Current, the newspaper that has covered the public broadcasting business every two weeks for three decades, is leaving the hands of its longtime owner, WNET.org, the New York City public broadcaster. The board of WNET.org last week approved an agreement to sell Current to the American University School of Communication, whose board has also approved the move. The change is expected to take place in the new year, once a final contract is signed. The trade publication, which is based outside Washington, was founded in 1980 by the National Association of Educational Broadcasters, but in 1982 it shifted to the Educational Broadcasting Corporation, the forerunner of WNET.org. Neal Shapiro, WNET.org's president and chief executive, said he found it odd for his organization to publish a paper that covered WNET itself. 'It always had the potential to be a problem,' he said. American University 'seemed like the perfect place' for Current, Shapiro said. 'They are all about thinking about the next generation of journalism.' Larry Kirkman, the school's dean, said the school had 'become a laboratory for the future of public media,' helped by initiatives like the Center for Social Media and the Investigative Reporting Workshop, which produces for PBS's 'Frontline.' He added that he hoped students would become more engaged with public media with Current at the university. Current, which has a circulation of about 4,000 and about 29,000 unique visitors monthly to its website, will remain editorially independent, Kirkman said, and will continue as a trade journal but also will 'play an even greater role in informing and shaping the future of public broadcasting.' American University plans to expand Current's online and digital presence, he said. Because the deal is not final, neither side would discuss the price, although Kellie Specter, a WNET.org spokeswoman, said the broadcast company would receive 'nominal compensation' for the publication, which lost money in the last couple of years. Shapiro said WNET did not sell Current for the revenue the sale would bring, but because his company did not have the resources to shepherd a trade publication 'while trying to run a multimedia company.' 