Media Content

A television program or film puts a face on an issue. A radio news feature or documentary brings a tangible reality to recited facts. Video streamed on a website underscores issues presented in plain text and can move people to action. Whether the content is targeted to public or commercial media outlets, funders need a working understanding of the entire media landscape in order to be most effective in their grantmaking.

NPR CEO Gary Knell: We Need to “Smash Together the Digital and So-Called Audio Journalists”

[Source: Nieman Journalism Lab, by Justin Ellis, October 23, 2012]
In a visit to the Nieman Foundation, the NPR boss discusses digital transformation, his earlier work at Sesame Workshop and political perceptions of Big Bird.

The Fight Over PBS Should Be to Broaden Its Scope, Not to Threaten It

[Source: The Chronicle of Philanthropy, by Vincent Stehle, October 28, 2012]
If Big Bird were on the ballot on Election Day, he’d probably win in a landslide. But in our closely divided partisan election cycle, public broadcasting has once again become a sign of divided ...

Mother Jones Wins Inaugural International Data Journalism Award

[Source: Mother Jones, June 3, 2012]
Mother Jones won the first international Data Journalism Award, in a field that included the Wall Street Journal, the UK Financial Times, Spain's El Mundo, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, ...

GMs Take Up PBS Plan to Expand Web Video Output

[Source: Current.org, by Dru Sefton, May 29, 2012]
Three dozen general managers have coalesced around a proposal by PBS Interactive chief Jason Seiken to jumpstart low-cost local video production at public TV stations. Seiken laid out his plan ...

You Can Change the Channel, but Local News Is the Same

[Source: The New York Times, by Brian Stelter, May 28, 2012]
SAN ANGELO, Tex. — Call a reporter at the CBS television station here, and it might be an anchor for the NBC station who calls back.

PBS Stations Need to "Become YouTube of Local Community," Seiken Says

[Source: Current.org, May 15, 2012]
DENVER, Colo.

The Coverup Culture of News Corp.

[Source: Columbia Journalism Review, by Ryan Chittum, May 1, 2012]
A damning report from Parliament and Rupert Murdoch’s revealing response to it When a committee of Parliament condemned Rupert Murdoch Tuesday as “not a fit person to exercise the stewardship of ...

Data Journalism, Data Tools, and the Newsroom Stack

[Source: O'Reilly Radar, by Alex Howard, July 5, 2011]
The 2011 Knight News Challenge winners illustrate data's ascendance in media and government.

New York Times, Washington Post, AP Found NewsRight

[Source: The Wrap, by Lucas Shaw, January 5, 2012]
Newspaper organizations are banding together under an organization titled NewsRight to license and profit from the spread of their content online. A project first developed by the Associated ...

Fair Use: What Public Media Makers Are Doing Right and How They Can Do Even Better

[Source: Current.org, by Patricia Aufderheide, December 12, 2011]
Fair use, the right to employ copyrighted material in certain situations without licensing it, is in resurgence after two dismal decades of widespread misinterpretation — and nowhere is the right ...