Pubmedia symposium examines how to define, quantify impact

“Impact” is a feel-good media buzzword of the moment, increasingly required by the funders of many projects and invoked by some PTV stations, news organizations and documentary producers as key to demonstrating the social good derived from their work. But defining the concept and then measuring whether a media project has demonstrated its value remain elusive challenges for many. During “Understanding Impact,” a two-day symposium convened last month at American University in Washington, D.C., participants explored a number of the ad hoc systems for tracking impact that are taking form. Organizations including the Center for Investigative Reporting in Emeryville, Calif., and KETC, the Nine Network of St. Louis, have developed their own methodologies and hired staff members to measure the impact of their work.

St. Louis culinary magazine hits pubmedia airwaves on Feast TV

Nine Network in St. Louis is partnering with the local Feast Magazine on Feast TV, a unique culinary show. Filmed in Producer Catherine Neville’s home kitchen, each program links segments on regional food news with a cooking demonstration that progresses through the half-hour magazine. “This medium lets viewers meet the farmers, the chefs, the brewers and winemakers who make up our culinary industry,” said Neville, also Feast Magazine publisher. Feast TV had been airing on the local Fox affiliate, said Terri Gates, Nine Network spokesperson.

Scarce funding limits public media’s response to gun debate

The mass shootings last year in Colorado, Wisconsin and Connecticut reawakened Americans to recurring tragedies of gun violence and rekindled a national debate about gun control — one that public radio and television have chronicled and analyzed through ongoing programs and the package of special broadcasts that aired on PBS last month.

Nine Network of St. Louis recognized as ‘Best of the Best’ in 2012 NETA Awards

The St. Louis public TV station’s Nine Academy, a program that trains individuals and community organizations to produce short videos on stories of “community impact,” received special recognition among the awards presented during NETA’s recent conference in St. Louis. In honoring the academy as the top winner in its annual awards program, NETA cited the station for groundbreaking community work. NETA recognized 20 public TV stations in 30 categories spread across four divisions — community engagement, content production, instructional media and promotion.

AETN and KOMU win three regional Emmys apiece, leading pubTV stations

The Arkansas Educational Television Network (AETN), based in Conway, won three Emmys for “Clean Lines, Open Spaces: A View of Mid-Century Modern Architecture,” a doc that explored mid-century modern architecture through a regional lens of the American South. The program was named best cultural documentary, and Mark Wilcken received individual awards for writing and editing. “I love these old mid-century modern buildings, and I’m glad I had a chance to explain what they are, where they came from and why they are important,” said Wilcken. Two of three Emmys won by KOMU in Columbia, Mo., went to Sarah Hill and Scott Schaefer for news stories in the historical/cultural (“Concentration Camp Wedding Dress”) and human interest (“Baby Chloe’s Diamond in the Sky”) categories. In addition, KOMU’s Hill, Nathan Higgins, Jennifer Reeves, Stacey Woelfel and Lindsey Tyler received Emmys for interactivity with “Live Cyber Shave.”

The Nine Network of Public Media in St.

Nine Network breaks ground on Public Media Commons project

The Nine Network of Public Media in St. Louis kicked off a yearlong construction project on Tuesday to build the Public Media Commons, an interactive “urban space” in the city’s midtown district. Designed to be a “powerful expression” of the future of public media, the Public Media Commons is a pedestrian-friendly and interactive space that will give visitors the opportunity to view content on wall-size screens as well as curating content via interactive and touch displays. The community space will also have concert space and public art including a digital “tree.”

The Nine Network’s partners include the University of Missouri-St. Louis and St.