NET’s Bates to retire, NPR’s Seabrook departs, Bodarky elected PRNDI prez, and more…

Bates, a producer/director who rose through the ranks to become network chief in 1996, announced his retirement plans June 22, initiating the second leadership transition for the state network’s top job since its founding 58 years ago. Bates arrived at NET in 1975 as a producer/director working on a one-year assignment. He ended up devoting his career to NET, earning a promotion to senior producer and eventually moving into fundraising. He became director of development for Nebraskans for Public Television Inc. in 1985 before being appointed to succeed Jack McBride, NET’s founding general manager, in the mid-1990s. “Rod Bates’ leadership has brought NET to the highest level of service in our history,” said Ron Hull, a semi-retired NET veteran who hired Bates as a TV producer more than three decades ago.

Three trophies put WNYC atop pubmedia’s Murrow winners

WNYC led public media in the 2012 national Edward R. Murrow Awards announced June 12 by the Radio Television Digital News Association.Among 17 pubcasting entities receiving Murrows for excellence in electronic journalism, the New York station won three trophies for two of its nationally distributed shows — Studio 360 andRadio Rookies.Three pubcasting outlets received Murrows in two categories: BBC World News, which won in the division for radio networks; Boston’s WBUR, a winner among large-market radio stations; and WITF in Harrisburg, Pa, scoring a double in the small-market radio division. Alabama Public Radio also stood out among small market radio stations, taking a Murrow for overall excellence.Public stations winning national Murrows in large- and small-market radio divisions excelled during an earlier phase of RTDNA’s annual journalism contest — the regional Murrows awarded in 13 multistate contests this spring.Public media news outlets won national Murrows across four divisions.Radio networks: WNYC’s Studio 360, a coproduction with Public Radio International, for feature reporting and use of sound, and Radio Rookies, writing; BBC World Service, hard news reporting and news documentary; American Public Media’s Marketplace, investigative reporting; and NPR, website.  Large-market radio stations: WBUR, investigative reporting and use of sound; KUT in Austin, Texas, continuing coverage; WCPN in Cleveland, feature reporting; WUSF in Tampa, Fla., news documentary; Mississippi Public Broadcasting, news series; and WFAE in Charlotte, N.C., writing.  Small-market radio stations: WITF in Harrisburg, Pa., news series and sports reporting; Alabama Public Radio, overall excellence; WBOI in Fort Wayne, Ind., feature reporting; KUNC in Greeley, Colo., investigative reporting; WUFT in Gainesville, Fla., hard news reporting; WSLU in Canton, N.Y., news documentary; and KSMU in Springfield, Mo., writing.  Local online news operation: The Lens New Orleans and the G.W. Williams Center for Independent Journalism in New Orleans, investigative reporting; and the Texas Tribune in Austin, website.The national Edward R. Murrow Awards have recognized outstanding electronic journalism since 1971.

Vince Gardino bound for orchestra post after NY Public Radio departure in July

Vince Gardino, New York Public Radio’s executive director of underwriting, is departing the station after 14 years to become executive director of the American Classical Orchestra, which performs music from the 17th to 19th centuries using authentic period instruments. His last day with the station is June 8, and he’ll start with the orchestra July 2.For 12 years, Gardino served as chair of the PMDMC Heritage Group, a best-practices working group of corporate support leaders of major market stations. He also was lead negotiator with the Radio Research Consortium for pubradio’s Arbitron contracts, and recently was appointed as the pubradio representative on the Arbitron Radio Advisory Council.”His consistent focus and hands-on style with the clients and sales team helped propel revenue growth through both robust and challenging financial landscapes,” the station said in a statement.

New Jersey’s pubradio operators step up coverage of Garden State

Nearly a year ago, two of the East Coast’s largest metropolitan pubcasting powerhouses took over nine New Jersey pubradio stations, casting uncertainty over the future of public radio news coverage for Garden State listeners. The outlook has begun to brighten as New York Public Radio, operator of WNYC and WQXR, and Philadelphia’s WHYY have brought the New Jersey stations into their operational systems and refined plans to expand and deepen their reporting on New Jersey. For four decades, the New Jersey state government owned and subsidized public radio and TV services delivered through the New Jersey Network. Then last year, New Jersey policymakers decided they wanted out of the broadcasting business. WHYY acquired five stations and NYPR bought four.

Lubbock, WBUR's FB Page

In social media metrics, ROI is more than a sum of fans

… Building and maintaining a meaningful social media presence requires a significant investment of time — and it’s not always easy to measure the return on that investment. What does social media success look like, anyway? Is it when you reach 1,000 followers? 10,000? …

MPT hires new v.p., Sill to be KPCC’s executive editor, three Illinois pubcasters retire, and more…

Rick Lore is Maryland Public Television’s new v.p. and chief development officer
Lore is responsible for membership, on-air fundraising, major and planned giving, publications, outreach and community engagement at the state network headquartered in Owings Mills. Lore joined MPT on an interim basis last fall after Joe Krushinsky left his job as v.p. of institutional advancement. Krushinsky now directs station development services at PBS. Previously Lore served as executive director of Friends of Milwaukee Public Television, the fundraising affiliate of Milwaukee Public TV; directed  on-air fundraising for PBS; and led development at New Hampshire Public Television. Lore, who began his pubTV career in 1989 in San Jose, Calif., has won eight PBS development awards and is a frequent conference speaker.

PRI adapted Studio 360 segment for an iPad book.

For its foray into e-book publishing, Public Radio International chose “Teacher Redesign,” in which a New York design firm created a branding campaign on behalf of the nation’s educators, and adapted it for Apple’s iPad. The iBook features 32 pages of content adapted from the Studio 360 episode, produced as part of its ongoing series on graphic design and cultural symbolism. With its strong visual elements, the program was naturally suited for the iPad, according to Peter Edstrom, a project manager for PRI. “Our core content is audio, but we’re continuing to experiment with different ways to get PRI content out to people.”

The electronic book is free for download on Apple’s iBookstore. It features slideshows, photos that can be manipulated, diagrams, embedded videos and text.

Lisa Simeone

News leaders draw hard line on employees’ public comments

Update, Nov. 10: The NPR Board postponed considering the ethics policy scheduled for its Nov. 10-11 meeting. Spokesperson Dana Rehm said work was not complete on two of the three ethics documents. “Management and the board determined that the best course of action would be to release the guiding principles of NPR’s journalism, the handbook and the employee code of conduct at the same time so we’re in a position to confidently answer everyone’s questions about which principles apply to whom,” Rehm said.

WNYC’s Greene Performance Space now open

WNYC radio opened its long-awaited Jerome L. Greene Performance Space on Tuesday in Lower Manhattan, reports The New York Times. It’s wired for TV, radio and video streaming, and features a reconfigurable wood stage, seating for more than 100, programmable LED lighting and robotic cameras. “It’s not just about going back to performance; it’s also about adding a 21st-century multiplatform aspect,” said Laura Walker, the president and chief executive of WNYC.

Tower collapse takes engineer, pubcast signals

When terrorists brought down the World Trade Center in an imploding, crumbling crash, they not only destroyed New York City’s highest buildings but silenced eight of its largest TV stations. WNET, the city’s flagship public TV station, was knocked off the air for five days and apparently lost Rod Coppola, a 47-year-old engineer who was working at its transmitter site atop Tower One. The tower also took with it $8 million in transmitter and antenna equipment. Every major station in the city — except for WCBS, which maintained a backup transmitter on the Empire State Building — went down in the crash of the WTC, extinguishing service to one in five households — 7.3 million — that receives TV over the air. Nearly 80 percent of households didn’t notice the interruption.