Pubcasting in the News

This blog has moved

2010-04-29T22:56:00.001-04:00

This blog is now located at http://currentpublicmedia.blogspot.com/.
You will be automatically redirected in 30 seconds, or you may click here.

For feed subscribers, please update your feed subscriptions to
http://currentpublicmedia.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default.

Texas Tech Public Media continues growth

2010-04-29T18:56:00.002-04:00

After four years of negotiations, Texas Tech Public Media's purchase of KUTX in San Angelo is complete -- the latest move in its "explosive growth" during the last several years, according to Lubbock Online. The station is now KNCH 90.1 and began transmitting April 4 from Lubbock. Home base for Texas Tech Public Media is KOHM-FM, South Plains Public Radio.

New station heads in Florida and Illinois

2010-04-29T18:35:00.005-04:00

WEDU in Tampa Bay, Fla., has a new president and CEO: Susan Howarth, former head of WCET in Cincinnati, reports the Tampa Bay Business Journal. Howarth joins the station next month. That means Dick Lobo finally gets to retire. He wanted to leave in September 2009 but agreed to remain until a successor was appointed.

Jack Neal is the new g.m. at WEIU FM & TV in Charleston, Ill., reports the Eastern Illinois University newspaper, the Daily Eastern News. Neal joins the station from his post as station manager at PBS affiliate KUHT at the University of Houston.

Letters from WWII flying vets still strafing PBS Ombudsman's desk

2010-04-29T16:08:00.005-04:00

If it's Thursday, it's Mailbag time, courtesy of PBS Ombudsman Michael Getler. This week, letters continue to arrive from World War II veterans reacting to the American Experience doc, "The Bombing of Germany." Viewers also weigh in on several Frontline programs.

Fueled by donuts, KRWGers meet their constituents in New Mexico

2010-04-29T08:02:00.005-04:00

KRWG staffers were out early yesterday morning to chat with viewers and listeners, reports the Deming (N.M.) Headlight. "With coffee in one hand and a donut in the other," as the paper said, folks from the New Mexico State University PBS affiliate met with customers at the 5 a.m. Donuts shop in Deming to get their input on programming and other station matters. "When we added Wait, Wait... Don't Tell Me, it will be a year ago in July, it was because of these conversations," said Glen Cerny, executive director of university broadcasting at the station, in Las Cruces, N.M.

Pubmedia Working Group to assist Public Media Corps, WGBH's World channel

2010-04-28T17:42:00.003-04:00

The Public Media Working Group (PMWG) and American University's Center for Social Media will focus on two "signature collaborative opportunities" for this year, according to the Center. PMWG sprung from the Center's 2009 paper, "Public Media 2.0: Dynamic, Engaged Publics," and is comprised of advocates with "a commitment to increasing users� access to and engagement with public media." PMWG provides an opportunity for much-needed collaboration, the Center noted. "Innovators within the system are currently isolated, lacking spaces for sharing best practices and identifying joint strategies." This year, the partners will first work on the National Black Programming Coalition's Public Media Corps. "Entering into its beta period in June, the project will provide concrete ways for the PMWG to experiment with and document strategies for collaboration, evaluation and resource-sharing," the Center said. Next, work will turn to development of the online presence for WGBH�s World (background, Current, Sept. 8, 2009).

New report seeks to develop nonprof news best practices

2010-04-28T09:48:00.002-04:00

"Ethics for the New Investigative Newsroom" (PDF), a report with recommendations from a round-table meeting of leaders in nonprofit journalism, stresses that the news entities be transparent about funding, vet donors carefully, and establish walls between reporters and funders. The paper is one of the first attempts to establish best practices for the growing field of nonprofit journalism. It was published by the Center for Journalism Ethics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Journalism and Mass Communication, based on a roundtable there in January. More from the Columbia Journalism Review.

Map details cable access channel providers across America

2010-04-27T17:19:00.005-04:00

The Alliance for Community Media, representing more than 3,000 PEG (public, educational and governmental) access organizations, helped compile a map showing providers of local cable access TV channels nationwide (click to enlarge). Included are nonprofit organizations, educational institutions, government agencies and multi-jurisdictional authorities; still to come are libraries and cable providers. For more information, visit the Sustaining Democracy in a Digital Age blog from the New America Foundation, a D.C. think tank.

Ted Garcia leaving TV post at CPB

2010-04-27T15:49:00.003-04:00

Ted Garcia, CPB's senior vice president, television content, is departing effective Saturday, according to a note to public broadcasting stations and an internal CPB memo. Garcia had been in the post since February 2008. His duties included overseeing and managing CPB's national public television programming initiatives. Previous to that work, he had been g.m. of KNME-TV in Albuquerque, N.M. Garcia will remain as a consultant through Sept. 30. Korn/Ferry is searching for his successor. Meanwhile, Vice President John Prizer -- vice president, television program development and senior adviser to the president, television programming special projects -- will fill in.

KWBU in Waco shutting down by June 1

2010-04-27T12:28:00.003-04:00

Citing an impending $400,000 budget shortfall, PBS affiliate KWBU in Waco, Texas, is ending its broadcast at the end of May, according to a statement from Joe Riley, station president. The move will not affect its NPR broadcast. Riley told Current that it hasn't yet talked to nearby PBS affiliates to as to the future of its channel. "The first thing we had to do, was let our staff know," he said. Ten full-time and four part-time employees are affected, about two-thirds of the staff. KWBU is a community licensee but associated with Baylor University and housed on campus, Riley said. For about 10 years the university has provided "just under half, but certainly the biggest chunk of support" for the station's budget. Community support never materialized, and the station began living on a university line of credit. That backing finally ran out this year, "a little sooner than anybody had anticipated," Riley said. With a June 1 end of fiscal and no funds to make up its deficit, the station was forced to face what Riley termed "the worst case scenario," and shut down. Radio is safe, for now. "Baylor has assured us they will continue funding us at the same level as last year for this year, and freeze any payments and interest on the line of credit," to keep the FM signal going. The station started out in 1978 via a translator for KNCT in Killeen. In 1989 it became KCTF, its own station in Waco. In 2000 it changed its call letters to KWBU and KWBU-FM and began broadcasting NPR programming. Riley said he will be speaking to PBS, CPB and the FCC as the station moves through the shut-down process.

Talk trash at tomorrow's Peer Webinar

2010-04-27T11:22:00.003-04:00

The National Center for Media Engagement, along with ITVS and CPB, are offering a Peer Webinar tomorrow on resources and tools for multiplatform outreach and engagement. It'll feature an exploration of how ITVS uses its content in unique ways, such as a Garbage Dreams online game ("Start with one neighborhood, one factory and one hungry goat ... "). There'll also be a preview of the new ITVS website for broadcasters, producers and teachers. It all kicks off at 2 p.m. Eastern, register here.

CPB selects Tovares to head up Diversity and Innovation efforts

2010-04-26T17:06:00.005-04:00

Joseph Tovares is the new senior vice president for Diversity and Innovation at CPB. Pat Harrison, CPB president, said in a statement that Tovares "will work to extend public media�s reach and service through innovation.� The statement said Tovares "was responsible for overseeing the implementation of the NPS/Diversity and Innovation fund agreement for CPB," which was yet to be publicly announced (Current, April 19). He has also served as senior director of operations for Television Programming. Before his CPB tenure he was executive producer for La Plaza, the Latino production unit at WGBH; and series editor and director of New Media at American Experience. His station experience includes KLRN in San Antonio; KLRU in Austin, Texas; and KET in Lexington, Ky. Tovares had been working in the position since Joaquin Alvarado's departure late last year for American Public Media (Current, Dec. 9, 2009).

FCC task force starting work on National Broadband Plan initiatives

2010-04-26T15:17:00.003-04:00

The FCC is assembling a spectrum task force to coordinate long-term planning and implementation of recommendations in the National Broadband Plan, reports Broadcasting & Cable. One main goal is promoting the possible auction of spectrum to create more space for wireless broadband (Current, Feb. 8). Heading up the task force will be Julius Knapp, chief of the Office of Engineering Technology; and Ruth Milkman, chief of the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau. Members will include heads of the Enforcement, International, Media, and Public Safety and Homeland Security bureaus, and the Office of Strategic Planning and Policy Analysis.

Pubradio's newest classical stations setting records for listenership, fundraising

2010-04-26T09:55:00.005-04:00

Since its conversion into a listener-supported public radio station last fall, New York's classical WQXR has gained more than 127,000 listeners--enough to make it the top-rated public radio station in the country, the New York Times reports. This despite its move to a less powerful frequency last fall under new owner WNYC. The WQXR audience is also responding generously to on-air fundraising appeals. The February pledge drive blew past its $750,000 goal to raise $1.3 million from some 10,000 WQXR listeners, 57 percent of whom had never donated to WNYC before. Likewise, Boston's classical WCRB--now under the ownership of WGBH--recently set a new record for the most money raised from radio listeners in a single day.

Upcoming FCC workshop to focus on noncom media

2010-04-24T08:49:00.003-04:00

Public and noncom media is the focus of the next FCC "Future of Media" workshop Friday in Washington, D.C. Subjects include: Potential for greater collaboration among public broadcasters, PEG channels, noncommercial web-based outlets, and other new media entities; infrastructure needs and assets of public and other noncommercial media; and possibilities for new kinds of noncommercial media networks and associated funding models. The speaker and panelist list is a who's who of pubcasting, including CPB Board Chairman Ernest Wilson, CPB President Pat Harrison, NPR President Vivian Schiller, Frontline Executive Producer David Fanning, PBS President Paula Kerger, APM's Digital Innovation Senior veep Joaquin Alvarado, PRX Executive Director Jake Shapiro, NPR's Digital Media Senior veep Kinsey Wilson, and APM President Bill Kling. There'll be a streaming video feed of the event from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

KUT is favored choice to revive campus music venue

2010-04-23T10:52:00.007-04:00

The University of Texas is looking for a new entity to manage the Cactus Cafe, a campus music venue and bar, and KUT-FM is the hands-down favorite among student leaders, the Austin American-Statesman reports. The public radio station has offered to work with student organizations to program music events, but it doesn't want to manage the bar. "I don't want a line item in KUT's budget for alcohol," says Stewart Vanderwilt, g.m., during a public forum on options for the cafe. Early this year the university announced plans to shut down the money-losing venue, but, after an outcry from students and Austinites, it's now looking for ways to make it self-supporting. Vanderwilt suggested a combination of ticket sales and philanthropic support. "There are KUT donors who might give an extra $100 a year to be part of the 'Cactus Producers Club' or something," he says.

Youth bring home RFK Journalism Awards for radio

2010-04-23T10:30:00.009-04:00

Two of public radio's youth media training units received 2010 Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Awards for radio reporting. Youth Radio won in the international category with Rachel Krantz's investigation of hidden abuses of homosexuals in the military. Her story aired on NPR's All Things Considered. WNYC's Radio Rookies earned top recognition for domestic reporting with "This is the South Bronx," first-person narratives of teens living in poverty, by Miguelina Diaz, Keith Tingman and Amon Frazier.

Virginia legislators vote to restore pubcasting funds

2010-04-22T10:13:00.006-04:00

The Virginia General Assembly rejected a proposal to end subsidies for the state's public television and radio stations. Republican Governor Bob McDonnell proposed the two-year phase-out as part of a package of budget amendments that lawmakers took up yesterday. House legislators debated vigorously before voting 52-43 to maintain funding for the next two years, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch. "Broadcasters say that previous budget cuts have forced them to use nearly all state aid for programs in public schools," the Washington Post reports.

In shift to local newsgathering, Michigan Radio drops Environment Report

2010-04-21T13:54:00.008-04:00

Michigan Radio will end national production of The Environment Report, a news service producing daily interstitial news spots, in June. Three staff working on the show will be reassigned to local reporting: Lester Graham, host and senior editor, will create a new investigative/enterprise reporting unit; Mark Brush, senior producer, becomes the network's online news content specialist; and reporter/producer Rebecca Williams will host a local/regional version of the show, covering environmental issues affecting Michigan and the Great Lakes. The Environment Report went national in 2008 but didn't secure carriage in enough major markets to secure underwriting, according to Graham. Michigan Radio, which has been subsidizing the production, is restructuring its news room to focus on local news gathering, online reporting and investigative coverage. The Environment Report was created by the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, a news service covering environmental issues for stations in the Upper Midwest. Since GLRC launched in the early 1990s, stations in the Northwest, Northeast and the Ohio River Valley have created similar news collaboratives.

NJN starts planning departure from state oversight

2010-04-21T13:11:00.004-04:00

The New Jersey Network is beginning its transition to an independent nonprofit. Republican Gov. Chris Christie called for the pubcasters to sever from the state by Jan. 1, 2011, reports the Philadelphia Inquirer. The move ends a four-decade relationship. The governor's office cited budgetary concerns. "In these tough economic times, there are things that can be done by the private sector [that] should be done by the private sector," Sean Conner, a Christie spokesperson, told the paper. Howard Blumenthal, interim NJN executive director, told the state Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee yesterday that stations would continue to provide not only broadcast programming but also multiplatform content, adding, "we'll do more, we'll just do it with less." Democratic Sen. Barbara Buono told the panel: "It would be a shame if NJN didn't continue. A lot of people have come to rely on it. We stand ready -- I'm sure I speak for every member on this committee -- to move forward and would like to be an integral part of the process."

APM affiliate agrees to buy FM in Palm Beach

2010-04-20T22:42:00.002-04:00

After trying for five years to sell its public TV/radio combo in Palm Beach, Fla., Barry University has unloaded the FM station separately. Classical South Florida, an offshoot of Minnesota-based American Public Media, will buy WXEL-FM for $3.85 million, offer jobs to its present staff and program the classical/news station separately from its all-classical Miami station, WKCP, the Palm Beach Post reports. �CSF plans to strengthen its classical music programming while continuing to provide NPR news and public affairs content to the region,� according to a joint CSF/Barry news release. The university north of Miami, which rescued the shaky WXEL in 1997, was talking with at least three prospective buyers last fall, but the Palm Beach school district decided to spend its loose change on schooling instead, and Barry hasn�t reached an agreement with either Miami�s WPBT or a Palm Beach nonprofit formed to acquire WXEL.

Nonprof news orgs and pubcasters take part in investigative reporting symposium

2010-04-20T12:50:00.005-04:00

Pubcasters were well represented at the fourth annual Reva and David Logan Investigative Reporting Symposium this past weekend, sponsored by Berkeley University's Graduate School of Journalism. Here's a followup by reporter Chris O'Brien of the San Jose Mercury News, on MediaShift. Participating in panels were: David Fanning and Raney Aronson-Rath of Frontline; Susanne Reber of NPR; Linda Winslow of PBS Newshour; and reporter Amy Isackson of KPBS, San Diego. O'Brien calls the meeting "inspiring," and takes note of the attendance of reps from nonprofit news orgs that didn't exist until the last year or two. "Whatever one thinks of the wisdom of these models, I take it as a positive sign that people are moving past the talking phase and into the doing phase," he notes.

San Mateo's KCSM rallying after serious funding woes

2010-04-20T11:06:00.002-04:00

A donor has stepped forward with $400,000 to help struggling KCSM-TV/FM in San Mateo, Calif., reports the San Matean. The station is also finalizing a $120,000 spectrum lease agreement to share about one-third of its Mbps bandwidth with Sezmi, which meshes wireless broadcasting with broadband Internet for an alternative source of TV programming. The station is negotiating two more spectrum lease agreements worth about $100,000 each, including with KQED in San Francisco. All that sufficiently reassured KCSM's Board of Directors at the San Mateo County Community College District, and it voted to provide a one-year funding extension. In January the station raised only $30,000 of a $1 million fundraising goal, and it dropped PBS last year due to funding problems.

Jim DeRogatis brings his sound opinions to Vocalo.org

2010-04-20T10:53:00.005-04:00

Music journalist Jim DeRogatis is leaving the Chicago Sun-Times to take a full-time teaching position at Columbia College Chicago and take up blogging for Chicago Public Radio's Vocalo.org. Chicago media critic Robert Feder, a former Sun-Times colleague who began blogging for Vocalo last fall, broke the news. �We have always wanted a blogger to cover music for blogs.vocalo.org,� Justin Kaufmann, senior content developer for Chicago Public Radio tells Feder. �Jim is arguably the best music writer in Chicago, if not the nation. We couldn�t be happier. He is going to take our blogs to a whole new level.� DeRogatis's blog, PopNStuff, launches June 1. He'll continue to co-host Sound Opinions, the weekly public radio show produced by Chicago Public Radio.

UPDATE: DeRogatis tells CityPages.com: "The blogging is going to be pretty intensive," he says. "I'm going to be doing basically what I've been doing at the Sun-Times, minus the more trivial chasing-your-tail stories. As a blogger I'll have more freedom to give more insight and not worry about the daily newspaper restrictions, what that job entails."

Get a peek at "Need to Know"

2010-04-20T10:12:00.002-04:00

The promo for WNET's new Need to Know is up, check it out here. The weekly news show premieres May 7. That kickoff will be the culmination of the Friday night schedule upheaval, which included Bill Moyers' Journal, Now and Worldfocus all ending (Current, March 22, 2010).