Corporation for Public Broadcasting Fiscal Year 2009

2008–2010

Public media platform project

Throughout 2009, CPB continued to push for systemwide agreement on a commonly accepted set of digital media tools, business rules, and standards, both technical and metadata, that will enable public media stations and organizations to innovate, collaborate, and more easily share content in different forms.

In March 2010, CPB announced that NPR will administer a $1 million grant to create a Public Media Platform prototype in partnership with PBS, American Public Media, Public Radio International, and Public Radio Exchange. This coalition of public media leaders will develop a prototype for a flexible common platform that will ultimately allow any public media organization's listener, viewer, reader, blog poster, game player, or other kind of user to easily access any digital content created, collected, or distributed by any other public media organization. At the same time, it will allow the user to communicate readily with other users as well as the people and public media organizations involved in creating, collecting, and distributing public media content.

February 1–3 and May 18–20

CPB conducts roundtables on digital media

The CPB board of directors' digital media committee and CPB management, in conjunction with the Aspen Institute Communications and Society Program, launched a systemwide dialogue about public media in the digital age. In addition to using digital technology to reach new audiences, the agenda for the series of roundtables included discussions about public media from technological, economic, market, and demographic perspectives as well as approaches to creating, funding, and delivering public media services in the digital era. The first two roundtables were held in Santa Barbara, California (February 1–3), and Annapolis, Maryland (May 18–20).

March 9

CPB creates Diversity and Innovation Department

CPB created this new department not only to help strengthen its capacity to advance innovation and diversity within public media but also to broaden the reach and scope of public media's audience.

The late Jim Henson and The Jim Henson Company receive the Fred Rogers Award

In receiving the award presented by CPB board member Beth Courtney to honor an individual or organization that, like Fred Rogers of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, has contributed to excellence in children's educational media, Lisa Henson, co-CEO of the company her father founded, said, "My father truly believed that television can be used for good and can have a positive impact on the lives of children. At The Jim Henson Company, we honor his legacy by embracing this belief and striving to serve our audience with intelligent, entertaining programs like Sid the Science Kid, that can inspire children to develop an enduring love of learning."

51 public broadcasting stations receive awards for impact in education

To acknowledge public television stations for their commitment to education through outstanding services to students, teachers, parents, caregivers, and lifelong learners in their communities, CPB's My Source Community Impact Awards for Education were presented to 51 public broadcasting stations at an executive summit of the Council of Chief State School Officers and the CPB board's Education Committee.

March 16

CPB board's American Archive Task Force meets

The American Archive is CPB's two-year, $16.5 million, three-phase investment strategy to restore, digitize, and preserve public media's legacy audio and video programming as well as today's digital content. The task force, composed of CPB board members, met in public session for the first time, telephonically, to discuss the Archive's governance, funding issues, and long-term financial sustainability.

Subsequently, CPB launched the American Archive pilot project, selecting Oregon Public Broadcasting to administer grants to stations to help them acquire, code, and digitize content pertaining to the civil rights movement and World War II in an archive accessible to the general public, educators, and historians. Lessons learned from this initiative will inform the next steps for the Archive.

March 25

CPB launches economic response initiative

CPB launched the Public Service Media Economic Response Initiative, a multimillion-dollar package of investments designed to assist and increase the services public broadcasting stations provide their communities in dealing with the economic crisis. In total, CPB supported economics projects at 102 stations in 71 markets.

Leveraging the same public media local-national structure and editorial expertise that led to the success of the 2008 public media election collaboration, 12 public media organizations used CPB funding to form a collaboration to provide comprehensive multimedia coverage of the economic crisis and its global implications. The content, including audio, video, blogs, podcasts, and widgets, is available to all public broadcasting stations, which then customize the content for their communities. The public can also access the content through the project Web site, www.economystory.org, and on partner organization Web sites.

In addition, CPB subsequently funded Sesame Workshop to develop Families Stand Together, a one-hour special, a Web site, and community engagement activities that help families talk with their children about dealing with difficult economic circumstances.

May 14

Henry Louis Gates Jr. receives Lowell Award

In presenting public television's most prestigious award, then–CPB board chair Chris Boskin said of the Harvard professor whose PBS documentaries include Wonders of the African World, America Beyond the Color Line, Looking for Lincoln, African American Lives, and African American Lives 2, "Dr. Gates' contributions on the air and off have made him one of America's greatest teachers. His knowledge, creativity, and enthusiasm bring history alive for people of all ages and backgrounds."

June 29

CPB launches emergency readiness project

Built on the lessons learned by public broadcasters in emergency situations such as Hurricane Katrina, floods in the Midwest, and wildfires in California, CPB's Station Action for Emergency Readiness (SAFER) project uses the Internet to provide essential information to communities. With SAFER's online tools and resources, stations can create a customized online readiness manual that contains templates, case studies, and best practices. A series of webinars and workshops features experts to assist stations with implementing a response program. Partners include the National Federation of Community Broadcasters and the Integrated Media Association.

July 8

Ira Glass receives Edward R. Murrow Award

In presenting the award honoring individuals who foster public radio's quality and service and shape its direction, CPB board member Lori Gilbert said of the host and executive producer of This American Life, which won three Peabodys, a duPont-Columbia Award, and a Robert F. Kennedy Award for Excellence in Journalism, "This American Life has created a new aesthetic for public radio, now emulated by a new generation of producers and reporters."

54 public broadcasting stations receive awards for community engagement

To acknowledge public broadcasting stations for their commitment and responsiveness to their communities as well as for providing innovative services—on air, online, and in-person—that have measurable results, CPB's My Source Community Impact Awards for Engagement were presented at the Public Radio Development and Marketing Conference in San Diego, California, and in subsequent ceremonies at some individual stations.

July 14

CPB funds $2 million national model for innovation design

CPB selected Radio Bilingüe, the nation's largest producer and distributor of Latino-oriented public broadcasting programming, to create a national model for public media innovation design. Working with key partners and other media entities, Radio Bilingüe will design, test, and develop the first-of-its-kind multiplatform English-language programming service—news, information, music, and cultural programs—in Los Angeles for a young, diverse, and underserved audience.

July 15 and August 7

NCME conducts video conferences on community engagement

The National Center for Media Engagement (NCME) was created in 2009 to help stations focus on community engagement beyond the broadcast and provide them with training, tools, best practices, and small grants with a focus on innovation and diversity. More than 900 participants from over 250 stations registered to watch NCME's July 15th "Pipeline Live 2009" video conference on PBS satellite or via live Web streaming. It focused on programming and services addressing the economic crisis, including the economy collaboration and Sesame Workshop's Families Stand Together, both of which were funded by CPB. On August 7, more than 500 public media professionals directly participated in NCME's second video conference or accessed it online. "Stations Turning Outward" addressed the essential role of public stations in communities, especially in times of economic hardship, and discussed why community engagement is essential to long-term sustainability.

July 22

CPB funds statewide Ready To Learn collaborations

In a CPB-PBS collaborative initiative funded by the U.S. Department of Education, CPB gave six public television stations funding to help preschool children from low-income families learn to read through broadcast, online, and mobile media. In partnership with their state education agencies, the stations will develop and introduce Ready To Learn (RTL) digital media resources into pre-K through second-grade classrooms as well as child-care settings and after-school programs. These products and services include content from six television programs designed to support reading skills.

An October 2009 study by researchers at the Education Development Center Inc. and SRI International confirmed that preschool children who participated in a media-rich literary curriculum integrating public media video content and educational games were better prepared for kindergarten than students who did not use the curriculum. The study evaluated educational video content and associated interactive games from Super Why!, Between the Lions, and Sesame Street, which are produced as part of the RTL initiative.

August 21

CPB funds digital media education projects

CPB gave nine public television stations grants to create science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) content focused on earth sciences and climate literacy for middle-school children and all lifelong learners. The content from this initial funding round of CPB's Digital Media Resources Production Grant program will be freely shared among public broadcasting stations and educational organizations.

September 1

Mobile DTV demo launched in Washington, D.C.

Commercial and public broadcasters mounted a demonstration project in the Washington, D.C., area to test mobile digital television delivery technology, consumer devices, and consumer interest as well as the use of various content products and services.

September 2

CPB conducts HBCU conference workshop

Held as part of the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Annual Conference, the workshop provided university presidents and staff with information on CPB's support of HBCU's public radio stations; the use of digital media platforms to enhance diversity and innovation; and how to calculate the value public radio stations bring to their university licensees using the University Station Alliance's metrics that were developed by a CPB-funded project.

September 14

CPB funds The Michael Eric Dyson Show

Baltimore's WEAA-FM, licensed to Morgan State University, one of the nation's 105 designated Historically Black Colleges and Universities, received funding for its program The Michael Eric Dyson Show, a daily, one-hour program that provides social analysis on issues related to the African American experience.

September 15–October 15

Public media celebrates National Hispanic Heritage Month

In conjunction with National Hispanic Heritage Month, Latino Public Broadcasting aired Voces (Voices), a 13-part series that featured documentaries and musical specials celebrating the Latino American experience. A variety of community engagement events were concurrently held in Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, San Antonio, Miami, Chicago, and New York.

CPB funded In Performance at The White House: Fiesta Latina, a public television performance special hosted by President and Mrs. Obama in honor of National Hispanic Heritage Month. Aired nationwide in October 2009 and, later that year, on V-me, the national Spanish language network presented by public television stations, the concert featured live performances by noted Latino performers.

On October 12 and October 15, 2009, the Program Challenge Fund series Latin Music USA aired on PBS and on PBS.org/latinmusicusa. The WGBH/Boston four-hour co-production with the BBC spanned five decades and many musical genres to portray the rich mix of music created by Latinos.

September 22

Public media launches FluPortal.org

Designed to help public media stations provide information to their local communities on the H1N1 flu pandemic, FluPortal.org connects stations to government and other resources, including public media networks and stations, to inform their coverage on-air and online. CPB worked with NPR, APTS, and PBS Connect to develop a communications plan to promote the site throughout the public broadcasting system.

October 2

CPB funds Project Argo

CPB appointed NPR to work with a pilot group of 12 NPR and PBS stations that will use $2 million in CPB funding to hire and train professional and citizen journalists in expanding original reporting and to curate, distribute, and share online content about high-interest, specialized subjects. The two-year pilot program, which also received $1 million from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, will help the stations establish themselves as definitive sources of news and educational content on a major topic of interest such as the economy, health care, immigration, or education. Each station will launch a Web site for its "content verticals," providing a centralized source of in-depth and comprehensive reporting that all public media stations can use to deepen their own news coverage. The sites will share a platform that includes a common set of tools (blogging, social media, aggregation, and search) and a common content repository. The PBS NewsHour (formerly The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer) will allow use of its embeddable video player and promote the Web sites on air. This innovative Web-first, multiplatform news approach is the first among many innovative investments that CPB will make to strengthen local and network journalism.