Did you know that NPR is one of the few remaining news organizations to have an ombudsman, a journalist assigned to critique NPR's own journalistic efforts? The NPR Ombudsman operates independently, accountable to you, the listener/reader. Being the NPR Ombudsman is a temporary assignment, usually for three years, during which he/she responds to listener inquiries about news coverage, bias, thoroughness, and other thorny ethical and stylistic issues that crop up in journalism.

As of Jan. 26, you, the listener, have a new representative: Elizabeth Jensen. She is an accomplished journalist herself, writing for The New York Times and Columbia Journalism Review among others, with three decades of experience covering the media industry, public media and non-profit journalism in general, and NPR and PBS in particular. She replaces Edward Schumacher-Matos, who has served as Ombudsman since 2011. You'll be able to find her opinion columns along with her predecessor's, in our This Is KGOU section. Contact information for her will be available soon.

One of KGOU's student broadcasters, Hayley Thornton, has placed in the top ten finalists in the William Randolph Hearst Foundation's 55th annual Radio News & Features Competition. Hayley's entries, CureSearch Walk Fights To Find Childhood Cancer Cure and The Diet Fit For A Caveman, earned eighth place in the national competition. Both reports aired in Assignment: Radio, KGOU's student produced newsmagazine. Congratulations, Hayley!

Just back from a trip to Italy, Here & Now resident chef Kathy Gunst says she ate more pasta than she wants to admit, but also picked up some tips for cooking the country's staple cultural cuisine. She shared some tips and recipes, in case you missed it.