tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33899022024-03-05T15:10:41.800-05:00Current.org BlogDruhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04113068910907963072noreply@blogger.comBlogger6956125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389902.post-71380936521114792622012-08-02T13:20:00.001-04:002012-08-02T13:25:55.506-04:00Current.org relaunched, though with a hiccupLast night's relaunch of Current.org took off splendidly, though somehow it left behind the links to many older stories not yet ingested into its database.<br />
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Technicians are laboring to restore proper connections at this moment!<br />
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With the new combined site at at <a href="http://current.org/">Current.org</a>, breaking-news items previously seen at this Blogger address are now integrated with our longer reported stories into a comprehensive RSS feed. They're also seen on the same home page, though the less momentous short items are found under the Quick Takes heading in the <i>left</i> column.Stevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07235829418115027423noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389902.post-65273941836652061592012-08-01T12:36:00.004-04:002012-08-01T12:58:20.786-04:00Exclusive interview: Alabama Public Television COO Grantham resignsCharles Grantham, chief operating officer of Alabama Public Television, has resigned, effective Aug. 31.<br />
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Grantham told <i>Current </i>that the “additional stress and frustrations” at the station in the wake of the controversial terminations in June of Executive Director Allan Pizzato and his deputy, Pauline Howland, have taken a toll on him.<br />
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Since the firings by the Alabama Educational Television Commission, Grantham had been publicly voicing his concerns about the future of the station. “I’m glad I’ve been able to be a spokesman and make some of the staff feelings known to the commission and others during all this turmoil,” he said. He also <a href="http://currentpublicmedia.blogspot.com/2012/07/chief-operating-officer-of-alabama-ptv.html">sent a letter July 19 to Gov. Robert Bentley</a> saying that the commissioners "have their own agendas, which may or may not have been in the best interest of APT."<br />
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Commission meeting minutes show that <a href="http://www.current.org/religion/re1212alabama.html">Pizzato was under pressure from members to run programs from religious activist historian David Barton</a>. The commission also overhauled the station’s longtime mission statement, removing all references to the state network's commitment to diversity.<br />
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On July 26, <a href="http://currentpublicmedia.blogspot.com/2012/07/group-to-present-100000-signatures-to.html">Grantham accepted 114,000 signatures at the station</a> from Faithful America asking APT to ban Barton’s programming. Grantham <a href="http://currentpublicmedia.blogspot.com/2012/08/alabama-etv-commission-hires-law-firm.html">brought the petitions to a commission meeting Tuesday</a>, but declined to speak with a reporter. “I have been advised by Commission Chair Ferris Stephens that I cannot utilize my First Amendment Rights and speak to the media,” he said. <br />
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Grantham started working at the station in 1974 as a television technician. He progressed to director of engineering, then c.o.o.<br />
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“It’s been a long and — until the past few weeks — for the most part a very pleasant and rewarding work experience,” he said. “This staff is more of a family to me. It’s with a lot of sadness that I make this decision at this time.”<br />
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Grantham said he'll finish up several projects before departing.<br />
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WBHM-FM in Birmingham <a href="http://www.wbhm.org/News/2012/granthamresigns">has posted a copy of Grantham's resignation letter</a>.Druhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04113068910907963072noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389902.post-73406087528232673742012-08-01T09:23:00.002-04:002012-08-01T09:24:54.327-04:00Alabama ETV commission hires law firm for defense against Pizzato complaintIn a special meeting Tuesday, the Alabama Educational Television Commission voted to hire a Birmingham law firm to defend it against <a href="http://currentpublicmedia.blogspot.com/2012/07/attorneys-for-former-apt-exec-director.html">a complaint filed by the former head of Alabama Public Television, Allan Pizzato</a>, whom they fired in June.<br />
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Commissioners, meeting in a conference room at APT headquarters in Birmingham, entered into executive session to discuss the issue, filing past portraits of nine lay leaders from APT's fundraising organizations that still hang on the walls despite their resignations in protest of Pizzato’s termination.<br />
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The Commission returned to vote 6-0 vote to retain the Birmingham law firm of Wallace, Jordan, Ratliff & Brandt, then promptly adjourned.<br />
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After the meeting, Chair Ferris Stephens said the commission feels that Pizzato’s lawsuit is “without merit.” In the complaint, Pizzato’s attorneys allege that because he is a state employee, commissioners violated the state's Open Meetings Act by discussing his job performance in a closed executive session. The civil suit also seeks to remove Stephens, and void all decisions by the commission since his arrival in 2010, because, it alleges, he is ineligible to serve in that capacity as an employee of the Alabama Attorney General’s office.<br />
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Stephens said that the board’s decision to remove Pizzato was not related to <a href="http://www.current.org/religion/re1212alabama.html">earlier reports regarding the controversy to air documentary series by Texas-based evangelical Christian activist David Barton</a>. Stephens said that overall, the commissioners “wanted a fresh and innovative approach to where the station is going.” <br />
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Throughout the meeting and executive session, Charles Grantham, Alabama Public Television c.o.o, remained at a table with a large box of petitions in front of him. Some 114,000 signatures asking the station to ban Barton’s programming <a href="http://currentpublicmedia.blogspot.com/2012/07/group-to-present-100000-signatures-to.html">were delivered to the station July 26</a> by Faithful America, a social-issue advocacy organization. When asked by a reporter if he could take questions, Grantham responded, “I have been advised by Commission Chair Ferris Stephens that I cannot utilize my First Amendment Rights and speak to the media.”<br />
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In related news, Pizzato’s attorneys at White Arnold & Dowd in Birmingham announced on Tuesday that they are now also representing Pauline Howland. She had served as APT’s chief financial officer and Pizzato’s deputy before she was fired with him on June 12. Howland was rehired soon after on a temporary basis, working off-site. <i>— William Dahlberg</i>Druhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04113068910907963072noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389902.post-63956377252111618532012-07-31T18:35:00.000-04:002012-07-31T18:35:03.132-04:00We've got something new in store for you: a blog that's integrated into Current.orgOur news blog is moving on Wednesday, Aug. 1 to the new Current.org, where it will<i> </i>reside on the left-hand side of the homepage under a new column headed Quick Takes. It's part of a major upgrade of <i>Current's</i> web service, a redesign that gives readers more tools for keeping current with public media news that fits their needs and interests. If you read our blog through an RSS feed, you'll have many more options from which to choose, or you can subscribe to a feed of everything that's posted on the site.<br />
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Thanks for your support of our blog. The growth in readership has helped build our reach and engagement with more of the people who work in and care about public service media. Monthly pageviews have grown from 18,115 in July 2008 to 50,510 in July 2012.<br />
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We hope to provide an improved and more integrated online reading experience to you through the new Current.org, and look forward to your feedback and, as always, news tips.Druhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04113068910907963072noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389902.post-88227681154793505422012-07-31T15:00:00.000-04:002012-07-31T15:00:16.061-04:00Former associates announce first Tim Emmons scholarshipApplications are now being accepted for the first <a href="http://nonprofitresearchinfo.org/mentoring-scholarship/">Tim Emmons Memorial Mentoring Scholarship</a>.<br />
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Emmons, former program director and general manager of Northern Public Radio, <a href="http://currentpublicmedia.blogspot.com/2012/02/pubradio-manager-and-advocate-tim.html">died in February after a long battle with cancer</a>. The scholarship was announced today by Peter Dominowski and Scott Williams, longtime friends of Emmons and business associates with him in Strategic Programming Partners.<br />
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The recipient, a current or aspiring public radio program director, will work directly with Williams and Dominowski for one year. Mentoring will include major aspects of successful programming, such as program scheduling, effective promotion, understanding audience data and air checking. "Any area that will help them become a more knowledgeable and successful PD," the two said in the announcement.<br />
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"Tim was a teacher and mentor to so many people," Williams said. "We can think of no better way to honor and continue his legacy than by mentoring a program director and helping them increase the quality of service to listeners."<br />
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"Scott and I are pleased to donate 100 percent of our professional services to make this scholarship possible," Dominowski said. He also thanked members of the scholarship advisory board, Craig Oliver of Craig Oliver Consulting, and Tamar Charney, program director of Michigan Radio.<br />
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Deadline for applications is Aug. 24.<br />
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Individuals and organizations wishing to fund site visits, job shadowing and other scholarship expenses may send checks to Strategic Programming Partners (Box 115, Matheson, Colo., 80830) specifying that the funds are to support the Emmons scholarship.Druhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04113068910907963072noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389902.post-36977991077284262112012-07-31T14:45:00.000-04:002012-07-31T14:45:28.407-04:00Radiolab producers don't believe Lehrer's contributions to be "compromised"WNYC, the producer of public radio’s <em>Radiolab</em>, has found “no reason to believe” that frequent contributor Jonah Lehrer's appearances on the show are "compromised." Lehrer <a href="http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/30/jonah-lehrer-resigns-from-new-yorker-after-making-up-dylan-quotes-for-his-book/">resigned from <em>The New Yorker</em> Sunday</a> after Tablet magazine revealed that he had made up quotes attributed to Bob Dylan in his book <em>Imagine: How Creativity Works</em>.<br />
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Here’s the full statement from WNYC:<br />
<blockquote>
Jonah Lehrer has been a regular contributor to Radiolab as an
“explainer,” making technical science more accessible and bringing much
needed meaning to new scientific research. He has been a lively and
compelling voice and has helped make the history of science come alive
for listeners. We are deeply saddened by the news this week about such a
talented and valued colleague.</blockquote>
<blockquote>
Radiolab has not used Jonah as a standalone authority on any topic
within an episode. Rather, he has brought new research to the attention
of the program and the producers in turn have interviewed primary
sources and researchers, weaving the voices together as part of a choir
— a style of reporting that defines Radiolab. Since Jonah has not been
in the role of reporter for Radiolab and we have employed standard
practices of journalism in producing the episodes, we have no reason to
believe his work with Radiolab is compromised. But we will review the
work as needed.</blockquote>
A WNYC spokesperson would not elaborate when asked how <em>Radiolab</em>’s producers will determine the need for review.<br />
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Lehrer first came under scrutiny last month when media watcher Jim Romenesko <a href="http://jimromenesko.com/2012/06/19/jonah-lehrers-newyorker-com-smart-people-post-look-familiar/">pointed out</a> that the writer had recycled some of his own pieces for multiple publications. The ensuing controversy over Lehrer's "self-plagiarism" prompted <em>Radiolab</em>’s Jad Abumrad to <a href="http://www.radiolab.org/blogs/radiolab-blogland/2012/jun/22/jonah/">write a blog post</a> in Lehrer’s defense. “The notion that Jonah is a ‘plagiarist’ is beyond ridiculous,” Abumrad wrote on June 22. “And the way in which some journalists are jumping up and down, claiming he’s no longer a ‘writer’ but an ‘idea man’ or an example of ‘male arrogance’…that’s just plain ugly.” As of that writing, Lehrer had appeared on <em>Radiolab</em> 17 times.<br />
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In March, <em>This American Life</em> <a href="http://www.thisamericanlife.org/blog/2012/03/a-website-note">took down (for a second time)</a> several stories by reporter Stephen Glass, who in 1998 was found to have concocted parts of articles he’d written for national publications.Mike Janssenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00226972469649467047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389902.post-62925282090068546252012-07-30T16:17:00.000-04:002012-07-30T16:17:49.680-04:00Ford Foundation backs second for-profit newsroom: The Washington PostThe Ford Foundation, a frequent backer of pubmedia, has awarded another grant to a for-profit media company. Ford will give $500,000 to <i>The Washington Post </i>to support reporting on accountability in state and local government, according to a <i>Post </i>memo to staff <a href="http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/mediawire/183327/ford-foundation-gives-washington-post-500000-grant-for-government-accountability-reporting/">posted on Poynter.org</a>. The <i>Post </i>will use the funds to hire four new staffers.<br />
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In May, Ford awarded the <i>Los Angeles Times</i> $1.04 million to cover new beats including immigration and the California prison system. At the time, <a href="http://www.current.org/funding/funding1210ford-LAtimes.html">pubcasting analysts told <i>Current</i></a> that a growing trend of foundations backing for-profit operations could lead to increased competition for financial support. The <i>Post</i> grant comes from the foundation's Freedom of Expression program, which also supports NPR, ProPublica and other pubmedia outlets.<br />
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The <i>Post </i>and <i>Times </i>grants remain small change, however, compared to the foundation's recently completed five-year, $50 million <a href="http://www.current.org/funding/funding1210ford-LAtimes.html">pubmedia funding initiative</a>, as well as its support of new coverage areas in nonprofit newsrooms such as <i>Marketplace </i>and ProPublica.Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11201514281480752152noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389902.post-89940141888049645302012-07-30T15:12:00.000-04:002012-07-30T15:12:52.425-04:00Moyers celebrates 100,000 Facebook fans with online messageVeteran newsman Bill Moyers posted <a href="http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151156113505832">a special video message on the <i>Moyers and Company</i> Facebook page</a> on Monday, to mark a milestone. "In just a few months, we've acquired 100,000 Facebook fans," Moyers said. "I know because I counted each and every one of you myself." Moyers said he and his team are proud and "deeply grateful" for the support of the online community "dedicated to truth-telling and democracy."Druhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04113068910907963072noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389902.post-14942648631308787402012-07-30T11:44:00.001-04:002012-07-30T13:38:56.075-04:00Jacobs Media shares findings from annual tech surveyJacobs Media has <a href="http://www.jacobsmedia.com/articles/prts4results.asp">shared some data</a> from its fourth annual Public Radio Tech Survey. Among the statistics:<br />
<ul><li>The number of respondents using tablets such as Apple’s iPad increased 407 percent over last year. Use of smartphones continues to grow as well.</li>
<li>Nearly half of public radio members have been members for five years or less.</li>
<li>Four of 10 listeners do most of their radio listening in cars.</li>
<li>One in 10 owns a vehicle with a “digital dashboard” such as the Ford SYNC.</li>
<li>Texting and use of social networks has continued to grow from year to year.</li>
</ul>Jacobs Media will present the full study in a keynote address Sept. 13 at the Public Radio Program Directors conference in Las Vegas.Mike Janssenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00226972469649467047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389902.post-11660944000603884592012-07-30T10:29:00.000-04:002012-07-30T10:29:33.898-04:00GPB laying off staffers as it outsources station master-control operationsGeorgia Public Broadcasting is laying off eight full-time employees and nine part-timers as it outsources its master-control operations over the next 90 to 120 days, station spokesperson Nancy Zintak told <i>Current</i>.<br />
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Transitioning its master control to <a href="http://www.encompass-m.com/what-we-do/centralcasting/">Encompass Digital Media</a> in Atlanta will save the state network around $300,000 annually, Zintak said. <br />
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Zintak said GPB “looked very carefully” at the two CPB-backed public-broadcasting centralcasters, the <a href="http://www.current.org/tech/tech1207centralcast.html">Jacksonville Digital Convergence Alliance</a> that serves seven stations from Florida, and <a href="http://www.current.org/tech/tech1119mastercontrols.html">Centralcast LLC</a>, running controls for 13 stations in New York and New Jersey. A “huge part” of the decision, Zintak said, was that Encompass is an Atlanta-based company. “And, Encompass is up and running now,” she said. The digital media services firm has facilities in the United States, United Kingdom and Asia. Its clients include A&E Networks, CBS, Disney/ABC, BBC Worldwide, and Discovery Networks, <a href="http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/55504/outsourced-master-control-drives-nbc-oos">according to TVNewsCheck</a> — which calls the Encompass Atlanta operation "huge, complex and the first of its kind in American broadcasting." <br />
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GPB runs one main HD channel and two digital channels, GPB Kids and GBP Knowledge, which is a hybrid of the pub-affairs/documentary World channel and educational programming. GPB's main channel feeds nine stations covering 98 percent of the state.<br />
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Zintak said an employment consultant is working with affected employees, and Encompass is interviewing some for possible positions there.Druhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04113068910907963072noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389902.post-41954374540824072042012-07-27T17:46:00.001-04:002012-07-29T15:31:34.241-04:00New Orleans journalism venture won't compete with T-P, Wilson saysThe new <a href="http://currentpublicmedia.blogspot.com/2012/07/npr-wwno-launching-new-nonprofit.html" target="_blank">nonprofit newsroom that NPR and WWNO</a> announced today will not compete directly with the <i>Times-Picayne</i>, NPR's Kinsey Wilson told <i>Current</i> in an interview.<br />
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The <i>Wall Street Journal</i>, which <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443343704577551262563081728.html" target="_blank">first reported on plans</a> for a hybrid radio-digital news operation covering New Orleans, played up the potential for competition between the news outlets, but Wilson sees it differently. "I
wouldn't characterize it as a competitor," said NPR's chief content officer and digital strategist. "Frankly I
don't think that's how anybody locally [sees it], and certainly not how
we're looking at it."<br />
<br />
WWNO and various New Orleans community leaders attempted to rally behind the <i>T-P</i> when cutbacks were announced in June, Wilson said. He cited efforts to convince Advance Publications, the
newspaper's owner, to reconsider its
decision to suspend daily publication or to sell the paper. Discussions of an alternative news service began after it became clear that Advance was proceeding in its plan to scale back <i>T-P</i>'s publishing to three print editions per week. <br />
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"They don't want to go head-to-head with the <i>Times-Picayune</i>
on every different type of coverage," Wilson said, referring to those who developed plans for NewOrleansReporter.org. "They want to focus on those areas
that may not get the full attention of the newspaper," Wilson said.<br />
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The new newsroom with be staffed by 10 to 20 journalists, and will produce multiplatform reporting for radio and online audiences.<br />
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NPR
will provide training and technical assistance for both the
broadcast and digital sides of the operation, according to Wilson, who
noted that WWNO currently has such a <a href="http://current.org/news/news1202newsrooms.html">small news footprint</a>
that the NewOrleansReporter.org will have to be built
from the ground up in time for its launch by the end of the year.<br />
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NPR will provide funding from a <a href="http://digitalservices.npr.org/post/knight-foundation-awards-15m-grant-support-news-training">Knight Foundation grant</a>
awarded in December 2011 for digital expansion of member stations, and
it will work to help secure other grants for the project. The exact amount NPR will be contributing is currently unknown. "It's literally coming together as we speak," Wilson said.Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11201514281480752152noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389902.post-74471767856518724652012-07-27T10:29:00.000-04:002012-07-27T17:11:04.628-04:00NPR, WWNO launching new nonprofit newsroom in New OrleansNPR is launching a new nonprofit newsroom in New Orleans in
conjunction with WWNO, the local public radio station owned by the University
of New Orleans, <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443343704577551262563081728.html">the
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wall Street Journal</i> reports</a>. The partners announced the changes today.<br />
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The new venture, which will include a revamped, local-news–focused
WWNO lineup as well as the website <a href="http://neworleansreporter.org/">NewOrleansReporter.org</a>, is a response to the
declining resources of the city’s daily for-profit newspaper, the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Times-Picayune</i>. On June 12 the owners of
the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">T-P</i> <a href="http://www.nola.com/business/index.ssf/2012/06/times-picayune_employees_to_le.html">announced
plans</a> to cut 201 personnel, nearly a third of its staff, and cut back print
operations to three days a week beginning in the fall.<br />
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“This is an exciting opportunity to converge digital, mobile and broadcast together in a multiplatform newsroom for New Orleans,” Paul Maassen, g.m. of WWNO, said in an accompanying <a href="http://wwno.org/post/university-new-orleans-launch-nonprofit-newsroom">press release</a>. “We are grateful for the support the community has shown for this initiative.”<br />
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Maassen will oversee the new shared newsroom and coordinate both digital and broadcast content.<br />
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According to the release, the content on NewOrleansReporter.org will be "open source" and available free of charge to any local or national news outlet. The topics reporters will cover will include "public accountability and government, business, education, criminal justice, the environment, and arts and culture".</div>
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The new nonprofit will operate out of UNO’s campus, <a href="http://www.nola.com/tv/index.ssf/2012/07/wwno-fm_uno_to_establish_nonpr.html">according
to NOLA.com</a>, the online arm of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">T-P</i>.
The project will be funded annually by upwards of $2 million in memberships, donations and
sponsorships, with major support coming from Greater New Orleans Inc., the
Urban League of Greater New Orleans, the Business Council of New Orleans and
the River Region, and the Great New Orleans Foundation. </div>
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WWNO’s new news-oriented schedule went into effect on Monday.<br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">This story has been updated. </i></div>Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11201514281480752152noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389902.post-42438013890229337892012-07-27T09:55:00.000-04:002012-07-27T09:55:48.856-04:00Alum group "implores" NPR's Cokie Roberts to consider heading up Louisiana State USeveral Louisiana State University alums are attempting to persuade NPR contributor and former congressional correspondent Cokie Roberts to become its next leader, <a href="http://www.lsureveille.com/news/alumni-see-leader-in-npr-reporter-1.2748632#.UBKaTqCuneX">reports LSU's <i>Daily Reveille</i></a>. Chancellor Mike Martin is leaving for Colorado State in August, and former LSU System President John Lombardi was fired in April.<br />
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There's even a Facebook page, <a href="http://www.facebook.com/groups/cokieforlsu/">Cokie Roberts for LSU</a>. <br />
<br />
Alum Kyle Alagood, leading the effort to draft Roberts, said her “independent clout” would be valuable. Roberts, a New Orleans native, is "someone who is recognized as a leader, removed from the political process and removed from the state, but still with a tie to it.”<br />
<br />
Alagood said has emailed Roberts, telling her it is “imperative that the new leader or leaders be prominent Louisianans with experience and reputations beyond the state’s borders. We implore you to consider submitting your name as Louisiana State University’s next chancellor or system president.”<br />
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There’s been no response yet, Alagood said.Druhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04113068910907963072noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389902.post-88436326636650387442012-07-27T09:25:00.000-04:002012-07-27T09:25:31.641-04:00PBS Kids apps: "learning moments on-the-go"Sara DeWitt, vice president of PBS Kids Interactive, discusses PBS's approach in the mobile realm for children's educational content <a href="http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2012/07/profile-pbs-kids-apps/">in an interview on Wired</a>. "PBS has assembled two advisory boards to help us make sure we’re being thoughtful, purposeful and appropriate as we develop on these new platforms," DeWitt said. "Advisory board members include academics, teachers, organizations that advocate for children, and digital content experts." DeWitt said there's currently 17 PBS Kids apps available on the App Store, one Android app, "and many more projects in the pipeline."Druhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04113068910907963072noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389902.post-43975469675714762552012-07-26T16:06:00.001-04:002012-07-26T17:06:37.781-04:00Pacifica Foundation Board won't renew contracts for two top executivesThe national board of the Pacifica Foundation voted Sunday (July 22) to begin a search for two new top executives. The board will not renew contracts for Executive Director Arlene Engelhardt and Chief Financial Officer LaVarn Williams, which both expire Nov. 30. The two were invited to apply for new terms in their positions.<br />
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The action was reported in an email to the SaveKPFA listserv and confirmed by Margy Wilkinson, chair of the local station board at KPFA, Pacifica's Berkeley station, who attended the meeting.<br />
<br />
In a separate, related action, budget cuts totaling $1 million at Pacifica’s five radio stations, ordered by Engelhardt in the wake of an auditor’s report, were put on hold (<a href="http://www.current.org/funding/funding1213pacifica.html"><i>Current</i>, July 9</a>). A motion passed on Monday (July 23) by the board ordered the stations to assess their upcoming income and expenses and submit plans to deal with any projected shortfalls. “It requires the local stations to take responsibility for their own problems,” instead of submitting to across-the-board cuts, said Wilkinson, noting that Pacifica’s two California stations, KPFA and Los Angeles’ KPFK, are both in relatively good financial shape. The plans are due July 30. <i>— Elizabeth Jensen</i>Druhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04113068910907963072noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389902.post-15995992711762507322012-07-26T14:27:00.002-04:002012-07-26T15:36:33.918-04:00WGBH, the top producer of PBS programs, now owns Public Radio InternationalIn a move signalling its ambitions to extend its clout and influence in public radio, Boston's WGBH has acquired Public Radio International, the Minnesota-based program distributor of radio programs such as <i>This American Life</i>, <i>The World</i> and <i>The Takeaway</i>.<br />
<br />
Financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed, but the sale will help to stabilize the nonprofit program distributor PRI, which ran an operating deficit of $2 million in 2011, according to PRI spokesperson Julia Yager. <br />
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"This is a deal borne out of shared visions," Yager said in an interview with <i>Current</i>. PRI began examining its options last year as its leadership considered the implications of various funding scenarios for public media. <br />
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PRI looked for partners to help it continue distributing radio programming and found that WGBH was best aligned with its own mission and values. The sale was not triggered by the <a href="http://currentpublicmedia.blogspot.com/2012/03/after-20-years-bbc-moving-distribution.html" target="_blank">BBC World Service's decision to end its distribution contract </a>with PRI, Yager said.<br />
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WGBH, the leading producer of PBS programs, is repositioning itself within the public radio system with the purchase. The Boston pubcaster has significantly <a href="http://current.org/radio/radio0923wgbh.shtml" target="_blank">expanded its radio footprint </a>with local audiences over the past few years, and it's now poised to play a bigger role in production and distribution of national radio programs. WGBH produces PRI's <i>The World</i> and is an editorial partner with <a href="http://www.current.org/radio/radio1213takeaway.html" target="_blank"><i>The Takeaway</i></a>, the morning drivetime show that's being revamped as a midday program as grant funding winds down. New York's WNYC co-produces the <i>Takeaway</i> with PRI and other editorial partners.<br />
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The sale transaction, which closed today, establishes PRI as an independent nonprofit affiliate of WGBH. By remaining operationally independent, PRI is able to maintain its existing relationships with program producers and affiliate stations, Yager said.<br />
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<b>Editor's note:</b> An earlier version of this post cited PRI's 2010 tax form in reporting that the program distributor ran operating deficits of $3.6 million and more during the recession.The losses on PRI's IRS Form 990 for 2010, $3.6 million for the fiscal year that ended in July 2010 and $4 million in 2011, were changes in net assets and covered in part by temporarily restricted grants, according to Yager. PRI's operating deficits for those two tax years were $335,000 in 2010 and $2 million in 2011. <br />
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<br /></div>Karenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00122645491679773702noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389902.post-5226224972086581252012-07-26T14:00:00.004-04:002012-07-26T14:00:43.914-04:00Piven to star in Masterpiece/ITV's "Mr. Selfridge" next year<i>Masterpiece</i> and Britain's ITV Studios have inked a deal for <i>Mr. Selfridge</i>, a period drama starring Jeremy Piven, <a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/jeremy-piven-mr-selfridge-pbs-masterpiece-354558">according to <i>Hollywood Reporter</i></a>. Piven is best known for his role as the excitable Hollywood super-agent <a href="http://www.hbo.com/entourage/cast-and-crew/ari/index.html">Ari Gold in the HBO hit <i>Entourage</i></a>.<br />
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The co-production centers on American Harry Gordon Selfridge — nicknamed Mile a Minute Harry — who founded the London department store Selfridges in 1909. His mission was "to make shopping as thrilling as sex," <a href="http://mip.itvstudios.com/news/891/mr-selfridge-drama-from-itv-studios-commissioned-by-itv">according to an ITV description</a>. "Pioneering and reckless, with an almost manic energy, he created a theater of retail where any topic or trend that was new, exciting, entertaining — or sometimes just eccentric — was showcased."<br />
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Creator is Andrew Davies (<i>Pride and Prejudice, Bleak House</i>). The show is set to debut early in 2013.Druhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04113068910907963072noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389902.post-48931675755993341812012-07-26T13:01:00.000-04:002012-07-26T13:01:21.805-04:00Former APT head Pizzato addresses "bigger issue" of his terminationFormer Alabama Public Television Executive Director <a href="http://www.cpb.org/ombudsman/display.php?id=103">Allan Pizzato spoke with CPB Ombudsman Joel Kaplan in a column</a> posted today (July 26). The interview provides Pizzato's first detailed statements since <a href="http://www.current.org/religion/re1212alabama.html">his termination by the Alabama Educational Television Commission</a> on June 12, under pressure from the commission to run shows from conservative activist David Barton.<br />
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"The programming decisions of what is put on the air and what is said on the air," Pizzato told Kaplan, "is the responsibility of the management, executive management and the programmers of that station. It is not the responsibility of the board."<br />
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"That to me is the biggest issue because this is bigger than Alabama Public Television and much bigger than Allan Pizzato," he said. "This is an issue that I know has managers worried all over the system. If there is a governmental agency that is responsible for the license of the station those entities keep an arm's length distance from that board making programming decisions. And my feeling was this was a direct violation of that. It's something that commissioners in the past had agreed to. This commission had not agreed to it. This was my way of trying to get them to see here is the reasoning . . . we never got to that discussion."<br />
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Kaplan weighed in: "The demand by some political appointees of the Alabama Educational Television Commission that APT staff broadcast tapes by David Barton's Wallbuilders group was improper, unethical, and outrageous."Druhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04113068910907963072noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389902.post-2892725149368380422012-07-26T11:04:00.000-04:002012-07-26T11:04:41.843-04:00Spokane School District okays negotiations to turn over KSPS licenseThe board of the Spokane Public Schools voted unanimously Wednesday (July 25) to explore severing ties with its KSPS public television station, <a href="http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2012/jul/26/schools-tv-station-consider-cutting-ties/">according to the local <i>Spokesman-Review</i></a>. If the KSPS board agrees at its meeting tonight (July 26), it would signal the end of a 45-year relationship. The license would be held by the nonprofit Friends of KSPS.<br />
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“As we get more and more budget and funding challenges, it got to a point where we asked: Should we really be in the public television business?" said Mark Anderson, associate superintendent. "Our primary mission is K-12; we need to focus on that."<br />
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The newspaper reported that an analysis by Public Radio Capital determined that by 2023, KSPS on its own could generate $400,000 more in positive cash flow.Druhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04113068910907963072noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389902.post-6598342690115190042012-07-26T10:46:00.001-04:002012-07-30T10:42:12.245-04:00Bob Ross, remixedPBS Digital Studios has released the second in its "Icons Remixed" series. This time, it's <a href="http://youtu.be/YLO7tCdBVrA">the "happy little clouds" painter Bob Ross</a>. The first video in the series, posted in June, <a href="http://youtu.be/OFzXaFbxDcM">featured Fred Rogers</a> and went viral with more than 5 million views.<br />
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<b>UPDATE:</b> As of Monday morning July 30, the Bob Ross video has received 1,657,150 views.Druhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04113068910907963072noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389902.post-39449924165239266432012-07-26T10:39:00.000-04:002012-07-26T10:39:49.719-04:00Sesame Workshop launches educational franchise business in IndiaSesame Workshop is getting into the for-profit educational franchise business, starting with India, where it's launching Sesame Schoolhouse preschools and after-school clubs, <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2012/07/24/sesame-street-leads-to-india/">reports the <i>Wall Street Journal's </i>India Real Time blog</a>.<br />
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The Workshop has had a presence in the country since 2006 with <a href="http://www.galligallisimsim.com/"><i>Galli Galli Sim Sim</i></a>, the Hindi version of <i>Sesame Street</i>. Sesame Workshop India also takes the show on mobile screens into slum communities in five cities.<br />
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Sesame Workshop aims to have 20 franchised schools open by March 2013, with plans for 382 within five years, according to the report. So far, one has opened in Jaipur, the capital and largest city in the northwest Indian state of Rajasthan.<br />
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Franchisees must provide a building with at least 2,000 square feet of covered, carpeted space and adequate outdoor space for the play equipment. A three-year license fee costs 150,000 rupees ($2,700). Sesame Schoolhouse, based in India, oversees the enterprise as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sesame Workshop India and takes 15 percent to 20 percent royalties from a school’s earnings, the newspaper said. Parents will pay between 25,000 rupees and 60,000 rupees a year.<br />
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Profits support Sesame’s other ventures in the country, said Sashwati Banerjee, managing director of Sesame Workshop India.<br />
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<a href="http://www.franchiseindia.com/business-opportunities/Education-Training/Sesame-Schoolhouse/">More details at Franchise India</a>.Druhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04113068910907963072noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389902.post-5930397770453195462012-07-26T10:12:00.004-04:002012-07-27T08:52:34.106-04:00Group to present 100,000 signatures to APT to keep "Religious Right propaganda" off airFaithful America, an online, multi-faith, social-issue advocacy organization,<a href="http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2518/p/salsa/event/common/public/?event_KEY=75512&fb"> will deliver petitions with more than 100,000 signatures to Alabama Public Television headquarters</a> in Birmingham at 11:15 a.m. Central today (July 26). The petitions from <a href="http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2518/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=10894">Faithful America</a> and <a href="http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/public_tv_al/">CREDO Action</a>, a progressive advocacy group, demand that the network "keep Religious Right propaganda off their stations." APT Executive Director Allan Pizzato and his deputy, Pauline Howland, were fired by the Alabama Educational Television Commission on June 12, after Pizzato resisted running programs by conservative activist David Barton (<a href="http://www.current.org/religion/re1212alabama.html"><i>Current</i>, April 25</a>).<br />
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"<b></b>We need a strong turnout to show that people of faith are appalled by this attempted right-wing takeover of public television," an announcement of the Faithful America event says.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgChYk7zUqzvXplVyyzU8_Wk8AIQQLywMOGngs3N5xCT_C9OSqN1opCZf_Rb65a_pXSgtYBBM5dpyn7Ac915iZ2f12TKaUfVksfN1PCLR-sMpk3BntNWHdijl98fifX-_1U13ha/s1600/APT+petitions.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="259" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgChYk7zUqzvXplVyyzU8_Wk8AIQQLywMOGngs3N5xCT_C9OSqN1opCZf_Rb65a_pXSgtYBBM5dpyn7Ac915iZ2f12TKaUfVksfN1PCLR-sMpk3BntNWHdijl98fifX-_1U13ha/s320/APT+petitions.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><b>UPDATE:</b> Faithful America said several Birmingham faith leaders took part in the event this morning as well as Mark Potok (right, at the station), senior fellow at the Southern Poverty Law Center. "David Barton is an extremist propagandist who regularly propagates known falsehoods, defames gay people, Muslims and others he doesn't like, and doesn't believe that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. deserves a place in our high school textbooks," Potok told the gathering. "He is a man without integrity who is pursuing a radical-right agenda while trying to bamboozle the country into believing he is an objective commentator. And that is why he has no place on Alabama Public Television, which is meant to be an educational resource for all people, not just ideologues like David Barton."<br />
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<span style="color: #2f2f2f;">And the Rev. Darryl Kiehl, a local Lutheran clergyman, said, “As a Christian and a pastor I have always trusted public television as a source of reliable information about history and culture. I’m disappointed that APT is even considering broadcasting David Barton’s slanted, misinformed history of America. Since our nation’s founding, Christians have fought for justice, equality and the common good, and Barton's work appears to ignore that. His revisionist history is unworthy of public television.” </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_AiOJTf_kEHHuqr_jmTtRfe4ILYc5gLCHftHnJHhkhleT_0HfQy4lAnQ2xBLYpZwprRWAkqCwvu4WZUmxVhjVlOGKvIAj75KdTkiP7x4WwrllDGdG8UJOmwMvrMMb_dNbJtim/s1600/APT+petitions2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_AiOJTf_kEHHuqr_jmTtRfe4ILYc5gLCHftHnJHhkhleT_0HfQy4lAnQ2xBLYpZwprRWAkqCwvu4WZUmxVhjVlOGKvIAj75KdTkiP7x4WwrllDGdG8UJOmwMvrMMb_dNbJtim/s320/APT+petitions2.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span style="color: #2f2f2f;"><a href="http://www.wbhm.org/News/2012/aptpetition.html">Pubradio WBHM reports</a> that Charles Grantham, station c.o.o., accepted the petitions (right). Of some 114,000 names, around 3,500 came from within Alabama, the station reported. Grantham </span>thanked the representatives for their support, and said the signatures would be delivered to the commission. Grantham also said there are no plans to run the Barton content.<br />
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<span style="color: #2f2f2f;">Grantham <a href="http://currentpublicmedia.blogspot.com/2012/07/chief-operating-officer-of-alabama-ptv.html">sent a letter to Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley</a> protesting the termination of Pizzato and his deputy, Pauline Howland, last week. (Photos: Faithful America.)</span>Druhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04113068910907963072noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389902.post-39449955770038498812012-07-25T10:25:00.002-04:002012-07-25T10:27:57.124-04:00OPB Radio overhauls schedule; drops six shows, adds sevenOregon Public Broadcasting is making major changes to its broadcast radio lineup as of Aug. 6, <a href="http://www.oregonlive.com/movies/index.ssf/2012/07/oregon_public_broadcasting_dro.html">reports <i>The Oregonian</i></a>.<br />
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"All the long-form music programs are going away from OPB radio," John Bell, director of member communications for OPB, told the newspaper. Gone are <i>The Thistle and Shamrock</i>, the Celtic music show the station has carried since the 1980s; the local <i>In House</i> and <i>American Routes</i> are moving to opbmusic.org and HD radio.<br />
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The variety show <i>eTown</i> is canceled, as are the comedy program <i>Michael Feldman's Whad'Ya Know?</i> and Garrison Keillor's daily literary short, <i>The Writer's Almanac</i>.<br />
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"There's not any program that's not popular with some audience," Bell said. "There just are so many other shows, and we've found with shows like <i>Radio Lab</i> and <i>The Moth</i>, there's a wealth of great programs out there that we think deserve a spot on the radio. As our audience has changed, we've found that they're coming to us more for news and information than music. There's just so many hours in a day."<br />
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Among seven new shows coming to OPB Radio: <i>America's Test Kitchen, Moyers & Company</i>, the <i>Ask Me Another</i> quiz show and <i><a href="http://backfencepdx.com/">Back Fence PDX</a></i>, what Bell describes as a local version of <a href="http://www.current.org/radio/radio0917moth.shtml"><i>The Moth</i> storytelling hour</a>.<br />
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Also, OPB Radio will continue airing <i>Car Talk </i><a href="http://current.org/radio/radio1211cartalk.html">after its hosts retire in October</a>. "It's still the most-popular show we have," Bell said. "We're going to leave it on the schedule and evaluate what happens, whether we think the quality suffers or we hear from people that they're tired of the show and want something new."Druhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04113068910907963072noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389902.post-37733656793612224212012-07-25T09:15:00.000-04:002012-07-25T09:15:22.536-04:00Blumenauer hits back at Rubio for pubcasting funding commentsRep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) is defending federal support of public broadcasting in <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rep-earl-blumenauer/senator-rubio-just-doesnt_b_1699710.html">a column on the Huffington Post</a>. Blumenauer mainly addresses <a href="http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2012-07-19/senator-marco-rubio/transcript"><i>The Diane Rehm Show</i> appearance of Sen. Marco Rubio </a>(R-Fla.) last week, during which Rubio — on a talk show on NPR — spoke about how NPR should be defunded.<br />
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Rubio told Rehm that "plenty of other commercial outlets" would run her show. "I beg to differ," Blumenauer writes. "If there were a strong market in commercial radio for programs like <em>The Diane Rehm Show</em>, wouldn't we see them all over the country? We don't see them because commercial demand does not exist. That's why NPR and its member stations remain the sole source of this type of content. More troubling, this attitude shows a fundamental inability to understand that commercializing PBS programming would drastically change its essential nature. Why turn the nation's best forum for sustained public discourse into a carbon copy of all the other programming? People turn to public broadcasting because they already have 500 channels with nothing to watch."Druhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04113068910907963072noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3389902.post-55006897833336532502012-07-24T16:15:00.000-04:002012-07-24T16:15:11.808-04:00Make the most of YouTube with these tipsKevin Dando, PBS's director of digital marketing and communications, recently attended a "Partners Summit" during which YouTube staffers "walked us through a number of strategies and tactics for ensuring that our YouTube videos are seen by as many people as possible." <a href="http://spiblog.pbs.org/2012/07/notes-from-youtubes-partner-summit-tips.html">He shares tips for stations here</a>.Druhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04113068910907963072noreply@blogger.com0