Media & Public Radio

(02/27/12) A new film called "The Amish" premieres tomorrow night on the PBS program American Experience. There's an advance showing tonight at SUNY Potsdam.

For many people watching the program, the Amish will seem very mysterious and far-removed from their everyday lives.

But in big parts of the North Country, the Amish are part of everyday life, we shop alongside them, do business with them, and share the roads with their horse-drawn buggies. more

(02/21/12) Two of the most visible media outlets in the Adirondacks are joining forces. The Adirondack Explorer magazine and the Adirondack Almanack on-line blog have formed a partnership to share staff and content.

The Explorer, formed in 1998, covers environmental issues and outdoor recreation. The Almanack has existed since 2005, emerging as one of the most widely read on-line journals in the North Country.

Almanack founder John Warren said in a statement that the two organizations have "similar missions" and will be able to "collaborate in a unique way at a time when local media is changing dramatically."

The two organizations say they will be releasing new mobile phone apps, as well as redesigned websites.

(01/26/12) Earlier this week, Tom Curley announced his retirement after nine years as president and CEO of the Associated Press. The 63 year-old Curley spent his tenure working to transform the news cooperative for the digital era. Now that he's retiring, Curley said he plans to spend more time in the Adirondacks, where he owns a home on Upper Saranac Lake with his wife, Marsha Stanley. Chris Knight intereviewed Curley this week about the changing times faced by newspapers and what he sees as the biggest issues facing the Adirondacks. more

(01/11/12) Todd Moe talks with Lake Placid artist Nip Rogers about his "Portraits of Other Artists" project and how social networking websites are bringing artists and art together. His Social Faceworking Show opens at the Lake Placid Center for the Arts on Friday night. It includes portraits of 19 North Country artists and their own artwork in one show.

(09/23/11) Following recent criticism, Governor Cuomo has launched a new website aimed at making his administration more transparent to the public.

The site lists events from his public schedule since taking office in January, and will feature on-line chats with top state officials, including the Governor himself, this coming Saturday. In Albany, Karen DeWitt has the story: more

(07/29/11) At North Country Public Radio's annual meeting last night in Old Forge, the Adirondack Community Trust announced a partnership with NCPR to help create the next generation of public media professionals. ACT and NCPR will share a $300,000 challenge grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation to invest in the future of NCPR's ability to expand regional broadcast and digital news and information services. Martha Foley talks with NCPR Station Manager Ellen Rocco and ACT Executive Director Cali Brooks about the grant announcement.

(06/24/11) As part of the annual Fringe Theater and Arts Festival in Ottawa this week, NCPR's theater critic Connie Meng was part of a panel exploring how the media reviews theater. Todd Moe spoke with Connie about some of the questions posed to members of the panel which included broadcast, print and web journalists.

(02/18/11) Debate continued in the House of Representatives late last night on a $1.2 trillion spending bill that carries deep cuts to a number of Federal programs.

Among the $60 billion in cuts is a proposal pushed by House Republicans to eliminate all $430 million in federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

That money subsidizes public television and public radio in the North Country, including North Country Public Radio.

The idea of ending federal support of public broadcasting has some support among Republicans and conservatives here in the region, while others think it would be shortsighted.

Meanwhile, managers of the region's public radio and television stations have been mobilizing their supporters, through announcements on the air and on their websites, against what they describe as an "assault" on public broadcasting.

Chris Knight has our story. more

(11/26/10) The first troops of President Obama's surge in Afghanistan have returned home. Some 50 soldiers from the 10th Mountain's 1st Brigade touched down at Fort Drum Wednesday. Over the coming months, the rest of the 3500 member brigade will come home after training the Afghan army and police in the northern part of the country.

According to the Watertown Daily Times, the brigade commander Colonel Willard Burleson says he's seeing signs of progress, including some Taliban insurgents giving up their fight.

Still, the Pentagon reports security gains as "slow" in Afghanistan, with members of the Afghan army also deserting. This as the U.S. military enters a four-year scheduled withdrawl from the country.

The New York Times has been taking a deep look at a teeny slice of the war effort. Through articles, photos, and video, the Times is reporting on one unit of Fort Drum's 1st Brigade, the 1-87th Infantry Battalion. Readers can submit their own photos and videos. Many come from fellow troops and family members.

The latest installment in the Times series came out earlier this week. The article told the story of Delta Company's six day mission against insurgents in the village of Nahr-i-Sufi, near Kunduz in northern Afghanistan. In a nutshell, the article invokes oft-quoted truism of war - that war is abject boredom sprinkled with brief moments of intense action and terror. Reporter Jim Dao says that was the pervading reality on the ground.

(11/19/10) One of the North Country's largest landowners is suing a prominent journalist after he allegedly trespassed on their private property.

Phil Brown, editor of the Adirondack Explorer, paddled a section of Shingle Shanty Brook near Tupper Lake last May and wrote a series of articles about the trip. more