WGBH

His struggle, indeed

adamg — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 00:27:26 +0000

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."

Boston Musical Intelligencer Interviews Roe (Human, Not Fish)

laurence_glavin — Sat, 21 May 2011 18:38:34 +0000

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/

Rest in Peace, Passim Folk Music and Cultural Center

notloB — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 19:09:56 +0000

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).

Dorchester frightens Emily Rooney

adamg — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 18:27:49 +0000

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.

Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, but it doesn't seem to have helped WGBH topple WBUR yet

adamg — Sat, 22 May 2010 16:42:27 +0000

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

WGBH listenership flat, WCRB's down since talk/music shakeup?

adamg — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 18:05:01 +0000

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.

In media restless

adamg — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 22:13:06 +0000

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

Apparently nobody at Boston magazine ever watched Zoom or heard of Robin Young

adamg — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 17:08:54 +0000

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:

Emily Rooney didn't translate well to radio today

adamg — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 18:35:55 +0000

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

Bill Bulger's oozing insincerity and the future of classical-music radio in Boston

adamg — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 14:03:06 +0000

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."

Battle at the low end of the FM dial

adamg — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 16:18:43 +0000

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.

A suggestion for WGBH's "Beat the Press"

adamg — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 21:46:46 +0000

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

WGBH to drop Friday-afternoon BSO concerts

adamg — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 23:52:17 +0000

Boston Music Intelligencer reports.

WGBH's new slogan sounds awfully familiar

adamg — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 02:35:22 +0000

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.

WGBH Twitter hacked

chrismatth — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 03:02:30 +0000

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.