PBS launches teachers' social site

PBS launched PBS Teachers Connect, a new area of its PBS Teachers site that will allow member educators to start discussions and share lesson plans categorized by subject area, with more sophisticated messaging, feed options and other enhancements still to come (press release). PBS Teachers blogger Andy Carvin, also NPR's social media guru, elaborates.

VP debate Ifill's 'toughest assignment'

That's what the Washington Week host told PBS's Engage blog this week. Ifill was the most recent subject of the social media project's regular "Five Good Answers from..." pubTV interview feature. If the tables were turned, whom would she pick to interview her? "Since I'm writing a book that comes out next year, I suppose I'd most want an Oprah interview," Ifill said. "Wouldn't you?"

KETC launches mortgage crisis resource project

KETC in St. Louis has launched Facing the Mortgage Crisis, created in partnership with CPB. The multimedia project--which includes a partnership with the online newspaper The Saint Louis Beacon--aims to make KETC a central hub for information about how and where struggling homeowners can get help. A Google map on the project website maps partner service organizations across the metro area. The site's other resources include information about the United Way's help line and KETC-produced video stories about specific neighborhoods. The project, which was initiated in mid-May by CPB, is intended to create a template for other stations to use in their communities. The template will be available to the public broadcasting system in September, and CPB will issue an RFP for stations to implement the idea. Look for a story on the project in the July 14 issue of Current.

NPR, eight stations honored with Murrows; Bob Edwards wins first for satellite radio

NPR News, Mississippi Public Broadcasting and XM Satellite Radio's Bob Edwards Show are winners of 2008 Edward R. Murrow Awards for radio network news coverage announced yesterday by RTNDA. New York's WNYC-FM is the only pubradio outlet earning a national Murrow in the large-market radio division, but six pubcasters serving small markets receive RTNDA honors for excellence in electronic journalism. NPR's winning reports are "Sexual Abuse of Native American Women" by Laura Sullivan and "Rescuing the Wounded: Iraq to Germany" by Guy Raz. MPB Radio wins with "Emmett Till Apology" and "Kids Write the Blues." The award to former NPR host Bob Edwards, recognizing a documentary on homeless children, is the first Murrow that RTNDA has presented to a satellite radio broadcast.