FCC sets settlement deadline for first batch of MXed noncom FM applicants

The FCC will process its backlog of mutually exclusive applications for noncommercial FM stations by identifying and working through groups of MXed applicants one at a time. First up are MX groups with four or fewer applicants, all 263 of whom are listed here. As of Friday, these applicants have 30 days to negotiate settlements. Afterwards, the commission will apply its point system before awarding licenses, according to this public notice. [Both links are PDF downloads.] The point system adopted by the FCC to evaluate MXed noncommercial applications is explained here and here.

Many different takes on Stern's exit from NPR

Gravity Medium has compiled a list of news reports and blog commentary on Ken Stern's exit as NPR ceo. Here's one that's missing: Bob Garfield of On the Media interviews Current's Karen Everhart on Stern's troubled relationship with pubradio station managers.

Haarsager responds to tech bloggers angered by Stern's ouster

"This is not a coup by Luddite station CEOs who want to stop or slow down effective responses to [the] very types of disruptive change we've been trying to strategically accommodate," writes NPR interim CEO Dennis Haarsager, in a blog post attempting to explain why Ken Stern is no longer at the helm of National Public Radio. Haarsager is responding in part to Jeff Jarvis of Buzzmachine, who characterized Stern's ouster as a protectionist takeover by "local yokel" stations that feared his digital distribution strategies. [Be sure to read the comments to both blog entries.] Responding to a request for the NPR Board to explain in more detail why Stern was forced out, Haarsager writes: "I cannot comment in detail on this personnel matter except to say that Mr. Stern chose the time and day when he left the building . . . . I've said repeatedly that no malfeasance or misfeasance should be imputed. Ken made many important contributions and should be remembered for those. Arguably, transparency is an important ideal; his privacy is a right."