Programs/Content

WXXI ends 54-year run of Assignment: The World due to lack of funding

By |

Assignment: The World, the longest-running social-studies instructional TV program in the country, broadcast its last episode May 23. WXXI in Rochester, N.Y., which produced the ITV series for 54 years, announced the cancellation May 20. “Assignment: The World has experienced an increase in news acquisition costs, which were unfortunately not offset by program funding,” said Elissa Orlando, WXXI v.p. for television, in the announcement. “WXXI is saddened by this decision, but will continue to discover new ways to serve the educational needs of students.”

Every season, students could watch 32 weekly episodes, 15 minutes in length, in classrooms, either on the air or on-demand over the Internet. Teej Jenkins, the last host to anchor the show, presented a roundup of news events from the past week; teachers and students often interact with the show through writing prompts, issue questions and polls.

Programs/Content

Alaska Public Media’s new web-first series is part of its ‘video renaissance’

By |

Alaska Public Media has introduced a new weekly web-first series in what promises to be its “larger video renaissance.”

Indie Alaska, a weekly YouTube series profiling unique Alaskans, is co-produced with PBS Digital Studios and partially funded with a $10,000 Digital Entrepreneurs Grant from PBS. The show launched May 6 with an episode about a ski train polka band. Producers will deliver 52 episodes in total, with new ones debuting each Monday. Patrick Yack, chief content officer at Alaska Public Media, said the dual licensee plans to eventually repackage the episodes in a magazine-like format for TV broadcast and may adapt some for radio as well. The network broadcast promo spots for the series in addition to promoting it through social media.

Quick Takes

Former Iowa Board of Regents head files open-meetings suits against IPR Board

By |

Michael Gartner, a former president of the Iowa Board of Regents, has filed a 41-page lawsuit complaining that the Iowa Public Radio Board of Directors violated state law when it conducted a closed meeting last December before terminating IPR C.E.O. Mary Grace Herrington in February, the Des Moines Register is reporting. The Board of Regents will next week consider a renewal of its operating agreement with Iowa Public Radio that includes a provision requiring it to follow state open meetings and open records laws, according to the Gazette in Cedar Rapids. This is Gartner’s second such lawsuit, the Gazette also notes. Herrington’s ouster was sparked at least in part by internal dissension over her decision last year to fire Jonathan Ahl, a respected news director at the station (Current, March 5).

System/Policy

APTS chief sees renewed battle over CPB aid

By |

APTS President Patrick Butler is warning public broadcasters of continued threats to their federal funding this summer as Congress takes up work on appropriations for the next federal budget. During an appearance at the Public Media Business Association conference this morning, Butler recalled a private meeting with a key House Republican from Georgia who opposes federal aid to CPB. Rep. Jack Kingston, chair of the House appropriations subcommittee with oversight over CPB, told Butler that he plans to zero-out CPB funding. “He told me point blank, in January, that he was going to do everything he could to eliminate our funding,” Butler said during a PMBA breakfast meeting at the Washington Court Hotel in Washington, D.C. Public TV’s top lobbyist expects Kingston to introduce the bill in June. “I’m sure there will be a big zero in his bill for public broadcasting,” he said.