Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), took to the House floor this morning (Feb. 15) to once again speak in favor of public broadcasting on the day that lawmakers will debate the Appropriation bill that zeros out CPB funding. “I fear this reckless partisan assault on public broadcasting will actually hurt our longterm efforts to tame the deficient,” he said. “It would mean the loss of a valuable tool to educate and inform the public through a respected and nonpartisan source. This is exactly how to get information to the public on how to deal with the massive deficit problems that we face.”
Public radio’s This American Life is having website server problems today (try here, it may be up again when you read this). Why? Most probably because it has posted the secret formula for Coca-Cola, which supposedly had not been made public since its first bottling in 1886. Leave it to TAL to unearth a 1979 story on page 28 of the Atlanta Journal Constitution showing a photo of the formula, handwritten by its creator John Pemberton. TAL consulted historian Mark Pendergrast, author of a history of the drink, who (somewhat noncommittally) said: “I think that it certainly is a version of the formula.”
Memos to public radio stations’ Authorized Representatives (AReps) from NPR and APTS about the Public Media Alliance, a new combined TV and radio lobbying effort, Feb. 15, 2011
From NPR’s chair and president
To: AREPS
Fr: Dave Edwards, NPR Board Chair
Vivian Schiller , NPR President & CEO
As you well know in light of this weekend’s news from the House Appropriations Committee, the elimination of federal funding for public broadcasting is a serious threat to the future of over 900 locally run radio stations and 360 television stations — and to the entire public broadcasting economy. To succeed in the face of this challenge we need to make our case forcefully, and use our limited resources wisely. Over the past several weeks, NPR and APTS executives and board members have discussed how we might mount an even stronger advocacy effort. We’ve concluded that our interests and those of the 170 million Americans that rely on public broadcasting each month will be best served by joining forces.
The Federal Communications Commission has sent invitations to webinars on spectrum auction to 15 state broadcast associations, reports the CommLaw Blog. The notice says that FCC Media Bureau Chief Bill Lake and Rebecca Hanson, senior adviser on broadcast spectrum, will describe “the financial opportunities offered by voluntary incentive auctions, as proposed in the FCC’s National Broadband Plan.” They’ll also discuss “new business model options” that stem from voluntary spectrum givebacks. The Virginia Broadcasting Association announced stations there may take part March 17. No other details are available, the blog noted.
President Barack Obama released his budget today, and support for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting is safe through fiscal 2014. In fact, funding actually increases from $430 million in FY11 to $445 million in 2012, points out MinnPost media reporter David Brauer. The president does propose cutting $80 million in CPB grants for digital transition, station interconnection infrastructure and station fiscal stabilization, which the system received during the recession (Current, Dec. 14, 2009).Want to check out the CPB section of the president’s budget? Click here (PDF) and search on “Corporation for Public Broadcasting,” or go to the bottom of page 1203.
How real is the threat by Republicans in Congress to defund public broadcasting, and what difference would an end to federal aid make for Minnesota Public Radio? David Brauer, media writer for MinnPost, assessed the impact of the proposed cuts and the odds that they’ll garner support among Senate Democrats after MPR began telling its listeners about the looming House vote. Washington University Professor Steven Smith says pubcasting’s allies in the Senate and the White House will only be able to do so much to protect public broadcasting: “Senate Democrats will not go for cuts as deep as the House, but it is possible that CPB will take a significant hit as a part of the ultimate deal,” Smith says. If MPR’s $4 million annual CPB grant is cut-off, Brauer reports the funding loss will have ripple effects on the statewide pubradio service and its national programming arm — especially since it will arrive on the heels of $14 million in revenue losses in 2008-09.
Nightly Business Report is “strongly pursing” a national radio deal, and is hoping to open up to multiple bureau partnerships with pubcasting stations by the end of the year, NBR owner Mykalai Kontilai tells the News on News website. The radio program would be a half-hour audiocast of the weeknight NBR, with an addition 30 minutes of NBR-produced content. “It would involve both of our hosts or some other radio talent,” Kontilai said. NBR also has seven proposals out to pubTV stations for bureau partnerships. “We’ve received some positive feedback,” he said.
Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) said in a statement yesterday (Feb. 12) on GOP budget cuts that by “putting the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Pell Grants on the chopping block, Republicans are denying our youngest children and our neediest students the excellence of educational, cultural and informational resources and opportunities both in their homes and in classrooms throughout the nation.”He also said that the reductions were made “to appease demands of its extremist Tea Party caucus.”The House begins debate Tuesday on a Continuing Resolution to keep the government running that includes a proposal to zero out CPB funding by fiscal 2013.
Debate has been set to start Tuesday (Feb. 15) on H.R. 1, the Continuing Resolution (CR) that would keep the federal government running but also would slash the budget, including ending CPB funding as of fiscal 2013. The resolution also proposes eliminating FY 2011 money for the CPB Digital program, Ready to Learn, the Public Telecommunications Facilities Program, the Rural Utility Service’s digital work, and Radio Interconnection. “These draconian cuts will deal a devastating blow to local public television and radio stations if enacted,” APTS President Patrick Butler cautioned in an e-mail to stations today (Feb. 12).Amendments are expected to be put forward to save the pubcasting dollars.
Public broadcasting’s so-called “G4″ – CPB, PBS, the Association of Public Television Stations advocacy organization and NPR – today (Feb. 12) issued comments on the formal proposal Friday by the House Appropriations Committee to eliminate federal funding for public broadcasting as part of cuts in the Continuing Resolution to keep the government running.The statement from CPB:”Federal funding for public media is a smart and careful investment that continues to deliver proven benefits to the American people at both a local and national level. It is a successful example of a vital public-private partnership,” said Pat Harrison, president and CEO of CPB.”We understand the challenges to our economy as a result of increasing budget deficits, but the proposed elimination of funding for [CPB] will not address this challenge in a meaningful way; it represents a disproportionate attack on public media. Further, elimination of CPB would impact millions of Americans who rely on public media for free, quality content that has a mission to educate, inform and inspire. This proposed action would directly result in cuts to the 1,300 public television and radio stations that provide this service; impact thousands of jobs in rural, suburban and urban communities throughout the country already reeling from a faltering economy; and eliminate a valued service – content that strengthens our civil society through children’s and educational programming, lifelong learning for all Americans, and quality entertainment.”The statement from PBS:“PBS and public television stations are America’s largest classroom, the nation’s largest stage for the arts and a trusted window to the world – all at the cost of about $1 per person per year,” said PBS President and CEO Paula Kerger.
Virginia legislators have lots to talk about before agreeing on a budget, and that includes public broadcasting. The Senate restored $2.7 million that Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) proposed cutting from public broadcasting, while the House defeated a proposal to restore even a portion of the funding, according to the Roanoke Times.
In 2005, WTTW’s proposed preschool literacy show Word World was a surprise recipient of more than $7 million in Ready to Learn funding from the U.S. Department of Education. The perky program premiered on PBS in 2007, and went on to win three Emmy Awards.On Thursday (Feb. 10), Word World LLC filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Reuters is reporting the company has liabilities of more than $10 million, including a $3.3 million convertible note and unpaid debts to animation and production studios. It has secured lines of credit allowing it to continue operations while it restructures.”It’s the classic story of a great company with a bad balance sheet that ran out of time,” said Don Moody, c.e.o. of Word World LLC.Word World revenue comes from merchandising and licensing deals from more than 100 foreign countries where the show is aired, Moody said.
Twenty members of the House of Representatives on Thursday (Feb. 10) urged their colleagues to sign a letter of support for public broadcasting funding (PDF). The letter reads in part: “We can all agree that we should right-size government spending, but we must do it in a way that doesn’t deprive citizens across the country of a fundamental way to be educated, informed and inspired. We cannot turn our backs on one of America’s most successful public-private partnerships, an indispensable service that delivers exceptional value to citizens in small towns and major cities. It is an appropriate role for our government and one that we hope you will support.”Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) authored the request, and spoke up for pubcasting on the House floor today.
The progressive website MoveOn.org has a petition on its site supporting public broadcasting as the debate on federal funding nears. From the page: “The Republicans just released their budget proposal, and it zeroes out funding for both NPR and PBS – the worst proposal in more than a decade. We need to tell Republicans that cutting off funding was unacceptable last time they were in charge, and it’s unacceptable now.” Signers’ information is zapped directly to their Congressional reps with the message, “Congress must protect NPR and PBS and guarantee them permanent funding, free from political meddling.”
The Berkman Center’s Online Media Legal Network will collaborate with the Investigative News Network (INN) to help its member nonprofit news organizations find pro bono and low-cost legal help. Based at Harvard University’s Berkman Center for Internet Society, Online Media Legal Network is a legal assistance and referral service of more than 100 law firms, law school clinics, in-house counsel and 7,000 individual lawyers nationwide that provide free and reduced-fee legal assistance to qualifying independent journalists and journalism ventures. The INN was conceived at the 2009 investigative public media conference in Pocantico, N.Y. Its members include some of the top pubmedia news orgs, including California Watch, Center for Investigative Reporting and the Center for Public Integrity.
Robert F. Schenkkan, who worked with President Lyndon Johnson on the 1967 act that established CPB and was one of “the Six Pack” of early pubTV station managers who provided counsel on the membership design of the Public Broadcasting Service, died Wednesday (Feb. 9) in Austin, Texas, of complications of dementia. He was 93.Top public broadcasters were quick to pay their respects. Jim Lehrer, anchor and editor of PBS NewsHour, told the Austin American-Statesman, “He was the first to understand the immediate meaning and ultimate importance of public broadcasting. He really got it.
Spaces are quickly filling for the “Advocacy Journalism in the Digital Age” conference March 1 at the Newseum. The Ford Foundation and the American University School of Communication are gathering experts in social activism, public policy and journalism to help define the opportunities and challenges created by new digital technologies. Panelists include Clark Hoyt of Bloomberg News, NPR Ombudsman Alicia Shepard, and Nick Clooney, director of “Journey to Darfur,” tracing his trek to the war-torn country with his son, actor George Clooney. RSVP here.
Karen Avery, former director of foundation relations at the Smithsonian, is the new senior director of institutional giving at the PBS Foundation, working to raise funds from foundation and corporate sectors. She will report to Brian Reddington, senior v.p. of development, who was recently shifted from oversight of the Online Giving Campaign to focus solely on foundation work. Prior to Avery’s Smithsonian development work, she was assistant dean of Harvard College where she directed an initiative to raise the awareness of women’s issues at Harvard, and served as a hearing officer for complaints of sexual assault and sexual harassment.
President Obama will unveil his Wireless Innovation and Infrastructure Initiative in a speech today (Feb. 9) at Northern Michigan University at Marquette, reports National Journal. The speech backs the idea of a voluntary spectrum giveback that could net the government a total of $27.8 billion over the next 10 years, $9.6 billion of which would go to deficit reductions, White House officials said. Those figures are estimates of what the government would have after giving broadcasters and others who relinquish spectrum a share in auction proceeds, and paying the costs of relocating or consolidating spectrum users into different bands.
Legislation authorizing the West Virginia Educational Broadcasting Authority to continue soliciting donations through its private nonprofit fundraising organizations is coming up for a floor vote in the House of Delegates today. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Jim Morgan, responds to a report issued last summer by the state legislature’s auditors, who said the pubcasting network’s relationships with its sister nonprofits– the Friends of West Virginia Public Broadcasting Inc. and the West Virginia Public Broadcasting Foundation Inc. — circumvent state spending regulations and travel rules. As introduced last month, H.B. 2695 authorizes West Virginia EBA employees to work with the Friends groups and make their broadcasting studios and facilities available to them for the purpose of fundraising. It also addresses governance problems that the EBA grappled with in recent years, including the governor’s role in appointing members of the EBA board and in selecting and setting compensation levels for its executive director. The House chamber just initiated today’s floor session [calendar here]; live audio of the debate is being streamed here.