Taking NPR from airwaves to sketchpad

No, "Mornings with NPR" is not a new show, it's the name of an aspiring cartoonist's tribute blog to her fave pubradio show. Alex Olanow says two of her more enthusiastic fans are Morning Edition hosts Steve Inskeep and Renee Montagne, who once sent her a goody bag full of show swag: mugs, hats and, of course, that proverbial tote bag.

Leaked survey shows Canadian pubcasters in a snit over new "Hub" management

The Tyee, a British Columbian news and culture website, is reporting that a leaked survey of CBC journos tells "a mind-boggling tale of institutional incompetence. It's a surprisingly amusing story, with great literary potential ..." The main hubbub seems to be over the Hub, a layer of middle management that picks stories for cross-platform use. It's part of an effort to integrate national radio and local TV so one reporter can serve both. Nearly half of the journalists insist it's stopping them from getting a good story on the air, and, furthermore, they insist the Hub is a bunch of people "not qualified to be called junior reporters."

Fifty-six hours = $250,000

Good news from Wyoming Public Radio: It reached its spring pledge goal of $250,000 in just 56 hours of on-air fundraising, according to a statement from licensee University of Wyoming. Jon Schwartz, g.m., said the station's membership drives are consistently among the shortest in the country.

OPB contractor found dead at tower location

An Oregon Public Broadcasting contractor was found dead last weekend at its Stacker Butte, Wash., tower. Station spokesperson Becky Chinn told the Yakima Herald that his death appears to have been unrelated to his installation and maintenance work. She had no information on his age or hometown because he was not an employee. An autopsy is pending.

Webbys go to five pubcasting efforts

Muppets Studio won four Webby Awards -- a major coup for its hilarious "Queen and the Muppets: Bohemian Rhapsody" -- NPR.org won two, and one each for PBS, Frontline/World and Sesame Street in the honors for online excellence announced today. (OK, so technically Muppets Studio isn't really a pubcaster, but those furry ones are definitely related to their Sesame Street cousins so we'll claim 'em.) Each category had two winners, one voted on by judges including domestic doyenne Martha Stewart, Simpsons creator Matt Groening, and media maven Arianna Huffington, and the other, People's Voice, selected by voters around the world. NPR's awards came for Best Practices (People's Voice) and Radio Podcasts (People's Voice). "Bohemian Rhapsody" was a dual winner in the Music and Viral categories, taking both a Webby and a People's Voice (the behind-the-scenes video of its creation is pretty fun, too). The Frontline/World site won a People's Voice in News and Politics Series for its Carbon Watch, and PBS in the Youth Website category for its PBS Kids. Sesame Street scored a Website Webby for Family and Parenting. Nearly 10,000 entries from all 50 states and more than 60 countries were considered. The Webby Awards have been presented since 1996 by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences. Here are full lists of website winners, honors for interactive advertising, the list for online film and video, and mobile. Webbys will be presented June 14 in New York City.