This is a joint byline for the Ryerson Review of Journalism. All content is produced by students in their final year of the graduate or undergraduate program at the Ryerson School of Journalism. Public radio takes a hit as both NPR and BBC face funding cuts
First up, NPR – chief executive Vivian Schiller resigned this week, after a video of a senior NPR fundraising executive was caught on video blasting Republicans and the Tea Party. The video and the resignation both come at a terrible time for the beleaguered public broadcaster, as the organization is already facing Republican attempts to cut funding.
Meanwhile, across the pond, the BBC has been mulling axing local programming (with the exception of morning and afternoon shows) in favour of national programming, cutting up to 700 jobs. Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has spoken out against the cuts, but the BBC may have no choice, after British Broadcasting was forced to accept austerity measures last October.
We’ve been following the Toronto sports radio wars for the past few weeks – the FAN 590 has finally decided on their new morning radio hosts, hiring Greg Brady and Jim Lang to go up against TSN Radio’s Mike Murphy. Lang and Murphy are already on the air – Murphy’s new show debuts April 13.
Finally, CBC Radio celebrated a milestone last week, as the “Fisheries Broadcast” celebrated its 60th anniversary. The program is the CBC’s oldest currently-running current affairs program.
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