The proposal to prohibit public radio stations from using CPB grants to purchase NPR programming is an unwarranted attempt to interject federal authority into local station program decision-making. Furthermore, restrictions on the authority of CPB – a Congressionally chartered, independent non-profit organization – to make competitive grants to NPR, or any other public broadcasting entity, is misguided.

For more than forty years, the federal government has provided financial support for public broadcasting – to serve the public interest with essential educational, news and cultural programming that commercial interests neglect.

America’s independent, locally governed and managed public radio stations have always had the freedom to make programming decisions based on the needs of their audience and local community. The separation between funding and funders and content decisions is a widely respected, long held and fundamental standard of a free press.

In an increasingly fractious media environment, public radio’s value in fostering an informed society has never been more critical. Our growing audience shows that we are meeting that need. It is imperative for federal funding to continue to ensure that this essential tool of democracy remains available to all Americans and thrives well into the future.

-NPR-

NPR Media Relations: Anna Christopher 202.513.2304 / achristopher@npr.org

AS ONE OF THE TOP TEN WORKS OF JOURNALISM OF THIS DECADE

CHICAGO PUBLIC RADIO’S THIS AMERICAN LIFE AND NPR SHARE HONOR

FOR LAUDED EXPLAINER OF SUBPRIME MORTGAGE CRISIS

April 5, 2010; Washington, D.C. – It was a compelling, even humorous, hour of radio, making sense of the mortgage crisis and Wall Street turmoil, and in the process creating one of the finest pieces of explanatory journalism on the economy – months ahead of its collapse. Now, “The Giant Pool of Money,” an hour-long documentary co-produced by NPR News and This American Life from Chicago Public Radio and distributed by Public Radio International, has been named one of the decade’s best.

New York University’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute announced today that “The Giant Pool of Money” was selected as one of the Top Ten Works of Journalism of the Decade in the United States. “Giant Pool” is ranked fourth on the list and the only broadcast piece cited out of all ten works. The works were selected by the NYU journalism faculty and a panel of outside judges representing media, the non-profit sector, philanthropy and academia. The full list is available at: http://journalism.nyu.edu/decade/

“The Giant Pool of Money” was reported by NPR economics correspondent Adam Davidson, This American Life producer Alex Blumberg and host Ira Glass, and aired on that program in May 2008. With personal narratives and memorable storytelling, Davidson, Blumberg and Glass told the story of the housing crisis, mortgage backed securities and the collapse of the banking system in a way that made sense. The program was heralded as “a brilliant piece” by the Columbia Journalism Review, TIME wrote of “a riveting narrative with distinct characters and plot twists” and it earned Peabody, duPont-Columbia and George Polk awards. “Giant Pool” was cited by the Peabody committee as “impressive for the arresting clarity of its explanation of the financial crisis we’re in, and even more so for its having aired so early – in May 2008.”

“’Giant Pool’ forever changed how we approach storytelling. To take something so complex and make it relatable, even entertaining – it struck just the right chord at the perfect time,” says Ellen Weiss, Senior Vice President for NPR News. “We are incredibly humbled to be included among the works on this list, and thank NYU for such an honor.”

The success of “Giant Pool” led to the creation of NPR’s Planet Money, a multimedia reporting project led by Davidson and Blumberg, covering the global economy on radio and through a blog, podcast and social media (all available at www.npr.org/money). It launched, by coincidence, on the first day of the acute financial crisis – September 7, 2008 – and has since established itself as the place for clear and innovative financial reporting. The Planet Money team regularly reports for NPR and This American Life, has recently covered Haiti’s post-earthquake economy and is following the progress of its very own toxic asset – purchased to help track how the housing bust is playing out.

-NPR-

Winning a Gracie Award for “Outstanding Documentary” is “The Science of Spirituality,” a five-part series reported by religion correspondent Barbara Bradley Hagerty in May 2009 on All Things Considered. Based on her book Fingerprints of God, the series delves into burgeoning research studying the human brain to look for evidence of a spiritual world and the new technologies being used to document it. Whether donning a “God helmet,” exploring how prayer affects the brain or examining the neural changes caused by near-death experiences, Hagerty finds that people are experiencing something profound – divine or not. Sharing the award are Cindy Johnston, editor, and web editors Erin Killian and Maria Godoy. The entire series is at: www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=104257486

NPR’s Afghanistan correspondent Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson earns the award in the “Outstanding Series” category for her April 2009 two-part story on the growing number of Afghans escaping the pain of war and poverty by turning to the plentiful and cheap supply of heroin and opium in their country. In the series, she details how a combination of factors – including the war, unemployment and returning Afghan refugees from Iran – are creating and perpetuating a vicious cycle of addiction with little treatment resources available. Among the powerful portraits captured by Sarhaddi Nelson are a 30-year-old mother of six that feeds her drug habit at the expense of her children, and a nine-year-old boy trying to kick his two-year heroin addiction. The award is shared with series editor Douglas Roberts. The reports and accompanying online material are available at npr.org:

www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=102984398&ps=rs

NPR Arts Reporter Neda Ulaby and Monkey See blogger Linda Holmes’ Culturetopia podcast takes home the Gracie Award for “Outstanding Podcast.” Culturetopia encapsulates the week’s news in books, movie, television, music and media. Every Wednesday, Ulaby, Holmes and guests offer a rundown of notable arts coverage from across NPR News shows, providing additional insights into many of the stories. Executive Producer Sara Sarasohn and Producer Michael Katzif are also honored with the award. Download Culturetopia at NPR’s podcast directory:

http://www.npr.org/rss/podcast/podcast_detail.php?siteId=89697153

The 35th Annual Gracie Awards will be presented at a gala on May 25 in Los Angeles. The Gracies are granted by AWRT, a charitable non-profit supporting educational programs, public service campaigns and scholarships to benefit the public, mass media and allied field. NPR has been the recipient of 13 Gracie Awards since 2002.

Baltimore, MD (PRWEB) August 25, 2009 — Tewspaper, an online newspaper without writers, has launched with coverage of five major metropolitan cities – Baltimore, Dallas, Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York City. Tewspaper scours social media websites such as Twitter and filters messages down to breaking news. One of the local sites, Baltimore News, brings algorithmically filtered news to people in Tewspaper’s home town.

Tewspaper is neither endorsed nor sponsored by Twitter or other social media websites; the company uses publicly available APIs to connect with social media sites and find relevant data. One of Tewspaper’s innovations is a system of filtering through the obscure and finding the relevant news on social media sites. For example, Twitter alone has over 2 billion messages, and is growing by thousands of messages per minute. Tewspaper makes it easy to find out what is happening now, in an organized, succinct, and accessible fashion. It is an ideal way for the Internet generation, who text and tweet, to view the news at their rapidly moving pace.

“We began by limiting the news to trusted authorities on Twitter. From there, we are working on an algorithm that can find additional breaking news from anyone on Twitter and other websites as it happens,” said Jared Lamb, the creator of Tewspaper.

Another obstacle Tewspaper had to overcome was the limited content it could locate for each story. To solve this problem, the website automatically matches images to related stories. Tewspaper determines the optimal image to display for every story based upon the author, subject, headline text, date, links, and other context.

Other local editions are available for Chicago News, Los Angeles News, Dallas News, and New York City News.

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Contact Information
Jared Lamb
Tewspaper
http://www.tewspaper.com
443-857-4829

NPR NEWS SPECIAL COVERAGE OF LIFE, CAREER
OF SENATOR EDWARD M. KENNEDY

NPR OFFERING TWO HOUR-LONG SPECIALS TODAY AT 2PM AND 7PM,
CONTINUING COVERAGE THROUGHOUT THE DAY ON-AIR AND AT NPR.org

August 26, 2009; Washington, D.C. – NPR News will offer two special programs today looking at the life and career of Senator Edward M. Kennedy, who died last night of complications related to a cancerous brain tumor. Both specials will be broadcast on NPR Member stations nationwide, and will be streamed live at NPR.org. For local stations and broadcast times, visit NPR.org/stations.

From 2:00PM to 3:00PM (ET), NPR congressional correspondent Andrea Seabrook will host an hour-long call-in special. Seabrook will interview guests about Kennedy’s life of service and influential career in the Senate, and invite questions from the audience. Guests include Congressman Barney Frank, former U.S. Senator John Sununu, professor and scholar Ronald Walters and Thomas Oliphant, who covered Kennedy for 40 years for the Boston Globe. Listeners may join the conversation by calling (800) 989-8255 or sending an email to talk@npr.org

Beginning at 7:00PM (ET), NPR will explore Kennedy’s life – his role as a legislative lion in the Senate; his focus on civil rights, and on fighting for the disenfranchised; and his personal life and struggles – in an hour-long program. Host Linda Wertheimer will be joined by a roundtable offering political analysis on the legacy Kennedy leaves behind, with legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg, senior news analyst Juan Williams, health policy correspondent Julie Rovner and political editor Ken Rudin.

In addition to these specials, NPR will continue to cover the breaking news of Kennedy’s death throughout the day on all of its news programs, and online at NPR.org, where there is a complete obituary, a timeline of Kennedy’s life and archival interviews with the late senator.

-NPR-

The relaunched Web site – now live at www.NPR.org – is organized to highlight News, Arts & Life and Music, reflecting both NPR’s reporting strengths and the interests of the audience. The redesigned home page makes it easy to follow the news throughout the day, with the top stories updated regularly and featured prominently, and up-to-the-minute discussions of the day’s news easily accessible at NPR’s news blog “The Two-Way.” The site also offers a new search tool powered by Google that allows users to find their favorite program or topic faster. A video hosted by NPR’s Weekend Edition Saturday host Scott Simon demonstrates the features of the new site.

The site allows for enhanced visual storytelling, offering more photos, images and graphics, and better integration of text and audio content. Audio options are presented more prominently throughout the site and allow fans to organize the various ways to listen to NPR — through their favorite NPR station, live stream or via podcast. Visitors can localize their homepage to receive a mix of local and national news feeds, streams and podcasts in a convenient location near the top of each page. With the relaunch of the site, NPR has also elected to drop fees for transcripts; the public can now access free transcripts dating back to May 2005 on most programs and news stories.

“We’re making it easier for the public to find our stations, listen to NPR programs, and follow the news throughout the day,” said Vivian Schiller, NPR’s President and CEO. “With many traditional news outlets declining, listeners are depending more on NPR and our member stations to meet their information needs on every platform. The new NPR.org and our strong push into mobile applications will take public radio to the next level of audience service.”

The mobile apps being developed will rely on NPR’s open application programming interface (Open API) that launched in July 2008. The API allows users, developers and NPR stations full access to NPR’s current and archived content to create new ways to integrate and share NPR news and programs.

NPR Member station WBUR also relaunched its Web site today using NPR’s API. Sam Fleming, WBUR’s managing director of news and programming, noted, “I am so excited about the API system…our site is only possible because of NPR.”

The NPR News App currently under development for the iTunes App Store will offer iPhone and iPod touch users the opportunity to both read and listen to NPR’s news coverage; curate their own audio playlists; tune in and bookmark a favorite station for its live and on-demand streams; and listen to the most recent stories from NPR’s newsmagazine, talk and cultural programs. NPR serves more mobile web pages to the iPhone than to any other device.

These announcements coincide with near record on-air, online, mobile and social media audience growth over the past year with 27.5 million listeners tuning in each week to NPR programs, podcast downloads up 34% year over year, nine million unique visitors accessing NPR.org each month and the NPR Politics Twitter account reaching one million followers in June.

More NPR announcements will be made in the upcoming weeks and months as each application becomes available to the public.

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About NPR:

NPR is an award-winning, multimedia news organization and an influential force in American life. In collaboration with more than 880 independent public radio stations nationwide, NPR strives to create a more informed public – one challenged and invigorated by a deeper understanding and appreciation of events, ideas and cultures. With more than 90 podcasts, NPR is the most successful podcaster among American media companies. Its 24/7 NPR Worldwide program stream reaches listeners in more than 100 countries. NPR Music, in partnership with leading music stations, is a free music discovery web site that offers live performances, studio sessions, first listens to new albums, blogs and features spanning all music genres. Since its launch in 1970, NPR has become a leader in representation and technology development in the public media community, assuring that the unique mission of nonprofit public media is preserved and grows.

July 18, 2009

Walter Cronkite’s passing today marks the loss of the ultimate reliable source, the nation’s narrator and the standard by which all other TV news anchors are judged. It also marks the loss of a special friend to NPR. For six years, in a series of occasional essays for NPR, Walter Cronkite offered his unique perspective on news events he reported on over the past century that still resonate today. Beginning on December 7, 2001, on the 60th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Cronkite reflected on the lone dissenter in the Congressional vote to declare war — political pioneer Jeanette Rankin — and how another lone dissenting vote granting President Bush added powers to hunt Osama bin Laden echoes Rankin’s own vote. In another essay, Cronkite told the story behind his initial experience as a TV network anchorman. It happened in 1952 in Chicago, Ill., at the first-ever nationally televised political convention for the Republican Party. Later that summer, Cronkite handled the same chore at the Democratic session. Although he’d never attended a political convention — or done national TV — he was a hit. Walter Cronkite always used history to provide context and understanding and NPR was proud and honored to offer this distinguished veteran journalist an outlet for his work late in his career and to introduce him to a new generation of news consumers who were grateful for his wisdom and perspective from such a remarkable career covering the world.

You can hear all of Walter Cronkite’s unique essays on NPR:

http://www.npr.org/news/specials/cronkite/

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6711860

Portland, 1st of May, 2009

Irwin Hodson Press Announces Their Climate Neutral Printing Certification.
How does it feel to print climate neutrally? Innovative and responsible

Irwin Hodson Press can now offer its clients climate neutral print products. Hereby, all CO2-emissions evolving in the course of a print job will be calculated and neutralized by emission certificates from acknowledged climate protection projects. For Irwin Hodson Press, the possibility to print climate neutrally was yet another step in a broad sustainability strategy. Thereby the focus will continue to be on additional long-term development of the company’s internal environment philosophy and the diminution of the impacts on the climate.

From the carbon footprint to a climate neutral print product
Due to a large sense of responsibility, it is important for Irwin Hodson Press to keep the entry of environmentally relevant greenhouse gases as low as possible. In a printing plant CO2-emissions evolve in the course of the usage of energy, transports, paper, inks, coatings and other factors. The ClimatePartner California Inc. has calculated all the emerging CO2-emissions for the whole company [carbon footprint] and presents guidance for the reduction of emissions by means of the results. With an individualized emission calculator Irwin Hodson Press can report to their client the amount of emissions produced per print project. As an additional service, the emissions can be neutralized by investing in high quality emission-reduction-certificates from acknowledged climate protection projects.  Therefore every brochure, catalog, poster, etc can be printed climate neutrally.

Environmental responsibility – no longer a foreign word
Irwin Hodson Press has been a role model for environmentally responsible activities in the region for a long time.  “We’re not only FSC-certified and participate at the PGE – campaign “Save more, matter more”, but we also support the usage and establishment of renewable energies in Oregon”, says Ken Kozol, Vice President of manufacturing.  Furthermore, the ambitious company has decided to participate in the Climate Leaders-program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which aims at the development of sustainable climate protection strategies from and for enterprises. Also, they have installed the lowest VOC printing process available and offer clients bio-renewable coatings. Therefore the employment of highly efficient and environmentally friendly technologies for the printing plant is self-evident for Irwin Hodson Press. The printing plant is very ambitious to pass the environmental engagement to the employees who are encouraged to carpool, use public transport or ride bicycles to work.

Writing on the wall
“We are proud of our sustained engagement and want to pass this down to our clients”, explains Ken Kozol proudly. “With ClimatePartner we have found a competent resource.” “We are happy to see that Irwin Hodson Press has recognized the value and advocates so actively. ClimatePartner has already gained broad expert knowledge on the European and German market on the topic “sustainable media production” and is a quality leader in voluntary climate protection in the printing industry”, says Katharina Riess, ClimatePartner California Inc.

###

For further information please contact:
Climate Partner California, Inc.
730 Montgomery Street
94111 San Francisco, CA
Phone +1 42 42 28 42 27
California@climatepartner.com

ClimatePartner avows itself to be a strategy advisory and application developer in climate protection. With more than 300 consultancy projects for more than 150 clients, ClimatePartner has gained expert knowledge in the topics climate protection and sustainability in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Greece and the USA within only three years. ClimatePartner develops solutions, which are characterized by their integration into the business models of its clients and are thereby scalable, whereby they contribute to an effective climate protection at the same time.  The headquarters of the company are in Munich, Germany. ClimatePartner California is located San Francisco.

NPR HONORED BY WEBBY MEMBERSHIP FOR NPR.org, NPR MUSIC, NPR MOBILE

AND VIDEO DOCUMENTARY SERIES “PROJECT SONG”;

NPR.org, NPR MUSIC AND NPR PODCASTS WIN PUBLIC COMPETITION

May 5, 2009; Washington, D.C. – NPR has been honored with seven awards in the 13^th annual Webby Awards – more than any other news organization – for NPR.org, NPR Music, mobile and podcasts, it was announced today. NPR was chosen as “Best Radio Site,” “Best Music Site,” “Best Mobile News” and “Best Music Online Video” among the Webby’s digital media membership, and “Best Radio Site,” “Best Music Site” and “Best Podcasts” in the Webby’s public competition.

NPR.org and NPR Music achieved both critical and popular consensus, winning top honors from the Webby’s International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences membership, and also from the public in its separate “People’s Voice Awards” competition. NPR.org complements NPR’s growing weekly audience of 27.5 million listeners, by offering in-depth news and information, extensive audio, video, music, photography and text. This continuing digital media expansion includes an Open API, launched July 2008 and allowing users to freely integrate NPR content, and the NPR Community with approximately 100,000 members since its launch September 2008. NPR Music is a free multi-genre music discovery site that curates original content from NPR and 12 Member public radio stations, including live performances, studio sessions, first listens to new albums, music lists, interviews and blogs.

NPR also won the “Best Mobile News” Webby for its iPhone site, which places world, national and business news alongside local news from NPR Member stations in more than 50 markets; and “Best Music Online Video” for Project Song, an online video documentary series from NPR Music that challenges musicians to write and record an original song in 48 hours in the NPR studios, and films the creative process. NPR Podcasts received a “People’s Voice” award, for offering podcasts of popular NPR programs, a directory of more than 600 public radio podcasts and the ability for users to customize their own podcast.

“We need to meet our audiences wherever they choose to consume news and information, and it’s thrilling to have such a wide range of work recognized in this way – from our around-the-clock news coverage at NPR.org, to the customizable mobile site for iPhone users, to multi-genre music discovery unlike anything else out there,” said Kinsey Wilson, senior vice president and general manager of NPR Digital Media.

The Webby Awards is the leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet, including Web sites, interactive advertising, online film and video, and mobile Web sites. This year’s contest received nearly 10,000 entries from all 50 states and more than 60 countries. Winners will be recognized at a ceremony on June 8 in New York City. A full list of winners is available at: www.webbyawards.com

-NPR-

Strategic Business Leaders with answers to address The Green Media Conference

MERCER ISLAND, WA – April 29, 2009 – Which is more sustainable, physical mail or email, a magazine page or a web page, a book or an ebook? Which has the larger carbon footprint and what is the risk to a brand if their messaging says one thing and their media supply chain choices say another? Publishers, advertisers, marketers and supply chain professionals are increasingly being challenged to make decisions that address climate change and that are consistent with the principles of sustainability.

Carbon Dioxide has been ruled a pollutant dangerous to human life by the EPA, climate change legislation is pending in congress, and the leaders of 192 nations, including the US, China and India, will meet in Copenhagen this December to agree on a climate treaty to succeed the Kyoto Protocol. With an eye to the future, what efforts can be taken to measure the carbon footprints and otherwise qualify and quantify arguments for the sustainability of print and/or digital media?

Leaders from publishing, the postal service, and printing who are addressing this issue now, will be speaking at The Green Media Conference, June 9 in Washington, DC. They will be speaking in a session entitled: The Great Debate.  Addressing the audience will be:

• Hans Wegner, Vice President, Production Services, National Geographic
• Mike Fanning, Manager Business Development, United States Postal Service
• Dave Podmayersky, Director of Sustainability, Earth Color

Quote: Don Carli, Conference Chair, Sr. Research Fellow at The Institute for Sustainable Communication,and EVP, SustainCommWorld

“Sustainable supply chains and climate action are becoming mainstream priorities for leading brands and for government. Just as their governance policies, products, packaging and messages are being scrutinized, so to are their media supply chain choices – print, websites, emails, direct mail, advertising, brochures, tradeshows and events – all are being scrutinized as the next big area for improvement in sustainability and greenhouse gas emissions.

“Key questions that our speakers will address include:
• What standards and best practices can be employed to assess the sustainability of your operations and your media supply chain practices?
•What are the most significant challenges you face in reducing their carbon footprint and making them more sustainable?
• How will your media supply chain need to change in response to these issues, and what are the firms most likely to survive and thrive going to look like?
• What risks do the precarious state of the printing, papermaking and publishing industries present to government, business and society?
• What risks do the energy demands of IT, e-waste and the ephemeral nature of digital media present to government, business and society?

“These conferences bring thought leaders together with a focus on graphic communication, marketing, publishing and to discuss, challenge, learn and drive implementation of best practices in the greening of print and digital media supply chains.”

With the theme of “Expanding Lean & Green Opportunities,” The Green Media Conference brings together practitioners, best practices and real world case studies on the production of sustainable media and illustrating how to make money at the same time. Attendees to SustainCommWorld events are marketing and advertising professionals who need the latest information to make sustainable advertising, printing and web decisions as well as analyses the businesses within their supply chains.

This June there will be two conferences, one in Washington, DC on June 9 and one in Chicago on June 23. Each city will have a different group of speakers addressing these issues. For more information on conference program and additional speakers, visit: http://www.GreenMediaConference.com

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Metaprinter readers, when registering online, you’ll be prompted for a discount code and should enter the appropriate one below. The discount will be applied automatically.

Conference discount price $395 |  Discount code 1647:4250 regular price would be $495

Workshop discount price $195 |  Discount code 3386:4250 regular price would be $275

Conference + Workshop $555 | Discount code 5461:4250 regular price would be $695