WGBH

Because either they're not going to let the Globe and Herald dominate that part of the commentosphere any longer or they want to do a story on the ghastly people who post those horrid things.

Peter Kadzis at WGBH and Carly Carioli at Boston.com.

WGBH announces that among the contributors to a new "Open Mic" segment on its "Boston Public Radio" midday show will be Christopher Lydon, anchor of the station's 10 o'clock TV news who later got famously fired in a contract dispute over at WBUR.

Emily Rooney, Rev. Eugene Rivers, Charlie Baker and Brian McGrory will also contribute to the 1 p.m. segment on Jim Braude's and Margery Eagan's new show. Lydon is slotted for Thursdays.

WGBH says its hiring the former WTKK talkers to talk away between noon and and 2 p.m. on weekdays on its "Boston Public Radio" show. The move frees up Callie Crossley and Emily Rooney, who currently hold down the microphones then, to do other things, although the station says they'll continue to get some words in edgewise on the show. 'GBH adds that Edgar B. Herwick III will continue to contribute to the show after the changeover on Feb. 25.

Joel Brown analyzes the local context of WGBH's purchase of Public Radio International, which distributes shows such as "This American Life" and the 'BUR-produced "Here and Now."

Despite all the nice talk abut how the WGBH deal isn't going to affect [WBUR's relationship with PRI], it's impossible to believe that 'GBH won't have an inside track to get national shows like "This American Life" the next time the contract comes up. And to get their own shows syndicated. They'll all deny it now, but just watch. And if you were running WBUR, would you want to entrust your own shows to a syndicator controlled by your crosstown rival?

In 2010, WGBH's "Frontline" won a Peabody Award for its story on the demons that possessed one Army platoon after its sergeant died in an attack in Iraq. One of the members of the platoon, Dave Nash, now credits Frontline with getting him the help he needed for his PTSD. This month, WGBH put Nash on the cover of its member magazine with his arms crossed, which highlights his Gothic-lettered "Mein Kampf" tattoo.

THURSDAY AFTERNOON UPDATE: A WGBH spokesman replies:

When we became aware of the tattoo, we spoke with David and he said: "Only part of the tattoo is visible. Those words are part of a larger phrase 'my struggle is eternal' (mein kampf ist ewig) that continues on my arm. This is an entirely personal statement that reflects struggles I have had in my own life, and is meaningful for me. It is not related to any other words or beliefs. I chose the tattoo in German because of my family heritage. I regret any misinterpretation, and I apologize if it has offended anyone."

The classical-music website Boston Musical Intelligencer has just posted an interview with the new WCRB/Allclassical995 general manager Benjamin Roe. It covers a multitude of subjects: technical issues, programming, fund-raising (WCRB vis-a-vis WGBH). It can be viewed at:

http://www.classical-scene.com/2011/05/21/whither-classical-radio-boston-now/

What do WGBH-fm, WUMB-fm and now Club Passim all have in common? An aversion to the peoples' music. Each has gone to great lengths to re-invent themselves, scrubbing their programming and websites of the F word (folk, that is).

Too crime ridden, too filled with people who aren't like her, too far on the other side of 128, apparently.

Last night on "Greater Boston," Rooney chatted with Donna Latson Gittens about why real-estate sales are up in Dorchester and Jamaica Plain.

"Are you trying to tell me there are actually neighborhoods outside of Beacon Hill and Back Bay?" she asked. That seemed to be a joke, sort of, but she expressed some doubt that any sane person would really want to live in a place with such a reputation for being a blood-drenched hellhole like Dorchester.

Besides, even if you cleaned up all the crime, "it's a long way into town." When Gittens said Ashmont is 17 minutes away from downtown by Red Line, Rooney gasped in shock. "Wow, that's like living in Wellesley or something; it's a long ways away!" Ed. note: Wellesley Farms, the closest Wellesley commuter-rail stop to Boston, is 35 minutes away.

And when Gittens said one of the attractions of Dorchester is the diversity of residents, Rooney snorted. "People care about that?"

The two didn't spend much time on Jamaica Plain, but Rooney did proclaim JP is for people who "want to live in the city but don't want to be burdened by the ONEROUS property taxes on Beacon Hill or Back Bay."

Rooney then acknowledged that Gittens, whom she's known for awhile, keeps asking her to visit Dorchester. Maybe one of these days, she allowed.

Boston Music Intelligencer takes a peek at the latest Arbitron numbers for WGBH (and WCRB) and WBUR.

Boston Music Intelligencer reports February ratings show WGBH listenership didn't increase after its changeover to all talk, while WCRB's has gone down since its takeover by 'GBH. Also discusses 'GBH's decision to stop talking to the site altogether.

Boston Phoenix columnist Adam Reilly reports he's moving to WGBH to become an associate producer.

Boston magazine has a long article on the public-radio war between WBUR and WGBH that I'm sure is just absolutely fascinating, but which I'm having trouble reading because it's just so full of mistakes, starting with the very first paragraph:

David listens to 'GBH's "Here and Now" killer, wasn't much impressed.

John Carroll reports on last night's woefest at Old South Church about what WGBH is doing to classial music on air - which seemed to consist mainly of people complaining about crappy reception of WCRB.

Laurence Glavin files a report as well, notes "several rows" were set aside for the media, so expect a flood of stories about "Whither Classical?" over coming days.

Garrett Wollman was there as well, notes only one person asked why any of this matters in an age of iPods and wondering why people aren't so heated up about "the health of the cultural institutions that produce the music they value."

Alex Beam reports on the war between WGBH and WBUR for public-radio supremacy in this most NPRish of towns:

... 'BUR staffers have an almost mystical faith in WGBH's management ineptitude, and in the past they have not been disappointed. ...

But 'GBH is hiring 10 new reporters and producers (Quick, Robin! To the Bat Resume!).

Earlier:
WGBH's new slogan sounds awfully familiar.
WGBH plans to stay unique by doing the same thing as other stations.

Tonight's "Beat the Press" is scheduled to discuss the Amanda Knox verdict:

Boston Music Intelligencer reports.

Where have we heard that before?

It's not enough that WGBH is stealing WBUR's news/talk format; now it's trying to wrest away its slogan, too. The station, which used to call itself "Boston's NPR Arts and Culture Station" is now calling itself just "Boston's NPR Station," as if WBUR, "Boston's NPR News Station," no longer existed. As 'BUR reporter Andrew Phelps sums up: Pretty ballsy.

The Twitter account for WGBH's "Greater Boston" (@GreaterBoston) has been hacked. Either that, or PBS is finally offering some good loot when you donate money during commercial breaks.

WGBH tells the Globe that when the purchase of WCRB goes through, it will eliminate folk and blues programs because there are other outlets for that in Boston (so good news for WUMB, Boston's other other public radio station) and it wants to keep its programming "unique." And by unique, it means adding news and information shows just like the ones WBUR and WBZ already broadcast.

To keep the station all classical, only now without commercials.

Via Aisle Be Seeing You and HubArts.

Philil Greenspun runs some numbers, concludes that WGBH on-air fund drives don't bring in enough to cover the costs of annoying listeners and driving away advertisers sponsors and that the non-profit station could make up the difference in the compensation of the 14 vice presidents who made between $200,000 and $350,000 a year in 2006. Because, he says, WGBH no longer has a monopoly for the high brow in Boston:

... I'm listening to CBC Classical right now, which is free of all commercials, free of fundraising solicitations, and streamed at a much higher audio quality than WGBH's Internet feed.

Mandatory week off without pay all around, the Boston Business Journal reports.

The Boston Business Journal reports WGBH will let 12 employees go and is making unspecified operations changes, due to declining corporate contributions.