Radio-dispatched

From a piece about Ruth Seymour in today's LA Times:

In 1996, KCRW was the first station to carry "This American Life" outside of its home base, Chicago's WBEZ. Host Ira Glass said of Seymour, who was an early supporter of his program, "I think she has a real instinctive gut confidence as a programmer that's rare in public broadcasting. That's why the station is so successful."

She even had a hand in re-naming the show, originally called "Your Radio Playhouse."

"She was very insistent that it was a terrible title," Glass said. "If not for Ruth, we still might have the other title."

The General Manager of KCRW announced Tuesday night to her staff that she was retiring. LA Observed has posted Ruth Seymour's memo to employees, her letter to subscribers, and a nice round-up of reactions from the radio community. In an interview with Sharan Waxman of The Wrap, Seymour said of the public radio station where she has worked for over three decades:

My God, what an opportunity to be able to explore ideas that you think matter and are important. And we've always gone against the grain. Nobody does "(Morning Becomes) Eclectic" today. KCRW has never been single-format, and it has been successful in spite of that.

The Number Nazis -- they always used to struggle to explain KCRW's success in the face of all the rules that we broke. They'd say you have to be all talk, or all music, and we were none of that. That was interesting.

National Public Radio's Peabody Award-winning news game show "Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!" is coming to Los Angeles. The quiz show will be in taping live this Thursday and Friday at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium. Thursday's show will feature professional skateboarder Tony Hawk as the "Not My Job" celebrity guest. Friday's special guest is Star Trek alum George Takei. Tickets are on sale through Ticketmaster.

Henry Rollins has dedicated his KCRW show this evening to the memory of the recently departed Brendan Mullen. It's happening from RIGHT THIS VERY SECOND till 8, and can be listened to online at KCRW.

Of Mullen, Rollins writes:

Brendan, damn, he was a cornerstone in the early LA Punk Scene. His club, The Masque was ground zero for so many bands. He was a good guy with a memory like a steel trap.Many years ago, I went through some of his ridiculous photo and flyer collection from back in the day. Incredible. Here's a cool book that Brendan did:

Live at the Masque: Nightmare in Punk Alley

Tonight, we will listen to music that Brendan was on the scene for, bands that he put onstage, knew and worked with. He was a good guy and will be missed.

Tomorrow morning at 11 on KCRW's Good Food with Evan Kleiman:

This week, Conde Naste announced it was shuttering Gourmet magazine after almost 70 years. Food writer Jonathan Gold gives a eulogy for this highly respected publication. And LA Times Food Editor Russ Parsons has some thoughts on what will take Gourmet's place in our diverse media landscape.

If you plan on sleeping in tomorrow - and we certainly do - you can listen to the show anytime at the KCRW website.

We posted the whole release which is interesting and there for your perusal. What struck us is the use of the phrase "well-qualified pool of journalist bloggers." That's right "journalist bloggers."

If NPR uses it - even just in their press release - it's lexicon admitted!

NPR LAUNCHES NEW ONLINE LOCAL JOURNALISM VENTURE WITH CPB AND KNIGHT FOUNDATION FUNDING

Washington, DC, Oct.2, 2009 - NPR will launch a new journalism project to develop in-depth, local coverage on topics critical to communities and the nation, in a new effort funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the groups announced today.

The new funding - $2 million from CPB and $1 million from Knight Foundation - provides a pilot group of NPR stations with the resources to expand original reporting, and to curate, distribute and share online content about high-interest, specialized subjects. It is the first time that CPB and Knight Foundation have jointly funded a project of this type.

The two-year pilot will help a dozen stations establish themselves as definitive sources of news on a topic selected by each one as most relevant to its community, such as city politics, the changing economy, health care, immigration or education. These online reports will help fill the growing gap in local news offerings.

continued...

KCRW's 'Left, Right & Center' is the show that introduced us to Arianna Huffington, and it was over the airwaves that your editor developed her ridiculous girl-crush. And if Arianna is good on the radio, she'll be better in person.

'Left, Right & Center' will be taking to the stage Sunday, October 25 in Santa Monica and gosh would I like to be in the front row. Tickets go on sale today and range from $50 to $100. Joining the lovely Arianna on stage will be co-hosts Matt Miller, Robert Scheer and Tony Blankley. And they're okay too, I guess.

Visit the KCRW website for more information.

found via Franklin Avenue

Garrison Keillor suffered a minor stroke this past Monday, so he drove himself to the hospital. Because National Public Radio hosts are balls-out tough. He is currently recuperating at the Mayo Clinic Rochester, Minnesota. The AP reports:

"I am in the hands of smart and compassionate people and plan to get out on Friday and get right back to work," including the opening of a new season of "A Prairie Home Companion," Keillor said. "And that's the news from here."

Paige Albiniak at B&C writes:

My own sources say much what they said when asked about a TV show for Sarah Palin: Don't think so. While you might assume Palin would be a better fit for conservative radio than the less partisan world of syndicated broadcast TV, my sources say the country's biggest radio conglomerate, Clear Channel, has already passed on her.

Yeah, radio would have been a great fit for Palin. You couldn't see her but you could hear her. She's a looker people, not a talker. We recommend silent films maybe or miming. Something where abnegating is an asset - like a nicotine patch spokesperson.

A miming nicotine patch spokesperson! That's it. For special needs children.

via IWantMedia

Tonight at 7, journalist Celeste Fremon and LA Police Protective League President Paul Weber will be on KCRW's 'Which Way LA?' with Warren Olney. According to Fremon they will be "talking about the tragedy of Lily Burk's death, the media coverage of the crime, and whether or not it's being used as a political football."

We're interested to hear what Fremon has to say. She has been one of the few bloggers in LA media doing actual reporting on the case instead of using the tragedy to promote a political agenda. We highly recommend her blog Witness LA.