WNYC's Lehrer: 'O'Reilly was great'

At a party last night for WNYC's new national morning show, The Takeaway, Studio 360 host and New York media wag-in-chief Kurt Andersen described the new offering as "the bastard child of Bill O'Reilly and, I don't know, Brian Lehrer," Mediabistro reports. Lehrer, a popular WNYC host, played along during a panel discussion: "Don't tell anyone... Bill O'Reilly was great." John Hockenberry and Adaora Udoji will host the PRI-distributed show, which debuts with one hour April 28 and will eventually expand to three or four. Hockenberry's concept for the show is somewhat loftier than Andersen's, according to Mediabistro. "It's not a new morning show per se," Hockenberry explained. "It's a new platform for discourse itself."

Ex-KRCL programmers coalesce around a new outlet, Internet-only Utah Free Media

As Salt Lake community radio station KRCL prepares for its May 5 format switch, displaced volunteer programmers and former staff are planning the launch of Utah Free Media, an Internet-only radio station that will stream on bandwidth donated by Utah ISP XMission. “We’re doing it more for the love of radio, and community and music,” says Troy Mumm, former KRCL operations director, in the Salt Lake City Weekly. “Our purpose is to have a continuation of grass-roots, volunteer-based radio." Donna Land Maldonado, KRCL g.m., tells the Salt Lake Tribune: "More power to them."

Golding brings back voices from the past

Barrett Golding of Hearing Voices is mining the audio vaults for examples of "What NPR Was"--creative non-fiction radio that drew you in with authentic voices and evocative sound. The first two audio postings are from the 1980s--a Morning Edition promo by Jesse Boogs and Death in Venice, produced by Larry Massett for the NPR series The Radio Experience.