The New York Times
In a story detailing challenges facing "PBS NewsHour," Elizabeth Jensen writes that the program must find a replacement for Chevron's $2 million sponsorship, which the company decided not to renew for 2012. NewsHour approached the Knight Foundation, which paid to revamp the "NewsHour" website in 2009, but Knight said no. Eric Newton, senior adviser to the president at Knight, tells Jensen, "Our issue with it is that it’s what they usually do. We’re interested in new and different ways of doing things, because one thing you can say about the future of news is it’s not going to be the same. Folks who can be nimble and change are going to do better in the future than those who are slow to change.” || Related: PublicSource, a Pittsburgh-area investigative news site, launches with the help of a Knight Community Information Challenge grant

Romenesko+ memo
After more than three decades with The Washington Post, Bo Jones will become President and CEO of MacNeil/Lehrer Productions, which produces "PBS Newshour." Jones, who is currently chairman of The Washington Post, will lead funding efforts for the hourlong nightly newscast and work with stations and distributors. He will also be involved in program development. "Newshour" original anchor Jim Lehrer will leave the position in December. Jones starts in January. (more...)

Current.org
PBS President Paula Kerger announced that the nonprofit broadcasting service will cut 13 occupied staff positions and eight vacant ones, and will add six "new or restructured" spots. "Change can be difficult, but I remain convinced that by focusing on our larger goals, we will come out on the other end as a stronger organization prepared to support our mission and stations," Kerger said, according to Current.org.
Related: Four Examiner.com executives, including the CEO and president, have left recently. (Street Fight)

Romenesko Misc.
Dru Sefton recently reported that PBS will break into programs with underwriting and promo spots four times per hour on an experimental basis beginning this fall. PBS corporate communications veep Anne Bentley sent this statement after I posted Sefton's story:

We are always looking at ways to improve the viewer experience. In line with that, we've done research and one of the things that we're going to try is to come up with is a way to develop better flow between shows. It is all about the viewer and how the viewer gets an opportunity to see our shows.

Our intention is to test it out with a single night and see how that goes. Depending on what we learn, we'll see where we go from there.

We've done some preliminary testing, but we intend to do more before we move forward absolutely.

Initial testing showed that viewers didn't really notice the change, but we want to do additional testing. As we move forward, we'll be monitoring it closely.

PBS.org
In late April, PBS began adding 15 to 30 second "sponsorship" messages to online presentations of major programs — everything from "Masterpiece" to "Frontline." Investment giant Goldman Sachs is the most prominent sponsor so far. "That firm clearly has a right to present a basically 'goodwill' message," writes PBS ombud Michael Getler, "and if I were in that firm I would see how it might help its damaged image - among non-employees - to be associated with PBS. But to some viewers, it has apparently added insult to injury." Here's what they're saying:

I have to admit that I wasn't exactly surprised to have my "Upstairs, Downstairs" program interrupted with an advertisement, but Goldman Sachs?!!? Really? I suppose if you're going to sell out you might as well go straight to the devil. Pathetic.

Another letter:

Why is PBS interrupting programming to show commercials, and why are these commercials for Goldman Sachs? Goldman Sachs nearly brought down the world economy; I find commercials from them in the middle of PBS programming most distasteful.

A PBS Interactive exec tells Getler that this new revenue stream is needed because PBS has become, in a sense, "a victim of our own success," going from two million to 115 million online video views monthly. The exec notes that there are more than 1,000 hours of full length video available for free on PBS.org and that "dwarfs anything anyone else has done."

* "When the Facts of PBS Life Collide" [PBS.org]

Washington Post
Jim Lehrer, 76, who has anchored "NewsHour" for 36 years, will leave the daily broadcast on June 6, but continue to appear on Fridays to moderate its weekly news analysis segment featuring a panel of journalists, reports Paul Farhi. He'll also continue to be involved with the program’s producer, MacNeil/Lehrer Productions. In January, Lehrer said his plan was "to drift away" from the newscast. He told David Zurawik that "I still hear the sirens, and as long as I hear the sirens, I’ll still be there to find out where the hell they’re going.”

Lehrer said in a 2005 interview [summary only] with Zurawik:

“Everybody’s saying, ‘Well, it’s the end of the anchorman era.’ But then there’s Brian Williams, who’s got about 10 million people watching him every night on NBC, so what the [expletive] is that all about? I’ve kept my powder dry on this. You’re the first who asked me about it directly. But I’ve been amused, because I just don’t get it.”

* Read the PBS release on Lehrer stepping down as regular anchor

Associated Press
Jim Lehrer said other channels are being used to "tease and to entertain and only to inform across the surface." The PBS anchor spoke at today's public broadcasting summit, hosted by the National Press Club and the University of Missouri School of Journalism. He said of the info-tainment trend:

I have a good source on why this is a problem. The source is Thomas Jefferson. Thomas Jefferson told the folks back when this country was founded that the only way this democratic society we just created is going to work is if there is an informed electorate.

> Deggans: How CBS can show its commitment to news (one idea: air the evening newscast later)