NPR CEO Ken Stern resigned today–or wait, was he fired? The NYT, Washington Post, and Associated Press all use diplomatic language, saying the executive is "stepping down," "departing," or simply "out," but NPR's own website says he was "forced out" by their board of directors.

Stern was intent on expanding NPR to flashy, glamorous new media, which made their affiliate stations anxious: Why would viewers donate during pledge drives when they could hear programs online for free?

But it's not just the HTTP://Information_Superhighway that worries these crotchety old affiliates.

Among the diversions "siphoning audiences away from traditional broadcasters" are television, video games, um, books on tape. Those TV screens on JetBlue flights are the next enemy!