President Trump wants to defund public broadcasting in the name of economy, but it’s really typical Trump score-settling. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting received 0.01 percent of the federal budget last year, and most of that went to support PBS and NPR stations in the rural areas that voted for Trump. Kids in the hinterlands can’t watch PBS on HBO since cable companies won’t wire up farm country.
NPR (formerly “National Public Radio”) showed off its new 400,000-square-foot headquarters to media rivals last week, and reporters’ attention wandered from the state-of-the-art digital production facilities to the wellness center, employee gym with a trainer, green roof complete with beehives, and the gourmet cafe with its resident chef. Seems pretty luxurious for a nonprofit outfit.
“The man who accused Kevin Clash, the voice and puppeteer of the Sesame Street character Elmo, of an under-age sexual relationship has recanted that claim, his lawyer said on Tuesday.
The reversal came a day after the claim was published by the gossip Web site TMZ, threatening Mr. Clash’s reputation and alarming parents and other fans of the beloved children’s television franchise.”
“The Million Puppet March — a political rally against Mitt Romney’s debate remarks about Big Bird and cutting funding to public television — may not have actually been a million puppets strong, but furry monsters came from far and near in a post-Halloween parade of support for PBS on Saturday.
The march to the Capitol set off from Lincoln Park shortly after 11 a.m., with the participants singing the “Sesame Street” theme song, and the Muppets’ “Mahna Mahna.” They were asked to keep to the sidewalk, but the hundreds of marchers soon spilled into the street, requiring a police escort. They chanted:
‘Power to the puppets! We can save the Muppets!’
‘Whose street? Sesame Street!’
‘What do we want? Cookies! When do we want them? Now!’
‘EL-MO! We won’t go!’
–“The Million Puppet March: Fighting for public broadcasting, with felt and fur,” Maura Judkis, Washington Post
Today is the 100th anniversary of TV chef Julia Child’s birth, and it’s like food fans have been whipped into a frothy frenzy by balloon whisks. They’ve served up a music video (above), a Google Doodle, restaurant celebrations, and events at the Smithsonian, where Julia’s kitchen is now installed. Bon appétit, et joyeux anniversaire Julia!
Tom and Ray Magliozzi will put their weekly Car Talk radio program up on blocks in September. The program ran for 10 years as a local feature on Boston’s WBUR-FM before being picked up by NPR stations nationwide 25 years ago. Tom Magliozzi is turning 75 this year and, according to his brother Ray, has decided that even one hour’s work a week is too much.
“Car Guys” Tom and Ray received a Peabody Award in 1992 and have been inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame. More importantly, they have been honored by the Martin Guitar Company with a special edition Click and Clack Martin Guitar (great muffler inlay on the fifth fret).
Car Talk’s drive train may be shot but, like any old beater, it’s still got some decent parts. The show’s archivist and editors will bolt them together and test drive them on public radio starting in October.
National Public Radio execs are on a road trip to demo web services to the network’s 268 affiliated U.S. radio stations. The roadshow is also an effort to calm stations upset by earlier indications that purchase of expensive digital services would be required of all affiliates. NPR recently bought the Public Interactive web services company from Public Radio International.
PNC Bank and public TV’s Sesame Street say they are teaming up to teach kids about money. David Sirota explains it another way: “A bailed-out financial institution teams up with PBS to teach our kids how to spend money on useless crap.”
“‘Sesame Street’: Brought to you by PNC Bank,” David Sirota, Salon
“PNC” logo and the Sesame Street logo element and creature are property of their respective trademark owners and used here under the “Parody” provisions of the “Fair Use” doctrine. Hey, if PNC hasn’t paid back all that Federal bailout money, taxpayers probably own some rights in their stuff anyway.
Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com
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Until he was fired yesterday, Juan Williams was a News Analyst on NPR (formerly National Public Radio). Before that, he was an NPR News Correspondent, a reporting position. For the past few years, Mr. Williams has also held a second job as a Fox News commentator. His statements there are more unconstrained, more about opinion than reportage of fact.
We don’t know if Fox commentators have a code of ethics, but NPR journalists do, and it specifically instructs them to avoid public appearances in situations that “encourage punditry and speculation rather than fact-based analysis.” When Mr. Williams crossed that line before, in 2009, he admitted it. He had done it the previous year, too, and NPR responded by changing his job duties from “Correspondent” to “Analyst.” NPR also asked Fox to stop identifying Juan Williams as “NPR Political Analyst” on their telecasts.
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