Audience diversity: Austin may be the capital of low-key cool (and incidentally capital of Texas), but many of factions of its colorful population are represented by their own public broadcasting stations and programs. Current correspondent Diana Claitor leads a tour of the city's spectrum of pubcasters.

Colorado Public Radio: See KUNC.

Concerts and festivals: A number of public radio stations (and some public TV outlets too) and their volunteers pull together annual musical events ranging from a one-night bluegrass concert to multi-day jazz, blues and folk festivals that entertain thousands. Jefferson Public Radio, which covers the north end of California and the south of Oregon, planned to expand its concerts in a classic 1930s movie house in Redding, Calif., that it plans to renovate.

Expansion of system: NPR and its member stations set ambitious goals — 300 new member stations and 5 million new listeners by 2010 — with Project ACORN, a collaborative, wide-ranging plan for signal expansion and acquistion. Public Radio Capital has helped stations get bond financing for new stations.

Funding criteria — performance standards: Just six public radio stations lost parts of their CPB grants in 1998. Back in 1996, it was going to be 80 that didn't meet new performance standards that CPB imposed during the funding crisis. Then it was going to be 35. Six ended up taking a partial hit last fall. One is KBOO, a classic alternative community station in Portland, Ore., KBOO, which is willing to bend its priorities only so much. Others like WFUV in New York and KPCC in L.A. made bigger changes in their program schedules to bring in listeners and save their CPB aid.

History of public broadcasting — the Cooperation movement: The development of pubcasting in the United States was delayed and stunted in the 1930s by the political success of the Cooperation Doctrine, which helped persuade policymakers that America would not need to establish a public network like the BBC. Historian Eugene Leach recounts the history in "Tuning Out Education," originally published in Current in 1983 and now accessible online. NBC and CBS did air educational series at first, but they faded from the air, unable to meet the networks' rising expectations of profit. The same thing happened in the 1950s on television, after the Ford Foundation withdrew support for its famous Golden Age of TV series, Omnibus.

Internet audio: See our page about streaming

KOOP, Austin: A young community radio station in Austin, Tex., KOOP, developed a bitter rift within its progressive ranks, between its board of trustees and the volunteers who run the station. The sore issue: "identity politics." The latest development: a court has intervened. Added danger: financial crisis.

KPCC, Pasadena: Under plans hatched in 1999, the strongest public radio station group in the country may soon give a boost to one of pubradio's major underperformers — Pasadena City College's KPCC-FM, serving the huge Los Angeles market. College district trustees decided in September 1999 to negotiate with Minnesota Public Radio, which would create a regional flagship news-and-information station. Despite great potential, KPCC's fundraising and programming were so underpowered that the station risked losing its federal aid several years ago. MPR offered to buy the station last year, but the trustees backed away to look at alternatives before coming around in September. In an interview with Current, Minnesota Public Radio's president, Bill Kling, talks about the proposed rescue of KPCC.

KUNC, Greeley, Colo.: The University of Northern Colorado agreed in March 2001 to transfer its FM station to a group of supporters who organized a crash fundraising drive to maintain local control of the station. The decision undid the university's planned sale to Denver-based Colorado Public Radio. The university had relented on earlier plans to sell the station in 1999, but did eliminate financial support to the station in 1990. The controversy recalled an earlier struggle in Colorado Public Radio's development, when it added its station in west-of-the-mountains Grand Junction 10 years ago.

Low-power radio/pirate radio: — See Low-power FM.

Minority networks. See Satelite Radio Bilingue.

Minnesota Public Radio, PRI and Marketplace Productions: An agreement between Minnesota Public Radio and Public Radio International has swept away a PRI lawsuit in 2000, allowing MPR to buy the producer of Marketplace and Savvy Traveler. PRI had sued to stop the sale, fearing that MPR would take over distribution of the programs as well as its own major public radio series. See also KPCC, above.

Native American stations: A new Center for Native Radio is needed to assist the 30-some public radio stations on Indian reservations, the National Federation of Community Broadcasters told CPB in a grant request. Consultants to CPB say most Native stations operate on the edge of collapse because they lack the fundraising potential of city stations, but their services come close to the heart of public radio's mission. For two views of Native radio, writer Diana Claitor introduces Alex Lookingelk, a circuit-riding radio engineer in the northern Plains and takes you to KNNB, the White Mountain Apache station in Arizona. Preserving and teaching Native language is a major objective for another Arizona station, the Hopi-run KUYI. Where are the stations? See the list. AIROS, a eight-year-old network that links those and other Native stations, gets free satellite transmission through the public radio system. Broadcasters in Anchorage and Albuquerque collaborate on the AIROS talk show Native America Calling.

NPR — discrimination complaints: A lawsuit by former NPR programmer Sandra Rattley stopped in mid-trial when NPR settled with Rattley in April 2002. Neither side would reveal the terms. Her suit, filed in 1997, was one of eight known discrimination suits against the network generally known for its liberalism. Sunni Khalid, an African-American Muslim reporter, also filed suit. And NPR settled a suit by ex-reporter Katie Davis. The series of accusations are embarrassing for the news operation, which is pushing to increase its minority audience, prides itself for its minority news coverage, and for years had an African-American president, Delano Lewis.

NPR — salaries and labor relations: In 2000, producers, reporters and other AFTRA members at NPR were expecting to get 5 percent-a-year pay raises over three years — a result that disappointed some staffers who thought the network can now afford to move its pay rates toward market parity. Negotations with technical employees for NPR's first NABET contract have dealt with a number of who-does-the-work questions where digital technology is changing the nature of the work itself.

NPR management: NPR's new president, Kevin Klose, brings "an optimism and enthusiasm for its future [that are] downright infectious," the network's chairman said in announcing the hiring in November 1998. Klose is a 25-year Washington Post journalist and recent head of the government's overseas radio agencies. NPR's priorities had changed since it hired Klose's predecessor five years before, when the board looked for business experience and found telecom executive Delano Lewis who was hired in 1993 and retired in August 1998. Lewis set out to bring in entrepreneurial deals that would supplement NPR's income from public radio stations, but as he acknowledged in fall 1997 in a Q&A with Current, found that such ventures would not give the network the financial lift it sought. He and counterpart Steve Salyer at Public Radio International proposed merging the two program providers last year, but the idea remained in limbo. With the finesse of a State Department spokesman, Salyer indicated that not much is happening on the merger front, but it could. (If things were different.)

NPR entrepreneurial ventures: NPR President Del Lewis assures his board of directors that the network will not sell its soul — proceeding cautiously and with principle in its examination of new moneymaking ventures. Lewis responded to qualms voiced by station executives as well as independent producer Sandy Tolan, who published cautionary comments in the New York Times and Current. Peter Barton, head of TCI's programming subsidiary, offered NPR a "helping hand" in a recent speech to public radio executives. Barton and other TCI affiliates have been wooing partners and investing in public TV as well. Regarding the cable deals, PBS President Ervin Duggan warned that he detects a fox.

NPR's independence from government: NPR News chiefs said they were surprised to learn in 2000 that a psychological operations propaganda unit of the Army had sent several interns to work in the news division, as it had with CNN.

NPR programming — top executive: Jay Kernis, the parental figure considered "indispensable" in originally shaping Morning Edition, came back to NPR as program chief after 14 years with CBS News.

NPR News — top executive: Former newspaperman Bruce Drake was named head of NPR News in 2000, succeeding CBC veteran Jeffrey Dvorkin. Dvorkin succeeded Bill Buzenberg, a longtime NPR newsman who left NPR in March 1997 to head the news department at Minnesota Public Radio, the largest radio operation in the NPR family. Tensions between Buzenberg and NPR management contributed to his departure. In a 1995 commentary, Buzenberg defined the special strengths of public radio's major news operation.

Pacifica Radio — internal ferment: The left-wing Pacifica radio network overcame cost worries and decided to return to Berkeley from Washington, D.C. where it moved its main office in 2000 to escape opposition in Berkeley. The network has a new executive director whose last job was on the staff of a strident campaign aiming to derail . . . Pacifica itself. Dan Coughlin's appointment in January 2002 is just one point on the network's 180-degree turn from business as usual. The previous board finally surrendered control in 2001 by settling lawsuits brought by listeners, activitists and a board minority. The new board also replaced four of the five managers of Pacifica stations, including WBAI General Manager Robert Daughtry, who had ignored a board directive to return Democracy Now, Pacifica's morning news show, to the station's schedule. And it agreed to return to WBAI 27 employees who had been fired and banned by previous managers, many during the "Christmas coup" of 2000. Firings by management of the left-wing radio chain moved thousands of supporters and volunteers to hold street protests in April 1999 and revived protests in November by removing the director of its nightly newscast, Coughlin, after he aired a brief report on a station boycott of Pacifica. Freelance reporters for the newscast called a strike and the newscast anchor left after refusing to work for weeks. By November 2000, the conflict had embroiled Amy Goodman and Democracy Now!, the network's other major program, and three lawsuits had been filed to unseat the Pacifica board. The protesters oppose management's drive to build its audience and professionalize its programming, charging that it is betraying its tradition of activist programming and even engaging in union-busting in 1996. The then-head of the station group, Pat Scott, replied that Pacifica must be directed effectively to serve its progressive purposes. After making many of the changes she sought, and stirring waves of reaction, Scott resigned, effective fall 1998. Community radio leader Lynn Chadwick was hired late in 1998 to succeed Scott. CPB so far has not penalized Pacifica. The organization ran afoul of rules requiring open board meetings, CPB's inspector general found in April 1997. But the CPB Board, which supports efforts aimed at increasing audience, decided not to penalize Pacifica.

Pacifica Radio — murder of former reporter: Pacifica's Los Angeles station suffered a human tragedy in 1996; former KPFK reporter Michael Taylor was killed in 1996; police arrested three men. His killers were convicted in 1998; Current profiled Taylor.

Pacifica Radio — satellite service: Pacifica launched a politically progressive and even less expensive satellite service for public radio producers and stations, supplementing the service run by NPR for the system.

Personnel — talent shortage in public radio: Even with its solid reputation, public radio is finding it hard to hire producers and technicians quickly enough to keep up with turnover in the hot economy of 2000 — and good enough to raise the field's standards of quality.

Personnel — extracurricular activities: Next time public radio reporter Rob Rosenthal enters a wife-carrying contest, he may want to practice the Estonian hold.

Personnel issues at KWMU, St. Louis: The news director of public radio station KWMU-FM resigned and two reporters quit in summer 1998, after a show-down with General Manager Patricia Wente Bennett. His complaint was later rejected by the licensee university. The station endured a similarly divisive dispute with some employees in 1992, but a court cleared the manager of charges of racial discrimination.

Program distribution: Starting in July 2004, Minnesota Public Radio was scheduled to become its own distributor for A Prairie Home Companion and many of its other programs, significantly shrinking the portfolio of Public Radio International, its formerly close ally.

Program evaluation: How do you choose among programs when ratings aren't the whole story? In a commentary, Station Resource Group consultant Kathy Merritt proposed the Program Ledger for evaluating programs.

Project ACORN: See Expansion of system

Public Radio Conference: Though NPR killed off the expensive annual Public Radio Conference in 2003, the network soon began to work with other pubradio organizations to bring back a generalist meeting in May 2004. Veteran pubcasters Ken Mills and Tom Livingston pointed out the PRC's weakened condition in a 2002 Current commentary, but concluded the family-wide get-together would be worth saving, especially if NPR relinquishes control.

Radio reading services: Radio reading services for the blind sought Vice President Gore's help in finding new means of bringing detailed news — read from local newspapers — to blind and print-impaired listeners.

Satelite Radio Bilingue: Public radio's Spanish-language network launched in 1993, based on programming of California's Radio Bilingue chain.

Streaming audio: See our page about streaming

University-licensed stations: With some two-thirds of public radio stations licensed to colleges or other institutions, licensee relations are a significant factor for the field. After 78 years, Kansas State University surrendered its five hours a day on a shared AM frequency to get a better deal for its football broadcasts. Johns Hopkins reconsidered its relationship to its station, which was spun off; the University of Northern Colorado sold its FM station to a local group. A university president is leading an alliance to improve college-station relationships. His school, Southwest Missouri State University, not only keeps its public radio station but is adopting a local public TV outlet. In a few cases, colleges and stations have arranged amicable divorces, as WFAE's Roger Sarow describes. In Pasadena, the city college is negotiating to let Minnesota Public Radio create a new organization to upgrade KPCC. But clashes are more common, as in Winston-Salem, where Wake Forest University pressured WFDD's news department and lost most of its news staff. (A faculty committee urged new protections against retaliatory firings.) Student involvement in stations was the issue in three 1998 clashes over the stations' roles in Pasadena, Las Vegas and Santa Monica. In public TV, the manager of Milwaukee's two public channels, Bryce Combs, resigned in 1999 after being suspended by the college that holds their licenses in an apparent disagreement over the stations' future governance.

WBUR-FM and its manager Jane Christo: Current profiles Boston's fastest-growing public radio station and its decisive general manager. The station is home to Car Talk and known in the field as an advocate of reduced pledge drives.

WNYC-AM/FM: When New York City's biggest public radio operation set out to raise $20 million to buy its freedom from City Hall in 1996, the mayor didn't give it much choice. By 2004, a far busier WNYC was aiming even higher on its own volition, for a $30 million capital campaign. The station expanded national programming, at one point polishing three new weekend programs locally before offering them nationwide. WNYC began its new life by buying its way out of the city government. City ownership not only limited the stations' initiatives for most of a century but also had the station take orders from the mayor, or at least appear to — as in 1994, when it hired Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa, a prominent supporter of Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, as a talk show host.

WYSO, Yellow Springs, Ohio: Antioch University named two alumni to address problems at its public radio station, which became a lightning rod for controversy during the tenure of manager Steve Spencer. He resigned in January 2004.

Women in public broadcasting: Though public broadcasting, like many fields, is dominated by men at top levels, women tripled or quadrupled their presence in high-ranking jobs in public TV and radio since the 1970s, while minorities doubled their role. Women are executive producers of many of PBS's major series, and run many of the largest public radio stations. Pat Mitchell became the first female president of PBS in 2000 and Kathleen Cox the first female president of CPB in 2004.