Ex-NFCB president to receive Parker Award

Carol Pierson, former president of the National Federation of Community Broadcasters, will receive the Everett C. Parker Award at the United Church of Christ's 28th annual Parker Lecture in Ethics and Telecommunications on Sept. 29 in Washington, reports Broadcasting & Cable. The event was created in 1983 to recognize the media activist's work as an advocate for public rights in broadcasting. Presenting the main lecture this year is FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn. Pierson is being honored for her 30-year career in public broadcasting and her work to help ensure that pubcasting serves people of color and other underserved communities.

Future of NJN now up for debate

The first of three hearings to decide the fate of the New Jersey Network are under way today at the statehouse, reports the Bergen Record. Gov. Chris Christie (R) has proposed ending the state's $11 million subsidy and transferring NJN's operations, licenses and equipment to a nongovernmental entity, most likely an independent, nonprofit (Current, July 6, 2010). So far, Democrats are emphasizing the need for a statewide television network; Republicans agree but are stressing the state’s fiscal difficulties.

APM partners up for Carolinas Public Insight Network

The Charlotte Observer, American Public Media and the Charlotte Viewpoint website last weekend (Sept. 11) launched its citizen-sourced Carolinas Public Insight Network. It's a confidential database of volunteer news sources, according to the site. "You connect with our newsroom through the Web, and then agree on occasion to receive an e-mail asking for your insights and expertise," explained Observer editor Rick Thames. Longtime Observer editor Cindy Montgomery is heading up the effort.

CPB's Bole to speak at FedTalks tech conference

Rob Bole, CPB's v.p. digital media strategy, is among the speakers at the Oct. 12 FedTalks 2010, a D.C. confab that bills itself as "a gathering of 500 of the most influential government leaders, industry executives, and media giants of our time, brought together to share their thoughts on how technology can change government." Other speakers include Arianna Huffington of Huffington Post; Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist; and Chris Kemp, chief technology officer of NASA.

Classical WSMR goes on the air Wednesday

Sarasota's WSMR debuts Wednesday (Sept. 15), bringing 24-hour classical music to South Florida, according to the Bradenton Herald. Renovations continue on its $150,000 studio at the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee. WUSF in Tampa recently purchased WSMR for $1.275 million on a 10-year loan from the University of South Florida Foundation, an affiliate of its licensee (Current, Aug. 9, 2010). WUSF-FM will be news in the daytime and remain jazz at night. The performance studio at USF is designed for television, video and radio production and live performances; work is expected to be done in late December. JoAnn Urofsky, general manager of WUSF Public Media, told the paper, “This is going to be a very big change.”

East Tennessee adds PBS to name

East Tennessee Public Television is now East Tennessee PBS, reports the Knoxville News Sentinel. "To cover our large viewing area of more than 925,000 households in East Tennessee, we've added two broadcast towers over the years, which is why we have two sets of call letters: WKOP in Knoxville and WETP in Sneedville," said Teresa James, ETPBS g.m. The station had been using the former name for more than 40 years.