For radio, the basking may now commence

You may not have recognized it back then: April 2008 was Public Radio Recognition Month. The Senate adopted its resolution in March, but the U.S. House of Representatives followed up this week (the final bill omitting mention of any particular month). But Congress passes its budgets late, too, and it's the thought that counts. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, Democrat of Portland, Ore., and chair of the Public Broadcasting Caucus in the House, introduced the bill in February and made his floor speech Tuesday. PRPD should be pleased that the bills cited three of public radio's core values. [This item corrected after initial posting, thanks to NPR.]

Job cuts announced at Albany's WMHT-TV/FM

WMHT in Albany, N.Y., plans to cut ten jobs, six of which are full-time positions, according to the Times Union business news blog. The lay-offs, announced to staff yesterday, are part of a restructuring planned under new CEO Robert Altman. Subject to approval of the WMHT board, Altman proposes to bolster the station's online content next fiscal year by hiring several new staff for its web division.

A cure for newspapers: cut out that NPR-style intellectualism

Lee Abrams, former XM satellite radio programmer turned chief innovation officer for the Tribune Company, wrote up 15 ideas for growing newspapers, including this gem: "Newspapers strike me as being a little TOO NPR. I like NPR, and their shows like Morning Edition do well. But NPR can also be a bit elitist. Morning News Radio has a lot of similarities to papers: Similar target audience; Old Media; Time restraints. It's probably a good thing to study the feel of a well honed All News Radio station. Yeah, a different medium, but I sometimes get a slower more intellectual NPR feel from papers than a usually quicker paced and more mainstream News Radio delivery. It's all about being INTELLIGENT...not intellectual. [Punctuation and emphasis--skewered here by Nancy Nall--are all his.]