Currently Curious
A reader asks: Why do some states lack statewide public radio networks?
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A Virginia producer wonders if states without public media networks are missing an opportunity to connect audience members.
System/Policy
State aid to Virginia stations again in jeopardy
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Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) has proposed zeroing out the state’s $7.2 million in state funding for Virginia’s public television and radio stations and their educational telecommunications services for the next two years. Pubcasters hope to convince McDonnell to restore some funds by arguing for the value of the educational services they provide. The state’s system does more for public schools than pubTV in many states. WHRO in Norfolk/Hampton Roads, for example, has created 22 online high-school courses that are available to schools for much lower annual fees than the roughly $5,000 per-student charges of commercial vendors, according to Bert Schmidt, WHRO’s president. The governor’s office denied pubcasters’ request for a meeting, but Schmidt and his colleagues are still pursuing “creative solutions,” he says, such as channeling money through appropriate entities to assure politicians that it’s used solely for educational purposes.
Development
Will Pete Rose watch Virginia public TV?
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Virginia public broadcasters and state lottery officials are hoping for a big payoff in audience numbers by televising the state’s lottery prize show. In an unusual arrangement, officials of public television and the state lottery will broadcast Virginia’s Monthly Million, which hits the airwaves Sept. 30 [1989]. Unlike the regular one-minute daily drawings, the half-hour program will be shown once a month and feature eight contestants and “at home” players and offer prizes of between $10,000 and $1 million. For viewers and others who may fear the Old Dominion’s public TV outlets are ignoring public broadcasting’s “mission,” the program is not just a game show.