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APM’s ‘Splendid Table’ podcast to be distributed by Vox Media
American Public Media’s The Splendid Table will join the Vox Media Podcast Network. Vox announced Monday that it will take on sales and distribution of the podcast version of the show, along with its spinoff The One Recipe. The Splendid Table will keep airing on more than 400 public...
Stephen Gong to retire as leader of Center for Asian American Media
Stephen Gong will retire as executive director for the Center for Asian American Media. Gong plans to leave the San Francisco–based organization, which oversees the annual CAAMFest, at the end of the year. He will continue in his role until a successor is hired. “Over my nearly two decades...
NPR updates newsmag strategy to address audience declines
NPR has begun making strategic changes to its newsmagazines in an attempt to reverse a trend in audience loss. Among the changes it’s making on its flagship programs Morning Edition and All Things Considered are including more stories in the 2- to 3-minute range, featuring a broader range of topics and shifting to a livelier and more conversational presentation style.
Pubmedia faces financial, governance challenges in filling local news ‘void,’ new report says
Public media stations need stable funding and changes such as a mandate that boards represent their communities in order to address the issues facing local news, a new report says. The Center for Study of Responsive Law, a public interest group founded by Ralph Nader, released the study Thursday. “The...
CPB selects PBS SoCal to pilot civics initiative
PBS SoCal will lead the pilot phase of CPB’s multimedia content and civic engagement initiative that launches next year. Six public stations will join the Los Angeles PBS station in producing 35 multimedia stories on volunteerism and civic life. CPB announced the grant Monday during its 2024 Thought Leader Forum, held in conjunction with the National Educational Telecommunications Association conference in Pittsburgh.
Union group calls for CPB to add board member representing workers’ interests
A coalition of unions associated with the AFL-CIO announced a policy agenda this month that includes a push to appoint a member to CPB’s board who would represent workers’ interests. The agenda is being advanced by the AFL-CIO’s Department for Professional Employees, which oversees an arts, entertainment and...
PBS Fort Wayne GM Bruce Haines to retire
Bruce Haines, president and GM of PBS Fort Wayne in Indiana, will retire from the station next year. Haines told Current in an email that he will stay at the station until a successor is chosen. “We expect the process to go through spring of next year, so I’m still on board,” he said. “No plans presently to have an interim leader.”
WLRN staffers announce intent to unionize
A group of WLRN staffers notified management of their intent to unionize, according to a post Monday on X, formerly known as Twitter. The group, made up of hosts, reporters, producers and staff in other content-related roles, posted a letter calling on management to voluntarily recognize their union with the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.
Comings and goings: Rocky Mountain Public Media appoints VP, APMG hires SVP and general counsel …
Ayana Contreras was promoted to VP of radio for Rocky Mountain Public Media in Denver. Contreras succeeds Tina Cartagena, who joined the station in 1985. Contreras will lead The Drop, a hip hop and R&B station, and jazz station KUVO. She will continue working as The Drop’s PD and host of KUVO’s Soulful Strut, roles she’s held since November.
NPR hopes podcast bundle can gain traction after slow start
The NPR+ podcast bundle has been off to a slow start since its rollout in 2022, but network and station leaders say they are hopeful success is not too far off. The bundle gives station donors ad-free listening and exclusive content for a group of NPR podcasts. It is among the strategic initiatives of the NPR Network to help grow station revenue and membership.
August CDP Index: Inconsistent high-dollar performance, new donor challenges mean rough start for fiscal year
This first report of what for many is the start of the fiscal year shows a year off to a rocky start. The Membership Revenue Index for the three-month period ending July 31 showed a 0.3% decrease in Membership revenue compared to the same three-month period in 2023 — in line with flat revenue results for most of the first half of calendar year 2024. Revenue change has fluctuated from -0.3% to 2.9% since November 2023. Three of the four giving metrics in the index experienced declines this month, including revenue, new donors and high-dollar gifts. Only sustaining donor counts saw growth.
Why public media’s past might be its future
Since its founding in the 1920s, public broadcasting played two important and inseparable roles — the creation of content and the distribution of content. In those early years, creating content required expensive equipment that was available only to professionals; distributing it required an FCC license. Both were huge barriers to entry for content creators and distributors for decades.
Arkansas PBS CEO promises internal changes, no more questionable audit findings
An audit into Arkansas PBS’ “procurements and related processes” continued to raise concerns from state lawmakers about the educational television network’s business practices at a Friday meeting. The Legislative Joint Auditing Committee sent the audit report to its State Agencies subcommittee to be discussed further next...
MPR and nonprofit Braver Angels want Minnesotans to ‘disagree better’ about politics
Minnesota Public Radio correspondent Catharine Richert knew there must be a better way. Over years of covering politics, disinformation and COVID, she’d interviewed people who had cut off loved ones because of who they voted for and friend groups fractured over the COVID vaccine. And she met people so sick of fighting that they had checked out of politics — and voting — altogether.
New York Public Radio cuts 26 positions, ends ‘Notes From America’
New York Public Radio is eliminating 26 positions and will cut back on podcasts and live events, CEO LaFontaine Oliver announced in an email to staff Thursday. The station will also end production of the show Notes From America, which it began distributing nationally two years ago. Its last broadcast will be Dec. 29.
Children’s podcast clubs grow membership for WBUR, Vermont Public
Two membership programs built around popular children’s podcasts are bringing in new donors for New England–based public media stations. A new membership program for Vermont Public’s But Why debuted at the end of last October. Since then, the But Why Fan Club had brought in 109 unique...
Why ‘Bowling Alone’ falls short as a framework for civic engagement
This commentary was first published in the National Federation of Community Broadcasters’ monthly newsletter and is republished here with permission. It’s back-to-school time, and I often reflect on my days as a university professor and founding faculty member of Bay Path University’s nonprofit management and philanthropy program. I miss having an official excuse to buy a planner, notebook and new pens – though I still indulge in these small pleasures. I used to begin my first note to students with: “Brinnnggg! That’s the old sound of the school bell signaling the start of class.” This set the tone for open discussions, emphasizing the value of diverse opinions.
Film revisiting ‘Bowling Alone’ revives calls for public media to focus on civic engagement
Nearly 30 years ago, the political scientist Robert Putnam shook the media landscape when he published research explaining why Americans seemed to be increasingly disengaged with civics and their respective communities. His 1995 paper in the Journal of Democracy went viral at the time. “Bowling Alone: America’s Declining Social Capital,”...
How early-career public radio journalists learn to shape their on-air voices
How do on-air journalists learn about expectations for self-presentation? That’s one of the central questions I take up in my new book Performing the News: Identity, Authority, and the Myth of Neutrality (Rutgers University Press). Over the last several years, I interviewed dozens of current and former journalists from...
Arizona PBS receives $10M gift, largest in its history
Arizona PBS has received a $10 million gift from a couple, the largest donation in the station’s history. Sue Hart-Wadley and Searle Wadley’s donation will fund the purchase and construction of a new broadcast tower, a national science-based program and educational outreach throughout the state, according to a news story published by the station’s licensee, Arizona State University.
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