Pubradio tech survey charts growth in smartphone usage, streaming audio tune-ins

Results of the third annual Public Radio Technology Survey measured dramatic growth in smartphone adoption among public radio listeners and their clear preference for Apple's iPhone among mobile hand-held devices. More than a third of respondents now own a smartphone, a 29 percent gain since last year's survey; within this subgroup of survey participants, 63 percent use the iPhone. The survey of 21,000 public radio listeners, conducted through a partnership of Jacobs Media and Public Radio Program Directors, also shows impressive gains in the number of respondents who listen to public radio via Internet streams. An infographic from Jacobs media sums up the 2010 survey findings; PRPD details top-line results here. For the last survey, released in Sept. 2009, researchers found dramatic growth in the number of respondents who frequented social networking sites such as Facebook.

Pubcasting foe Sen. Jim DeMint on Communications subcommittee

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) and ranking member Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Tex.) have named the members of their subcommittees, including the Communications and Internet Subcommittee that has the most direct oversight of communications issues and the FCC, reports Broadcasting & Cable today (Feb. 25). John Kerry (D-Mass.) returns as subcommitte chair; GOP ranking member is John Ensign (Nev.). "The Republican membership includes two of the 10 most conservative Senators according to National Journal's just-released ratings," B&C points out — such as Jim DeMint (S.C.), author of several bills to defund public broadcasting.

PBS: Doing something right ... or left?

"The conventional tag that I often see applied to PBS is 'liberal,'" writes PBS Ombudsman Michael Getler in his column today (Feb. 25). "I get a fair amount of mail from critics who say they are viewers and who say they see public broadcasting that way."

But wait:

"I also get probably an equal amount from viewers, or from people who claim to be viewers, that think PBS has moved to the right, that the service has increasingly sold out to the right-wing and corporate interests. I'm not trying to invoke, here, the idea that when one is criticized by both sides it must mean it is doing something right and in the broader public's interest."

WNYC latest to sign on with Public Insight Network

WNYC Radio in New York City has joined American Public Media's Public Insight Network, which will provide its newsroom with a direct link to persons in their community to act as sources for reporting, reports Fishbowl NY. WNYC will focus on the subject of education, reaching out to both English- and Spanish-speaking mebers of the community. More than 40 newsrooms nationwide are now members of the network (Current, Jan. 24, 2011).

PBS going Gowalla

PBS is going live on Gowalla in March. Not sure what that means? "Gowalla helps you keep up with friends, share your favorite places and discover the extraordinary around you," it says. So where is PBS? Thirteen hours ago, at the White House South Lawn.

NCME web analytics webinar info now available on site

If you're curious about web analytics but weren't able to participate in the Feb. 9 webinar on the topic from the National Center for Media Engagement, it's now archived at its site.

Two more Knight Commission papers released today

The fourth and fifth in a series of white papers aimed at implementing recommendations of the Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy are being released today (Feb. 25) at an Aspen Institute roundtable from 9 a.m. to noon Eastern (webcast here). The papers: “Government Transparency: Six Strategies for More Open and Participatory Government” by Jon Gant and Nicol Turner-Lee, and “Creating Local Online Hubs: Three Models for Action” by Adam Thierer. Roundtable participants include John Bracken, Knight's director of digital media; Lucy Dalglish, e.p. of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press; and Lee Rainie, director of Pew's Internet and American Life Project.