Nice Above Fold - Page 520
NEA slashes funds to WNET arts series, elevates digital media
The Arts on Radio and Television fund of the National Endowment for the Arts, a source of millions of programming dollars for public media, is distributing matching grants to a wider range of recipients this year — from a smaller pool of money. Pubcasters are anxious about the plunge in funding to flagship programs and independent projects now that the Endowment’s revamped Arts in Media fund also supplies cash to digital-game designers, app designers and artists working on web-based interactive platforms. In 2011, almost all of the grants went to public TV and radio programs. This year about half did. The number of grantees was up from 64 to 78 and the total amount committed was down from $4 million to $3.55 million.Merger of Buffalo stations boosts news, reduces music
Public radio listeners are hearing more local news in Buffalo, where two stations that competed against each other are now operating as one.'Education Station' KLCS in Los Angeles launches first-ever fundraising drive
KLCS-TV in Los Angeles is conducting the first fundraising drive ever in its 40-plus year history, hoping to replace $1.4 million for fiscal 2012-13 cut from its $4.6 million budget by its licensee, the Los Angeles Unified School District, reports the Los Angeles Daily News. The newspaper said a text-to-give campaign begins this week, with a goal to raise $100,000 by November, when a traditional pledge drive will start. Previously, the school district had provided $2.8 million, Los Angeles County gave $150,000 and the remainder of the budget came from CPB and other philanthropic and government grants. The cash-strapped school district currently is in the midst of public hearings over its recent decision to lay off some 9,500 teachers.
Partner up, get local for best shot at funding, execs advise
Grantmakers at foundations increasingly look for public radio and television stations to move beyond traditional broadcasting and serve their communities in new ways — as conveners of public dialogue, as innovators testing new approaches for producing and funding digital journalism, and as partners in helping their communities tackle social problems. Station execs who are veterans at foundation fundraising say pubcasting projects that touch on these key themes have a good shot at capturing the attention of grantmakers: Emphasis on community engagement Nine Network/KETC in St. Louis received a three-year $450,000 foundation grant backing its participation in CPB’s American Graduate initiative. The JSM Charitable Trust, a private foundation in St.Foundations favor grantees with digital, local news chops
By giving two seminal news-related grants last year, the Pittsburgh Foundation broke from what chief executive Grant Oliphant described as the foundation’s history of “generic support” for public media. Answering the call from the Knight Foundation for matching grants to address gaps in local news coverage ...If it's spring, it's Great TV Auction time in Milwaukee
Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at the upcoming Channel 10 Great TV Auction, now in its 44th year of raising funds for Milwaukee Public Television. Local news site OnMilwaukee.com reports that the auction began in 1969 with a goal of $50,000; now, it raises more than $1 million annually, handling more than 20,000 items throughout its weeklong run. “During the auction, between the phone banks and everything, we have over 3,000 volunteers,” said Auction Director Sharon Fischer-Toerpe. “It takes a lot of volunteers. There are volunteers who plan their vacation around the auction just so they can be here.” This year’s auction runs April 27 through May 5.
Delaware news startup adds public radio service
A nonprofit that operates a news site for the state of Delaware has acquired an FM broadcast license and plans to launch a new station by early summer. Delaware First Media’s purchase of WDDE, a 2,500-watt signal on 91.1 FM, lays the groundwork for the first-ever public radio station to be based in and serve the state of Delaware.Pubradio, artists pair up to promote music radio
Public radio stations and NPR are promoting April as Public Radio Music Month, a campaign designed to raise awareness of the cultural contributions of pubradio’s music stations and the role federal funding plays in keeping those outlets on the air. Stations that broadcast classical, jazz and contemporary music formats have scheduled special concerts throughout the month to highlight the diversity of programming and the field’s commitment to presenting new artists. Musicians themselves are participating — and not just by performing at station events. Nearly 130 artists — including the Black Keys, the Decemberists, My Morning Jacket and the Roots — signed a “love note” to public radio, expressing thanks to local stations that play their music.Knight seeds investigative news channel on YouTube
The nonprofit Center for Investigative Reporting is launching an investigative news channel on YouTube to serve as a hub for investigative journalism. The Knight Foundation provided an $800,000 grant to start the channel. The center, based in Berkeley, Calif., announced on April 11 [2012] that the channel will feature videos from commercial and noncommercial broadcasters and independent producers, including NPR, ITVS, ABC News, the New York Times, the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, the Center for Public Integrity and American University’s Investigative Reporting Workshop. The center plans to add contributors and seek submissions from freelance journalists and independent filmmakers from around the world.Charting the Digital Broadcasting Future, 1998
Advisory Committee on Public Interest Obligations of Digital Television Broadcasters Final Report, Dec. 18, 1998 a.k.a. PIAC or the Gore Commission See PDF of full report; sections of the report posted in HTML by the Benton Foundation; and the list of commission members. Executive Summary As this Nation’s 1,600 television stations begin to convert to a digital television format, it is appropriate to reexamine the long-standing social compact between broadcasters and the American people. The quality of governance, intelligence of political discourse, diversity of free expression, vitality of local communities, opportunities for education and instruction, and many other dimensions of American life will be affected profoundly by how digital television evolves.Public Broadcasting Act of 1967 (nearly original)
Public Law 90-129, 90th Congress, November 7, 1967 (as amended to April 26, 1968) Enacted less than 10 months after the report of the Carnegie Commission on Educational Broadcasting, this law initiates federal aid to the operation (as opposed to funding capital facilities) of public broadcasting. Provisions include: extend authorization of the earlier Educational Television Facilities Act, forbid educational broadcasting stations to editorialize or support or oppose political candidates, establish the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and defines its board, defines its purposes, authorize reduced telecommunications rates for its interconnection, authorize appropriations to CPB, and authorize a federal study of instructional television and radio.Pacifica Foundation By-laws, 1955
Pacifica began operation of its first and flagship station, KPFA in Berkeley, Calif., April 15, 1949. These are early bylaws of the nonprofit organization. See also Pacifica’s bylaws as of 1999. Article I Identity Section 1. The name of this corporation shall be PACIFICA FOUNDATION. Section 2. The principal place of business of this corporation shall be located in the County of Alameda, State of California. Article II Membership Section 1. There shall be one class of membership in this corporation: Executive Membership. Section 2. EXECUTIVE MEMBERSHIPS (a) Any person who displays either of the following qualifications is eligible for Executive Membership in this corporation: i.State funding cuts trigger layoffs at Virginia's Community Idea Stations
Virginia’s Community Idea Stations — WCVE Public Radio, WCVE PBS and WCVW PBS in Richmond and WHTJ PBS in Charlottesville — on Friday (April 20) announced elimination of 11 positions, about 18 percent of its workforce, before the end of June. A statement on the network’s website said the decision was in response to lack of pubcasting funding in the commonwealth’s budget. The stations had received about $700,000 this fiscal year; the General Assembly last week approved a budget that does not contain that support, reports the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Six of the 11 positions will be lost in the Educational Services department.On C-SPAN, ex-FCC official Copps worries over noncom stations in spectrum auction
Former FCC Commissioner Michael Copps expresses concern for public TV stations in the upcoming spectrum auctions, in an interview on The Communicators series on C-SPAN, reports Broadcasting & Cable. “Public television is doing a really good job with multicasting and using two or three streams to do really good programming,” Copps says on the program, scheduled for broadcast at 6:30 p.m. Eastern Saturday (April 21) and available online. “And all of a sudden, if they are going to be decreasing in number or stations are going to be thrown together, is that going to mean we are going to have less programming?”POV offering Twitter chat on producing for pubTV
Want to get your documentary on public television? POV Series Producer Yance Ford will be on Twitter at 7 p.m. Eastern April 25 to answer questions about doing just that. Submit questions for her by posting to Twitter using the hashtag #docchat.
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