Saluting Robert Schenkkan, public broadcasting pioneer

The public stations in Austin, Texas, honored public broadcasting pioneer Robert Schenkkan over the weekend with a celebration of his 90th birthday, reports the Austin American-Statesman. Schenkkan helped to create Austin’s KUT-FM and KLRU-TV, and also defended public broadcasting against a defunding threat from President Nixon in the 1970s. “Bob Schenkkan is a hero to me and everybody else in public broadcasting,” said Jim Lehrer. “He gave us life and then he saved us.”