Survey Says: Support Public Broadcasting

Bipartisan survey shows public’s overwhelming opposition to proposed cuts

A national survey undertaken by the bipartisan polling firms of Hart Research and American Viewpoint indicates overwhelming public opposition (69% to 27%) to proposals to eliminate government funding of public broadcasting, with voters across the political spectrum opposed to such a cut, including 83% of Democrats, 69% of Independents, and 56% of Republicans. More than two-thirds (68%) of voters say that Congressional budget cutters should “find other places in the budget to save money.”

PBS commissioned this research to measure the organization’s performance and value as judged by its most important stakeholder – the American public.

Results of the Hart Research – American Viewpoint survey are available on PBS.org.

Plus, read PBS President & CEO Paula Kerger’s editorial on how zeroing out Public Broadcasting does not add up on The Huffington Post.

Tags: budget, Congress, CPB, huffington post, paula kerger, PBS, public television

PBS Weighs in on Proposed Cuts for CPB

PBS CHIEF PAULA KERGER CONTINUES TO MAKE THE CASE FOR PUBLIC TV

ITVS continues to support the grassroots effort rallying behind Public Television. As we pointed out last week, more than 170 million Americans rely on some form of public media each month. Just yesterday on the blog, BTB teamed up with our public media partner, PBS NEWSHOUR to highlight filmmakers and journalists covering events on-the-ground in Egypt and placing them into context in American classrooms. Conversations like those are a product of public media.

Recently, PBS weighed in on the House Appropriations Committee’s proposed elimination of funding for CPB. Watch the video from PBS President & CEO Paula Kerger.

Tags: budget, Congress, CPB, funding cuts, government, house, Independent Lens, PBS, politics, public media

In the News: The Latest on ITVS Programs

Following Workers’ Trails of Tears in China
“Lixin is not from the foreign-influenced cultural centers,” said Daniel Cross, president of EyesteelFilm company in Montreal, which produced Up the Yangtze and co-produced Last Train Home with the ITVS …
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Camp Victory Afghanistan
Filmmaker Carol Dysinger talks about her new documentary that premieres tonight…
Listen to the Podcast >>>

Plugging the Arts - PBS launches interactive portal making visual arts programming more accessible than ever
Within a year, PBS plans to expand its arts initiative to broadcast, with a dedicated night of programming each week. In anticipation, some PBS series have already increased arts-related content. Next April, the documentary series “Independent Lens” will focus solely on the visual arts, with four films in four weeks, according to the series producer Lois Vossen. In addition, the first documentary film on the life of William S. Burroughs, which will appear in US cinemas this autumn, has been slated to air on PBS in May.
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Carmen Meets Borat Coming To Global Voices Series On PBS World Channel
With all the strange, interesting, and bad press that followed in the wake of Sasha Baron Cohen’s Borat film, you’re about to get a new look behind the scenes of the production, from the perspective of yet another group duped by the film. While many of the stories that came out the film didn’t evoke a great deal of sympathy, the curious bamboozling of the village of Glod in Romania might deliver a different picture.
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Tags: CPB, in the news, Independent Lens, indie films, ITVS, PBS, press, public television

Independent Producers Get Hooked Up Digitally

Producers and filmmakers convened in Boston last month for the annual CPB/PBS Producers Workshop. The program, started 10 years ago by veteran WGBH producer Judith Vecchione, has trained more than 190 producers from some 40 states, and ITVS has participated in every class since the beginning. ITVS’ Senior Programming Manager, Richard Saiz, spent an entire day giving feedback to producers at the workshop. Matthew Meschery, Director of Digital Initiatives at ITVS, was also on hand. He co-facilitated a workshop on new-media and filed this report.

From the Producers Workshop in Boston

This was the first time I had attended the Producers Workshop in any capacity and it was also the first year they designated an entire class on the broad subject of new media. I was thankful for being invited and thankful that the Workshop’s Director, Judith Vecchione, WGBH, and CPB recognized new media as an integral part of a producer’s training in working with public television. Oh yes, and I was thankful for the air conditioning in the WGBH building (I had forgotten just how humid New England can be in the summer).

The session was co-facilitated by myself, Dave Peth, interactive producer at WGBH and Dan Sonnet, interactive producer for PBS. We decided to structure the first part of the session as an overview, covering a wide range of topics from trends in trans-media storytelling, to social media (a formal debate of the pros and cons of Facebook and Twitter), to digital distribution, to games (you’d be surprised how much documentary producers know about digital games). We then spent the latter half of our three-hour session discussing some new media projects that the producers were working on. Projects ranged from a role-playing game to an episodic web series, to a user-generated content campaign. It was exciting to have producers share their ideas with us and their peers so openly and accept honest and constructive feedback considering this is a relatively new discipline for all of us.

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Tags: boston, CPB, digitial media, documentary, judith vecchione, matthew meschery, PBS, producers workshiop, wgbh

Apply Now! CPB/PBS Diversity and Innovation Fund Seeks New Primetime TV Series

The Diversity and Innovation fund is on the hunt to provide Public Television with a new, weekly, primetime series and wants to hear from you.

In particular, the DI fund is looking for content that will appeal to adult audiences and reflects the diversity of the 40-64 year old U.S. population.

PBS will begin accepting proposals on July 26^th, with a final deadline of September 25^th.

Learn more about proposal guidelines and other useful info on how to apply.

Tags: CPB, diversity fund, funding, PBS, public television, TV series

Pelosi, Other Luminaries Gather to Celebrate Bhutto

Dennis Palmieri is director of communications for ITVS, and led the team that produced the Washington D.C. premiere of Bhutto at the headquarters of the National Geographic Society on June 29th. He reports from the event:

Last night, ITVS hosted the Washington D.C. premiere of the landmark new documentary Bhutto, about the life, career, and tragic death of one of the world’s most dynamic leaders — and the first woman ever to lead an Islamic nation — Benazir Bhutto.

The film debuted at Sundance 2010 to rave reviews and Independent Lens series producer Lois Vossen quickly moved in to secure Bhutto for next season; it will air in March 2011 in celebration of Women’s History Month.

But last night, Bhutto belonged to official Washington. Nearly 400 invited guests, members of Congress and the Washington diplomatic corps, journalists, and other notables were regaled with reflections and remembrances of Ms. Bhutto’s life and work.

The pinnacle of the evening though, was a surprise appearance by another dynamic woman leader, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who took the podium during introductory remarks to share memories of her friendship with Benazir (watch the Speaker’s remarks below).

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Tags: Benazir Bhutto, CPB, documentary, ITVS, Judy Woodruff, NewsHour, Pakistan, PBS

Live Streaming Panel Discussion Focuses on the Role of Public Media

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) is hosting a live streaming press event at Washington, DC’s Newseum with NPR and PBS. Watch online this Thursday, March 25, from 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM ET.

What is the role of public media in local, national, and international reporting?

On Thursday, March 25, from 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM ET, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) is hosting a live streaming press event at Washington, DC’s Newseum with NPR and PBS entitled “Public Media and Local Journalism: Meeting Community Information Needs.”

Patricia Harrison, CPB president and CEO, will open the event with an announcement of CPB’s investments in key initiatives to strengthen public media’s news and reporting capacity at the local level.

Paula Kerger, PBS president and CEO, and Vivian Schiller, NPR president and CEO, will follow via live video feed along with a panel discussion. The panel will be moderated by PBS NewsHour Correspondent Hari Sreenivasan and include Tom Rosenstiel, founder and director of Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism; Nishat Kurwa, news director of Youth Media International; Tom Karlo, general manager of KPBS TV-FM; Kinsey Wilson, senior vice president and general manager of digital media at NPR; and Larry Irving, president of Global Government Affairs at Hewlett-Packard Company.

Bookmark this page and watch the live stream on Thursday >>

Tags: CPB, journalism, NPR, PBS, public media

CPB President and CEO Patricia Harrison Discusses Public Media with Better.tv

Patricia Harrison, president and CEO of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), recently sat down with Better.tv to discuss the importance of public media in changing peoples’ lives and engaging communities.

Watch the clip below in which Harrison discusses how programs like FRONTLINE and Independent Lens are helping to inspire public television viewers and reaching a more diversified audience.

Tags: CPB, Frontline, Patricia Harrison