PBS Ombudsman: Crossroads needs context

Responding to viewer criticism about the latest American at a Crossroads doc--Robert Kaplan's "Inside America's Empire"--PBS ombudsman Michael Gelter says the programs need more introductory context. The problem for viewers, he says, is "the concept of what this Crossroads series is supposed to be."

Comic strip responds to Ken Burns' The War

In response to Ken Burns' The War, creators of the comic strip Baldo will introduce a Latino WWII vet character on Sept. 17, reports Editor & Publisher. Maggie Rivas-Rodriguez, a University of Texas-Austin professor who has advocated against The War, helped creators Hector Cantu and Carlos Castellanos develop content for the new character.

Rural pubTV stations get USDA digital grants

The USDA gave six rural public TV stations a total of $4.95 million to build out their digital infrastructure in advance of the February 2009 analog TV shut-off. Pubcasters in Minnesota, Mississippi, Oklahoma, North Dakota, South Dakota and Tennessee received rural development grants ranging from $1.86 million down to $25,510.

Yikes, a critic who is of two minds!

"As a reading lesson, Super Why! is brilliantly clever," says a New York Times review today. "As a lesson in literary interpretation, it fails miserably," writes Susan Stewart, who contends that the new PBS children's series neutralizes the power of dark but enduring fairy tales.