CPB, AIR seek indie nominees for multimedia projects

CPB and the Association of Independents in Radio announced today a $400,000 grant program to encourage independent producers to try bold projects that have one foot in broadcasting and the other in new media (though with broadcast dominant). AIR will administer the grant program, Public Radio Makers Quest 2.0, which will spend $20,000 to $40.000 on each of about a dozen projects. Ingrid Lakey, former e.p. of Justice Talking and once p.d. of WETA-FM, will head the project as talent manager. AIR posted this Q&A.

KPFT still off the air

Houston's KPFT, a Pacifica station, has been off the air since sustaining damage from Hurricane Ike. In an update Chief Engineer Steve Brightwell describes the situation: "While it is possible for KPFT to get 50 watts on the air and operate a minimal daytime schedule with a portable generator (which we don’t yet have), it will require a massive expense of manpower and gasoline, only to serve a small neighborhood in Northwest Houston, with the overwhelming majority of regular listeners being left out."

PRPD announces ACE award winners

Todd Mundt shares the list of winners of the Public Radio Program Directors' Awards for Creative Excellence, announced today at the PRPD conference in Hollywood. Todd also blogged the keynote address by Bruce Theriault, senior v.p. of radio at CPB.

NYT: Too much of Hinojosa on "Now"

The New York Times’s Neil Genzlinger takes umbrage at Maria Hinojosa’s performance on an installment of PBS’s Now that focuses on the role of women in politics. “Sure, the news media is male-dominated, and maybe this I’m-the-story goo is what women want in their public-affairs programming,” he writes. “If so, PBS should start a separate network. HerPBS, say.”

Classical deejay works a ballpark

Like a modern-day presidential candidate, WETA-FM classical deejay Nicole Lacroix spoke in a vast stadium Sept. 13, though the crowd had not really come for her. The spectators had come for Washington National Opera's opening night free telecast of La Traviata to the Jumbotron at the city's new baseball park. Lacroix was "charming and knowledgeable" as emcee, according to critic Micaele Sparacino on Concertonet.com, an international website that covers classical music. He noted that the audience was full of 20-somethings, some with their kids. A press report said the opera filled about 15,000 seats, just over one-third of the stadium's capacity. Lacroix, weekday evening host on WETA, has been an almost too wonderful presence on WETA for 10 years.