stations, up by just 15 since September 2009. Ten additional stations air it on digital multicast channels.