Skoler to lead interactive media at PRI

Public radio news veteran Michael Skoler will join Public Radio International as v.p. of interactive media on June 1. Skoler, founding director of American Public Media's Center for Innovation in Journalism, established the Public Insight Journalism model for tapping listeners' expertise in news reporting. His earlier reporting career included stints at NPR as African bureau chief, science correspondent and science editor/producer.

At PRI Skoler will develop interactive strategies for PRI programs and spearhead new digital content initiatives. "I've learned that culture is even more important than strategy for success in today's networked media world," Skolar said in a statement. "PRI has both — a creative, risk-taking culture and clear-eyed strategy for creating value."

And this from Melinda Ward, PRI senior v.p. of content: "Michael is a true innovator, and his pioneering approach to interactive media and global journalism will thrive at PRI."

Images capture emotion of LZ Lambeau

Click here for Current's slideshow of LZ Lambeau photographs, shot by Senior Editor Dru Sefton. More coverage of the Wisconsin Public Television outreach in the next issue of Current, June 7.

S.F. news project launches as Bay Citizen

The Bay Citizen, the online news start-up in which KQED was to have been a founding partner, launches today with a top story on how San Francisco's wealthiest homeowners benefit from a property tax loophole written into California's Proposition 13. The public media group, formerly known as the Bay Area News Project, has recruited a team of 13 editor/writers and two interns; among them is Queena Kim, a Makers Quest 2.0 grant recipient and producer/reporter who left Pasadena's KPCC to join the launch team as community editor. Editor-in-chief Jon Weber plans to partner, not compete, with local bloggers and nontraditional news outlets, reports the San Francisco Bay Guardian. "We hope we can be a supporter of the local media ecosystem," Weber tells SFBG. So far, 14 indie publishers are on board. The BC offers to pay local bloggers $25 for each post that its editors link to and to work with them on long-form reporting. A media writer who intially slammed this payment scheme took a closer look and decided it's a good way for the online news service to build editorial relationships and good deal for writers after all.