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How journalists can shape society through ethical storytelling
In a time when Americans are more polarized by politics than ever, when people can access information more easily than ever, and when trust in media is at an all-time low, journalism has the power to be a healing and connecting force for our democracy. To do this, journalists first...
‘Nova’ marks 50 years with blend of new and old programming about engineering, space
When Nova debuted, humans had landed on the moon only five years earlier. Fifty years later, the PBS science program is exploring corners of the universe, and even aspects of life on Earth, that were unfathomable when it began. To celebrate a half-century as a fixture on public TV, Nova...
Oregon Public Broadcasting taps CNN’s Rachel Smolkin as CEO
Rachel Smolkin was named president and CEO of Oregon Public Broadcasting. Smokin, who starts the job in September, will succeed longtime leader Steve Bass, who announced plans to retire last year. “As we celebrated our first 100 years, we were looking for a dynamic leader to chart the way forward...
SAG-AFTRA files unfair labor practice charge against Chicago Public Media
Chicago Public Media’s Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists union has filed an unfair labor practice charge against the organization. SAG-AFTRA claimed in the charge filed Monday with the National Labor Relations Board that CPM has been withholding information from the union. “Since on or about...
Three years in, the Recording Inclusivity Initiative is still fighting to diversify classical radio
On Elevate, the brand new album from All Classical Radio’s Recording Inclusivity Initiative, you won’t find any Bach concertos or quirky new takes on Beethoven’s symphonies. Instead, you’ll find recordings by Japanese-born composer Yuko Uébayashi and Black American composer Damien Geter, as well as a sonata by Nobu Kōda, a long under-heralded female composer who, in the late 1800s, created some of the first works ever written by a Japanese composer in the Western style.
House subcommittee recommends more funding for Next Generation Warning System
The House Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee recommended $40 million in funding Tuesday for the Next Generation Warning System for fiscal year 2025. The program, which receives the funding through the Federal Emergency Management Agency and is managed by CPB, was first given $40 million in fiscal year 2022 and received an additional $56 million in FY23. Since its creation, the program has funded public safety and infrastructure projects for stations in Alabama, Alaska, Florida, Colorado, Michigan, Mississippi and Texas.
CPB’s first post-pandemic analysis of stations finds stagnating radio revenue, drop in TV income
CPB’s first State of the System report since the waning of the COVID-19 pandemic found stagnating radio revenues and a decline in TV revenue. Fiscal year 2023 revenue among all stations declined $11 million from FY22, or 0.4%, according to CPB’s analysis. The findings were presented Wednesday at the Public Media Business Association’s annual conference in St. Louis.
Jac Venza, founder of public TV’s ‘Great Performances,’ dies at 97
Jac Venza, a former public television executive for the WNET Group in New York who founded the performing arts series Great Performances in 1972, died Tuesday at his home in Old Lyme, Conn. He was 97. A cause of death was not disclosed. In 1972, Venza founded the precursor to...
Detroit PBS lands $7.5M matching gift as it plans new campus
With an indoor/outdoor performance area and a studio with 300 seats for audience members, Detroit PBS’ planned new headquarters will be a community campus. “Everything we do starts with engaging the community and bringing them into the organization,” Detroit PBS CEO Rich Homberg told Current. Detroit PBS unveiled...
Comings and goings: Dan Lothian named editor of GBH newsroom, NPR appoints deputy managing editor of digital …
GBH named Dan Lothian editor-in-chief of the station’s newsroom and The World. Lothian, who joined GBH in 2021, is currently EP of The World, the daily global news program produced by the station and PRX. He started in the new role Saturday and succeeded Pam Johnston, who held the title of GM.
Louisville Public Media lays off eight staff amid budget shortfall
Louisville Public Media laid off eight staffers and cut two more unfilled positions earlier this week, according to an LPM news story. The station is facing a budget deficit of more than $750,000 and plans to cut operating expenses by 10%, according to the story. Six full-time and two part-time staff were laid off.
Kwame Alexander created a poem about public media with help from ‘Viewers Like You’
During the PBS Annual Meeting earlier this month in Las Vegas, poet and best-selling author Kwame Alexander read an original crowdsourced poem he wrote after speaking with people nationwide about the power of public media’s storytelling. Before he read the poem, Alexander explained that he wanted to write something...
Stations in Alabama, Texas and Alaska receive $1.3 million from Next Gen Warning System
CPB announced three more stations that will receive federal funding to upgrade their equipment and capacity to transmit enhanced emergency alerts. Alabama Public Television; KLRN in San Antonio, Texas; and KYUK in Bethel, Alaska, received grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Next Generation Warning System program. “The Next...
Nebraska Public Media receives donation of online news sites
Nebraska Public Media plans to continue the online journalism of two Omaha newspapers. and its Spanish-language sister publication El Perico were gifted to the joint licensee, according to an announcement earlier this month. Both monthly newspapers published farewell editions in September of last year, although a film reviewer has continued...
Apple update disrupts podcast downloads, but blow is softened for some stations
An update to Apple’s iOS last fall that caused concern in the podcasting world has caused significant drops in downloads for some public broadcasters, including NPR. But it’s not all doom and gloom. Released in September, iOS 17 included what Apple called “improvements to the way Automatic Downloads...
LAist’s ‘Inheriting’ podcast aims to shed light on Asian American and Pacific Islander history and community
A new narrative podcast is attempting to bridge the gap between the personal and the historical by shining a light on the stories of seven Asian American and Pacific Islander families from Southern California. Inheriting, a production of LAist Studios distributed by the NPR Network, finds Emily Kwong, host of...
Comings and goings: WFIT appoints PD, Nine PBS adds senior directors to development team …
WFIT in Melbourne, Fla., announced two hires. Steven Keller joined the station as PD. He previously worked as GM and PD for WCVF at the State University of New York in Fredonia, N.Y., and is a singer in the band Best Supporting Actor. “As a long-time fan of the station,...
San Francisco’s KQED eliminates 34 positions
Nineteen staffers at KQED in San Francisco are being laid off, 11 are taking early retirement or voluntary buyouts, and four open jobs will not be filled, according to a news story by the station. The joint licensee is also ending Rightnowish, a podcast about arts and culture, KQED reported.
Marcia Smith, president of Firelight Media, plans to step down
Marcia Smith, co-founder and president of Firelight Media, the nonprofit production company that airs many of its films on public television, plans to step down from the organization. Smith will stay at Firelight Media until a successor is chosen. A national search for a new leader will begin this month.
How public media can help shape ethical AI voice technology
The recent news of OpenAI suspending its “Sky” voice after actor Scarlett Johansson threatened legal action has sparked significant concerns within the AI industry and around the world. In a statement Monday, Johansson expressed shock and anger that OpenAI “would pursue a voice that sounded so eerily similar to mine that my closest friends and news outlets could not tell the difference.”
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