Radio Survivor is giving its “most snarky party poster” prize to Maxwell’s of Hoboken, New Jersey and free form radio station WFMU-FM of thereabouts. The poster in question announces a party for one of the winners of WFMU’s recent auction fundraiser. Were I in the Hoboken area, I would definitely attend, if for no other reason […]
The review of NPR’s firing of Juan Williams is out. The NPR executive who gave Williams the axe over the telephone has resigned. And NPR’s ombudsman Alicia Shepard warns that the brouhaha could prove “costly” for the radio service. “The Williams firing was a very costly management mistake on many levels,” Shepard opines. The commentary […]
I’m a college radio history buff, so whenever I run across someone who has taken the time to document the early history of a college radio station I am beyond impressed. Lew Houston, formerly of WRKU radio at Kutztown University (now known as KUR radio), researched, compiled and wrote, “Finding WRKU: A History of College […]
Although in the United States we are often hard-pressed to find examples of radio drama, over in the U.K. radio listeners have been tuning in to hear “The Archers” for 60 years. The soap opera, which began in January 1951 currently airs 15-minute episodes 6 days a week and is now presumed to be the […]
Shortly after President Obama signed the Local Community Radio Act of 2010 into law on Tuesday, Federal Communications Commission Chair Julius Genachowski issued this statement in response to the move: The Local Community Radio Act signed by President Obama is a big win for radio listeners. Low power FM stations are small, but they make […]
Yes, the Local Community Radio Act of 2010finally passed both the House and Senate almost two weeks ago. But it’s not official until the president signs it. And that he did, today. Today is just the start of the process to bring more community radio stations to the air. There is a lot of work […]
NPR has apologized for misreporting the number of State Department diplomatic cables actually released by WikiLeaks. Although WikiLeaks allegedly possesses 251,287, only 1,947 were available as of December 30, 20. Yet, prior to this date, NPR (on multiple occasions) reported that WikiLeaks had released “thousands” of documents, a mistake that San Francisco listener Henry Norr […]
I’d like to thank 30 Rock for the title of this article. Their brief mention of the differences between “Merry Christmas” and “Happy Holidays” through a Christmas card being sent by an ultra-conservative couple stating “‘Happy Holidays’… is what terrorists say. Merry Christmas!” is really quite perfect. Nina Totenberg, a legal correspondent for NPR, has […]
A producer at Pacifica radio outlet KPFA in Berkeley sent me this amusing Xtranormal skit, which works out his feelings about a proposal to hold a big “community party” at the station. I’m not sure what the status of that idea is, and obviously the discussion is referential to the recent troubles at the station. […]
Although the list came out a few weeks back, yesterday Current.org reported that NPR was awarded a spot on the Top 10 PR Blunders List for 2010. Just add this distinction to the litany of challenges NPR is facing this year, which were so eloquently discussed by Gavin Dahl in his Radio Survivor post yesterday […]
