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Russell Morash, ‘This Old House’ creator and ‘Father of How-To’ programs that inspired millions, dies at 88
Russell Morash, director and producer of public television staples This Old House and The French Chef starring Julia Child, died Wednesday after a brief illness. He was 88. GBH in Boston, the producing station that housed Morash’s programs during his tenure, publicly announced his death after it was confirmed by former This Old House producer Nina Fialkow. A public obituary published by the Douglass Funeral Home in Lexington, Mass., said Morash died while surrounded by members of his family.
Appeals court rejects defamation suit by right-wing journalist against NPR, Yahoo News
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled Friday that a self-described investigative journalist did not provide enough proof that NPR and other news providers defamed him. Matthew Couch, founder of the D.C. Patriot, a right-wing news website, had claimed in an August 2020...
George Boosey, programmer who guided WBUR’s news expansion, dies at 77
George Wingrove Boosey, a retired public radio programmer and journalist, died May 11 in Fayetteville, Ga., following a long illness. He was 77. Boosey began his journalism career in his teens, when he worked as a copy boy for the Pulitzer Prize–winning Arkansas Gazette, according to an obituary provided by his family. He reported for the paper from 1965–71 and then joined United Press International, according to his LinkedIn profile.
WUNC to end its music stream and HD2 service
WUNC in North Carolina’s Research Triangle is discontinuing its streaming music service and HD2 signal June 30. WUNC Music, a Triple A music format, started in 2016 and focused on up-and-coming alternative and indie rock artists, GM Paul Hunton told Current. “The streaming/HD2 service never attracted a large enough...
Oregon’s KLCC invests in newsgathering with proceeds from $3M campaign
KLCC in Eugene, Ore., is expanding its local news coverage after surpassing its $3 million campaign goal. The public radio station aims to become a primary news source across more platforms by producing video packages and a daily newsletter, GM Jim Rondeau and Director of Philanthropy Ronnel Curry said in interviews with Current.
Comings and goings: John Sutton named VP at NEPM, Hawaii Public Radio makes host changes for music program ‘Bridging the Gap’ …
New England Public Media announced several staff changes. John Sutton, who was working as interim CCO for the organization, accepted the newly created position of VP of content and audience strategy. Sutton started the interim role with NEPM in April 2023. He previously worked as VP of audiences and revenue...
Unions call for immediate removal of Chicago Public Media CEO
Unions representing staff at Chicago Public Media and the Chicago Sun-Times announced Tuesday a vote of no confidence in CPM CEO Matt Moog. Of the combined union members, 86% participated in the vote with 96% voting no confidence, according to a press release from the two unions. The vote comes...
CPB backs new journalism desk for Alaska’s stations
Alaska Public Media in Anchorage will lead a new journalism collaboration that aims to expand public media’s reporting capacity statewide. A two-year, $936,000 CPB grant funds start-up of the Alaska Desk and will help pay for four new reporters and three shared editors, according to CPB’s Monday news release. The grant also funds a full-time grant writing position and travel and equipment costs.
PBS board approves $373M budget, applauds contract extension for CEO Paula Kerger
The PBS board of directors on Wednesday approved a fiscal year 2025 budget that increases station dues by 4%. The break-even budget aims to generate $227 million from stations in FY25, an increase of $8.7 million from FY24 and about 61% of the $373.4 million total revenues projected for 2025.
Podcast explores how racism of Jim Crow era afflicted generations of journalist’s family
A 10-episode podcast from journalist and author Lee Hawkins examines the intergenerational effects of Jim Crow–era segregation on Black Americans by telling the history of his own family. What Happened in Alabama?, produced in partnership with APM Studios, is a prelude to Hawkins’ forthcoming book Nobody’s Slave: How Uncovering...
Growing costs, falling sponsorship fuel wave of layoffs in pubmedia
Colorado Public Radio CEO Stewart Vanderwilt recalled a lesson from his mother while talking about recent layoffs in public media. His mom would say if you sat down with your neighbor and put everyone’s problems on the table, you would probably be happy to have your family’s problems back, Vanderwilt said.
WVPB unable to renew grant after apparently violating guidelines
One of West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s biggest funders did not ask the organization to apply for a new grant for its Folkways Reporting Project after the WVPB Foundation board chair apparently violated its guidelines by publicly naming it. The Parkersburg News and Sentinel first reported that the Margaret A....
May CDP Index: 7.6% lift in high-dollar gifts powers revenue increases
The Membership Revenue Index for the three-month period ending April 30 showed a 3% increase in Membership revenue compared to the same three-month period in 2023. As in the preceding report and for most of last year, revenue growth is being driven by high-dollar giving and supported by large sustainer populations. The High-dollar Gifts Index shows a 7.6% increase this period, and sustainers increased by 5.2% overall.
PBS lays off 24 staffers, cuts vacant positions
PBS has laid off 24 staffers across several departments and eliminated seven vacant positions, according to a staff memo obtained by Current. PBS President Paula Kerger announced the cuts in a Tuesday memo to station managers. “As we said in our Operating Plan and Budget document for the coming fiscal...
David Freedman, former GM of WWOZ, dies at 80
This obituary first appeared on WWOZ’s website and is republished here with permission from the station. David Freedman, who served as GM of New Orleans radio station WWOZ from 1992 to 2016, died Tuesday after a brief illness. He was 80. David was instrumental in the station’s growth and...
Comings and goings: NPR hires managing editor, CapRadio host takes leave …
Samantha Melbourneweaver joined NPR as managing editor of digital, audience growth and engagement. Melbourneweaver most recently worked as assistant managing editor of audience for the Los Angeles Times. She joined the newspaper in 2018 as deputy audience engagement director and was also audience engagement director. During her tenure, she launched “For Subscribers,” the Times’ subscriber-only content stream that now drives over 30% percent of newsroom digital subscriptions, according to an NPR staff memo.
How KQED is enriching its ‘Forum’ archive with generative AI
This piece first appeared on Medium and is republished here with the author’s permission. Here at KQED, our newsroom has been thinking deeply about how to integrate and balance generative AI into our workflows and toolkits. We’ve worked on a number of early-stage projects, including:. Outlining a first...
New Wisconsin Public Radio station honors late Executive Director Gene Purcell
Wisconsin Public Radio is launching a new music station with call letters honoring Gene Purcell, Wisconsin Public Media’s late executive director. WEPP, which will start broadcasting Thursday on 90.7 FM in Rice Lake, Wis., gets its call letters from Purcell’s given name, Eugene Patrick Purcell. He died due to injuries from a traffic crash in 2021 after more than a decade at the helm of the organizations behind Wisconsin Public Radio and PBS Wisconsin.
WETA announces rebrand of news productions under ‘PBS News’ banner
“PBS News” is now the umbrella name for news and public affairs content produced by WETA in Washington, D.C. The brand rolls out Monday and covers the flagship weeknight TV program PBS News Hour — now with a space inserted into NewsHour — as well as PBS News Weekend and special programming and reporting on websites, social media and digital platforms.
ASL-accessible PBS Kids programs put interpreters inside story frame
A research-backed initiative to incorporate American Sign Language into PBS Kids programs has introduced a new layer of accessibility to six series for preschool children. ASL interpreters appear within the screen and frame of action of 10 episodes for each participating series, including Arthur, Work It Wombats!, Pinkalicious & Peterrific, Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, Donkey Hodie and Alma’s Way. The episodes, adapted with series producers at GBH Kids and Fred Rogers Productions, are available on the PBS Kids digital streaming service.
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