Development
Pubmedia executives, stations recognized at PMDMC
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Public media leaders were honored for excellence in fundraising and development.
People
WAMU hires Andi McDaniel as head of content
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McDaniel comes from Twin Cities Public Television.
Quick Takes
PMP rolls out pilot program for WordPress plugin
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The Public Media Platform is seeking stations to help test a new tool.
Programs/Content
With TV Takeover, TPT hands over broadcast keys to local arts groups
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To attract young viewers, Twin Cities Public Television is experimenting with a new kind of show: the “TV party.”
Quick Takes
Monday roundup: Alaska journalists raise concerns; Obama renominates CPB board member
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• A lengthy Columbia Journalism Review feature focuses on a conflict over journalistic ethics at Anchorage-based Alaska Public Media. CFO Bernie Washington has been nominated to serve on the State Assessment Review Board, which helps to determine revenues from oil taxes in the state. APM journalists are concerned about Washington’s appointment compromising the network’s coverage of the review board. “We are aghast, quite frankly, aghast that our management doesn’t understand that this is a solid, more than apparent conflict of interest,” Steve Heimel, host of Talk of Alaska, told CJR.
• President Obama will nominate Elizabeth Sembler for a second term on the CPB board, the White House announced Thursday. Sembler joined the board in 2008 as an appointee of President Bush; her term expires this year. She currently serves as the board’s vice chair.
Arizona PBS
PubTV stations move to pitch sustainer gifts during pledge
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“Sustainers,” as this increasingly commonplace breed of member is called, renew at higher rates than those responding to traditional pledge pitches.
Programs/Content
TPT launches Open Air, a new brand aimed at engaging young viewers
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Twin Cities Public Television describes its new Open Air programming and promotional initiative as “tailor-made to meet the demands of a new Minnesota public TV audience.”
People
APTS recognizes Barbara Mikulksi and Greg Walden, gives innovation and advocacy awards
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The Association of Public Television Stations handed out Champions of Public Broadcasting awards during its Public Media Summit in Washington, D.C., Feb 24–26, recognizing Maryland Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D) and Oregon Rep. Greg Walden (R). APTS also gave EDGE Awards to Twin Cities Public Television and New Jersey’s NJTV and recognized individuals with Advocacy Awards. Mikulski, who replaced recently deceased Hawaii Sen. Daniel Inouye (D) as chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, has been an ardent defender of public broadcasting in the Senate and was a vocal defender of the Public Telecommunications Facilities Program before it was eliminated in 2011. As chair of the House Energy Subcommittee on Communications and the Internet, Walden has helped secure federal aid for public broadcasters to help defer costs related to spectrum legislation. As he accepted his award, he told summit attendees that increased competition from cable and digital channels has made public TV less relevant to television viewers, and he suggested that public broadcasters support cuts to government-entitlement programs in order to salvage their own funding.
Programs/Content
With young actors, Localore’s interactive Ed Zed Omega critiques education system
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CPB’s American Graduate initiative has set its sights on targeting dropouts, but another project in public media, Ed Zed Omega, is zeroing in on “rise-outs” — students who are excited to learn but feel that high school is failing to meet their needs.