Bob Edwards tells the Boston Globe that his talk show debuting Monday on XM Radio will spotlight "a more relaxed me." Also: an employee at Boston's WMBR protests cuts in world music and Haitian-oriented shows at the station. (Via Romenesko.)

WBUR-FM in Boston has delayed the sale of its Rhode Island stations at least until it replies to demands from the state's attorney general, reports the Boston Globe and the Providence Journal. The Journal also scrutinizes the payroll allocations among WBUR's operations.

WBUR-FM in Boston ran up deficits of almost $5 million from 1999 to 2003, reports the Providence Journal. The Journal also reports that Rhode Island's attorney general has asked WBUR for more financial information related to the possible sale of WRNI in Providence, and the state's Governor is concerned as well. (More in the Boston Globe.)

Public radio listeners in Humboldt County, Calif., are upset about Oregon-based Jefferson Public Radio's recent purchase of a local station that aired a continuous BBC feed, reports the Times-Standard.

The Washington Post briefly summarizes the threat satellite radio poses to public radio.

Tuesday's Diane Rehm Show celebrated the host's 25th year on the air.

The San Antonio Current profiles Joe Gwathmey, a founder of NPR and manager of KPAC/KSTX. "I've always had a populist streak," he says.

Longtime backers of Rhode Island's WRNI-FM are considering ways to keep the station public, reports the Providence Journal. The Journal also reports that WRNI's deficits topped $9 million in its first five years. And the Boston Phoenix calls on WBUR to be more open about its finances. The Phoenix's Dan Kennedy asks a few more questions on his blog.

When Bill O'Reilly gets it right, it means the news about the news could well get worse.

Mississippi Public Broadcasting has duct tape to thank for its weathering of Hurricane Ivan, reports the Kansas City Star.

Terry Gross and Bill O'Reilly rehashed their earlier confrontation on last night's O'Reilly Factor. "You pride yourself on being the toughest interviewer on TV, and to think that you couldn't stand up to my slightly challenging questions," Gross said. (Via Romenesko.)

CPB joined with the Institute of Museum and Library Sciences to create a multiyear $3 million grant fund to aid local collaborative projects. IMLS is a federal agency comparable to the arts endowment.

Rhode Island's attorney general has asked Boston University to pull back from selling WRNI, WBUR's Rhode Island station, reports the Providence Journal.

Terry Gross appears on Bill O'Reilly's show tonight, reports the Philadelphia Inquirer. She'll also show up on Hardball and Late Night with Conan O'Brien. (Fourth item. Via Romenesko.)

An Indiana man seeking to share time with educational FM stations has filed antitrust complaints in the proceedings, reports the Indianapolis Star.

An NPR listener complains to ombud Jeffrey Dvorkin that applause often follows audio clips of President Bush, but not Sen. John Kerry. You'll now hear applause after both.

Boston's WBUR-FM is selling WRNI, its Rhode Island station. The Providence Journal condemns the decision: "The people who have been so generous in funding the start-up and operation of WRNI have been treated shabbily." (More in the Journal, the Providence Phoenix and the Boston Herald.)

The Cincinnati Business Courier profiles WGUC-FM.

In a Sept. 11 address to the Society of Professional Journalists, Bill Moyers looks back on his career and affirms the importance of journalism. "I approach the end of my own long run believing more strongly than ever that the quality of journalism and the quality of democracy are inextricably joined," he says.

A Houston Chronicle editorial praises Tavis Smiley for his $1 million donation to Texas Southern University.

The New York Sun celebrates CPB's $4.5 million subsidy of the new TV series featuring the Wall Street Journal's editorial writers. Journal Editorial Report debuts this Friday on many PBS stations.

NPR and PBS host Tavis Smiley gave $1 million to Houston's Texas Southern University to support a communications school named after him, reports the Houston Chronicle. (More in USA Today. Via Romenesko.)

A Indiana broadcaster's attempt to force timeshares with educational stations is "an affront to the taxpayers," says a former educator in the Indianapolis Star.

Triplearadio.com interviews Judy Adams, p.d. of WDET-FM in Detroit.

Actress Susan Sarandon will host the upcoming season of Independent Lens, which begins Oct. 26 on PBS.

"Friends of mine at WDUQ, I thank you for helping me to kill my television," writes a University of Pittsburgh student in praise of NPR. "You've taught me that the world continues to turn without breaking-news visuals of exploded body parts."

Users of Audible.com can now subscribe to Public Radio International's BBC Newshour, Brain Brew, Whad'Ya Know? and The Next Big Thing.

Citing a poor funding climate for arts programming, WGBH cancelled Art Close Up, a pared down version of its Emmy-winning series Greater Boston Arts.

WTVS President Steve Antonniotti disputes an unflattering analysis of efficiencies in public TV fundraising. The analysis by Forbes (page down) juxtaposes compensation for the highest paid pubTV station chiefs with stats measuring the fundraising efficiencies of charitable organizations. (Registration required at Forbes.com)

The Buffalo News profiles Terry Gross, whose latest compilation of interviews came out yesterday. Her guests show "how many ways there are of living an introspective, intelligent life," she says. (Via Romenesko.)

Recent shuffling of staff at Boston's WBUR included halving the news staff at WRNI, its Rhode Island station, according to the Providence Phoenix.

New radio episodes of Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series debut this month on BBC Radio 4. Meanwhile, production is underway on the film version, which stars John Malkovich, Mos Def and Martin Freeman (who played Tim on BBC's The Office).

Westword looks at the competition KGNU could face in Denver from Air America, which Clear Channel is now piping into the city.

Garrison Keillor breathes fire in In These Times. "Republicans: The No.1 reason the rest of the world thinks we’re deaf, dumb and dangerous," he writes in an excerpt from his latest book, Homegrown Democrat.

NPR's coverage of the lead-up to the Iraq war was mostly balanced, but Morning Edition interviews were soft and the domestic angle was neglected, says NPR Ombudsman Jeffrey Dvorkin in his Media Matters column.

The anti-Kerry Swift Boat smear was "dishonest in the extreme," writes journalism observer Jay Rosen, but the mainstream press is stunned to find that investigative stories on the campaign failed to "knock down" the accusations and stop replication of the "media virus" that may decide the presidential election.

With mainstream media folks tut-tutting about Fox and bloggers bringing viewpoint into news reporting, Poynter Institute's Geneva Overholser, herself a mainstream journalist and former ombudsman, points out: "Traditional media have a viewpoint. It's a good old conventional, "acceptable," middle-of-the-road viewpoint. It's the viewpoint, generally speaking, of the powerful -- which is by and large, even today, the view of well-to-do male white folks."

A would-be broadcaster in Indiana is exploiting a little-used FCC rule in an effort to share airtime with unwilling educational stations, reports the (Johnson County) Daily Journal.

CPB has brought back Peggy O'Brien as senior v.p., educational programming and services. In 1994-2000, she headed CPB's earliest Ready to Learn efforts and served as v.p. of education. Cheryl Williams, now v.p., will report to her. She comes from Cable in the Classroom, where she was executive director.