Jim Lewis honored for contributions to pubradio development

DEI honored veteran fundraiser Jim Lewis with its President's Award, presented at the discretion of DEI chief Doug Eichten for outstanding contributions to public radio development. Lewis, who recently retired as a fundraising consultant with Lewis Kennedy Associates, has "dedicated his life and long career in public broadcasting--not only to serving the American public as a reporter, station manager and fundraising executive for public stations--but he also worked to help all of us," Eichten said during a July 15 session at DEI's Public Media Development and Marketing conference in Pittsburgh. "He has played a major role in the professionalization of development of public broadcasting."

In accepting the award, Lewis urged his development colleagues to recruit and mentor a new generation of talent for public radio, paying special attention to "people of color, from different cultures, and from different races....If we do this well we will have solved the problem of remaining relevant."

Lewis is the first professional fundraiser to receive the President's Award. Previous honorees Carl Kasell of NPR and Ira Glass of This American Life were recognized as major public radio talents who "really got" public radio fundraising and actively participated in it, Eichten told Current.

V-me to premiere interactive weekly gaming show

Spanish-language pubTV multicaster V-me premieres an interactive weekly show for gamers, GAME40, at 7:30 p.m. Eastern July 22. V-me said in a July 14 statement that Hispanics, especially bilingual young Hispanic males, over-index in the use of video games of all kinds. GAME40 is "not just a television series," V-me said, but "spans multiple platforms to engage gamers from the novice to the junkie," providing updates on new and upcoming titles, the latest innovations and the week’s best releases. The show is already "a smashing success in Spain," V-me notes.

Pittsburgh news start-up wins CPB aid

CPB is backing development of Essential Public Media, the nonprofit whose purchase of Pittsburgh's WDUQ is pending before the FCC. CPB President Patricia Harrison announced a $250,000 grant supporting start-up of EPM's digital journalism newsroom during a July 14 luncheon at the Public Media Marketing and Development conference in Pittsburgh. "We are confident this will be a model for public media news operations across the country," she said.

EPM began managing day-to-day operations of WDUQ on July 1, adopting an all-news format and scaling jazz music programming back to a six-hour weekend slot on 90.5 FM, its flagship channel. It's begun exploring collaborative editorial partnerships with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and PublicSource, an investigative news start-up that launched with foundation backing this spring, according to Lee Ferraro, manager of Pittsburgh's WYEP, one of the public media nonprofits that's a partner in EPM.

Harrison also announced CPB's continuing commitment to the seven Local Journalism Centers launched by public stations on two-year start-up grants. LJC stations have begun discussing scenarios for operating the centers when CPB's aid expires. "Make no mistake about it--we are committed to the LJCs over the long term," she said. CPB recently issued a request for proposals from consultants to evaluate the progress of the LJCs.

PBS eliminating 21 positions, Kerger tells stations

PBS is eliminating 13 current staff positions and eight vacancies, PBS President Paula Kerger said in a letter to the system today (July 13)."This was not an easy decision to make, and we wish our departing staff the best as they pursue other opportunities," Kerger said. Six "new or restructured" positions also will be added, including two new vice presidents of general audience programming to support the ongoing revamp of PBS's primetime lineup. "Change can be difficult, but I remain convinced that by focusing on our larger goals, we will come out on the other end as a stronger organization prepared to support our mission and stations," Kerger said.

FCC approves rules proposal on low-power FM stations

The Federal Communications Commission is getting closer to creating new low-power FM stations and approving rebroadcasting programming from other stations, according to the Blog of the Legal Times. With a 4-0 vote Tuesday (July 12), the FCC "breaks a longstanding logjam on spectrum," said chairman Julius Genachowski. The problems have been ongoing since 2000, when Congress put low-power radio in urban areas on hold after commercial broadcasters complained about interference.

In Tuesday's Third Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (PDF), the FCC approved lifting a freeze on processing translator applications and resuming licensing of translator stations in most smaller and rural markets. In urban markets, applicants must re-file. The commission also proposed moving ahead with applications for new low-power licenses within a year.

The Prometheus Radio Project, which advocates for low-power radio, praised the vote in a statement. “Today the FCC starts to redeem the promise made to thousands of community groups and national organizations that successfully fought to pass the Local Community Radio Act,” said Brandy Doyle, policy director at Prometheus. “The Act requires the FCC to ensure channels for low-power stations, and we believe a market-specific solution could accomplish that.”

Telluride's KOTO could begin accepting underwriting

KOTO, broadcasting to Telluride, Colo., and surrounding environs from its purple house on Pine Street, is really feeling a financial pinch — particularly because it's one of only six pubradio stations in the country that does not accept underwriting. Its news staff was recently pared to just one reporter, and its executive director got a salary cut; other pay and benefit reductions could follow. So the station soon will survey its members to ask if online or on-air underwriting would be acceptable, reports the Telluride Daily Planet. KOTO's support from CPB has dwindled from $170,000 three years ago to less than $92,000 this year. That makes its traditional summer fundraising efforts — "special events such as the potato black bean sauté," the paper says — more important than ever. "We’re constantly working on our events, thinking of new ones and trying to make the old ones work,” said Steve Kennedy, executive director.

Attention RSSers

Don't miss Current's story on the fourth station to drop PBS membership this year, WIPR-TV in Puerto Rico. It's a production powerhouse, creating seven hours of content each day, plus the only public TV station with its own 24/7 news channel. The station spent a year in negotiations with PBS, a WIPR exec said, over its $713,000 dues and lack of access to children's programming in Spanish.

Ramer makes Hollywood Reporter's Power Lawyers list

Bruce Ramer, board chairman for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, has been selected by the Hollywood Reporter as one of its Power Lawyers for 2011. Gang Tyre Ramer & Brown "is one of Hollywood's top talent boutiques," the paper says, and Ramer's longtime clients include Steven Spielberg and Clint Eastwood.

Mississippi Public Broadcasting selects newspaper editor as new director

Ronnie Agnew, executive editor of the Clarion-Ledger in Jackson, Miss., for nearly a decade, is the new head of Mississippi Public Broadcasting, the newspaper reports. MPB's former executive director, Judith Lewis, resigned last September after her controversial decision to discontinue Fresh Air (Current, July 26, 2010). Agnew was selected as the 50th recipient of the Samuel Talbert Silver Em Award, the University of Mississippi’s highest journalism honor. He serves as a member of the American Society of News Editors’ board of directors and chairs its diversity committee. Agnew has worked at Gannett newspapers in Hattiesburg and Cincinnati as well as Jackson for most of the past 20 years. Leaving the newspaper, as one of the few black editors heading a U.S. daily, is wrenching, Agnew told Richard Prince, author of the Maynard Institute blog on media diversity. "I am assured that I will have more time to spend with my family," Agnew said. "This move is about family. ... This move is about taking Mississippi Public Broadcasting to the next level through knowledge as a journalist gleaned over 27 years."

David Axelrod calls Juan Williams' new book "well worth reading"

Former NPR news analyst Juan Williams' book hits stores next week. Muzzled: The Assault on Honest Debate chronicles the months after he said on Fox News that he felt uneasy with airline passengers wearing traditional Muslim garb. NPR fired him, which riled conservatives and triggered a firestorm on Cap Hill during important pubcasting funding hearings. The Atlantic notes that David Axelrod, a senior adviser to President Obama, is quoted in a blurb on the book's cover: "For any American who fears the coarsening of our political debate has become an impediment to our progress as a people — and, more importantly, is wondering how to fix it — Juan Williams has written a book well worth reading." Publication date: July 26. The Crown Publishers book is available from Amazon and other booksellers.