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[RRE]The Digital Beat
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Date: Fri, 19 Mar 1999 12:20:34 -0500
From: Jillaine Smith
The Digital Beat Vol. 1, No. 3, 19 March 1999
The Future of Television in the Balance: Public Service Media in Action
Table of Contents: Introduction Linking with Education Community Dialogues Commercial and Public Media Partnerships Digital Possibilities Conclusion
INTRODUCTION:
While the first two issues of Digital Beat focused on policy issues, this edition looks at what is in practice in the area we call "public service media" -- delivering community service and a diversity of content through a variety of media. Examples of public service media:
engage the community in local public affairs and education; bring depth to local and national news coverage; explore commercial/noncommercial and local/national
collaborations; and
collaborate across media -- e.g., television, radio, print, and
the Internet
We believe that the success of public service media in the digital age will depend on alliances with local community organizations in order to ensure access to diverse voices in programming. As the capacity for broadcasting increases with the implementation of digital television, the possibilities for public service media will increase as well.
Our ongoing observations of public service media suggest that fertile ground exists from which new models might be grown, including putting the capabilities of digital television to use for the public interest. We are exploring not only public television and radio stations, but also institutions that are redrawing the communications and information landscape. For example: newspapers exploring civic journalism; public libraries offering public access and training in new media; community networks putting information in local settings; and public, education, and government access centers expanding their traditional roles beyond cable. We are compiling examples that illustrate the range of partnerships in various settings where public service is being reinvented for the next generation.
Over the next several months, The Digital Beat will include highlights of projects that we believe exemplify what we mean by "public service media" and possible paths for the future of public broadcasting. The lessons from such efforts will allow us to describe a future based on demonstrations and working models instead of conjecture.
This issue of The Digital Beat focuses on Hampton Roads, a region
of Southeastern Virginia, rich in innovation and experimentation in
the use of communications technology for public service. While at
least 18 public broadcasters produce nightly news or public affairs
programming and over 200 public TV stations now have Web sites, the
Hampton Roads public television station, WHRO
LINKING WITH EDUCATION
Angie Callahan, Director of Educational and Children's Services for WHRO, produces three local programs that work to provide a resource to the community's teachers, students, and policymakers.
"School Talk" runs weekly throughout the school year, and highlights school events, projects, and programs that are working well in the surrounding community. More generally, the program highlights children involved in positive activities.
The show includes a variety of segments that alternate between the studio, the field, and the Web. A 3-5 minute "Netwise" segment tours various Internet resources for teachers and students. Each program also spotlights a different school's Web site.
Two of her shows are linked to the WHRO Web site. On the "School
Talk" Web site
"Netfiles"
"Best Practices," a third show in the WHRO educational arena, began airing in 1998. The show airs two times a year and highlights successes of integrating technology in the classroom. The show is state-sponsored and brings more visibility to the most useful examples of technology in the classroom.
When asked about the challenges of educational programming, Callahan admits that her programs do not always match up with most kids' experiences. She realizes that the teachers and classrooms selected to be on her shows are the exception to the rule. On the other hand, Callahan hopes that by highlighting what's working, she will inspire educators to improve their techniques in the classroom.
The station's public service media doesn't stop with television
programming. WHRO's "Consortium for Interactive Instruction"
COMMUNITY DIALOGUES
In addition to engaging local schools and educators, WHRO's programming also reflects commitment to community issues.
For example, WHRO is a local participant in the Television Race
Initiative
Mary Pruess, WHRO station manager, says that the station was already interested in doing local programming around the national broadcast series of "Africans in America". Station staff believe that race relations need to be discussed on a local level. With audience outreach ideas already in motion, Pruess says WHRO was happy to apply for and receive funding for their local efforts. In addition to airing programs on race, the station provides forums for local discussions and promote visibility of community efforts. "Colors All Our Own" has over 100 community partners that include media, colleges, faith communities, libraries, and museums.
"Colors All Our Own" has focused on existing community events that work toward an understanding of diversity. The initiative's current challenge is building a pool of facilitators to host dialogues on race in the community, Pruess says. Most broadcast-based discussions that deal with race have been invitation-only events for community leaders. For example, the national broadcast of "The Black Press: Soldiers Without Swords" was supplemented by a local event in which community leaders were invited to view the broadcast and discuss the contribution of the black press to the Hampton Roads area. The New Journal and Guide -- a local black press, and the news division of the local CBS-TV affiliate, WTKR, also partnered with WHRO in coordinating the event.
The audiences of these broadcast-based discussions are expanding beyond community leaders. The PBS national broadcast of "Beyond Black and White: Affirmative Action in America" will be used as the catalyst for two local discussions in March 1999. Nationally broadcast programs by themselves will not do anything to bring an understanding of diversity and race relations. By providing a forum for local audiences to discuss issues sparked by the programs, public service media is able to be a partner in building knowledge and understanding where it matters -- in local communities.
COMMERCIAL AND PUBLIC MEDIA PARTNERSHIPS
"This Week in Hampton Roads"
Now in its third year, "This Week in Hampton Roads" has come a long way in building a difficult and uncharted bridge between public and commercial television. Commercial news programmers are "in awe" of what WHRO is able to do -- bringing depth and new audiences to news they are covering in their daily broadcasts, Dickinson says. The contribution of the commercial network in its news coverage is not to be underestimated, however. When probed further about the benefits of this kind of partnering, Dickinson said, "It's simple". The local ABC affiliate, WVEC, has 15 reporters, and three hours of live production. At WHRO, however, "There's only two of us here who have main responsibility for the show," Dickinson says. WVEC reporters are out there every day and know what's going on in the community.
Using commercial resources for public interest goals was not so easy in the early stages of the program. Differences between the twoentities were difficult to overcome -- from what to cover to negotiating work schedules, Dickinson said. The commercial sensibilities of the local ABC affiliate clashed with what Dickinson called the public TV sensibility of "sitting around the table". Public broadcasters and commercial local news have "two different ways of thinking" says WHRO's Coordinating Producer Vandora Williams. She says her commercial TV news background has been an essential factor in her ability to negotiate between the two styles: the "cut-cut" method of local news and PBS programmers who "like to take their time". It took her 6-8 months to gain trust from WVEC staff that WHRO would maintain the integrity of their stories. Barbara Ciara of the ABC affiliate is managing editor and co-host of the show. She has also felt this tension: "I want to get things done, working for commercial television, and PBS 'thinks things to death'".
The two broadcasting entities have worked out many of their differences, over issues of format and content, through a core team of programmers from both stations. One improvement has been to shorten the show from two hours to one and fill the time more interestingly. Ciara says "This Week's" reputation in the community is growing and that many people who call into the show end up being guests. Dickinson says the commercial/public team has worked hard to get to a place where all feel comfortable in debating programming decisions.
This past year, the show has focused mainly on multi-cultural issues. Dickinson sees this as a result of an editorial process in which both sides are deciding what is relevant. "I think we've been able to move beyond covering stereotypical racial groups," Dickinson said. The program is comfortable dealing with multi-cultural issues based on the credibility of both PBS and ABC, he said. Ciara of the ABC affiliate sees the show's content as coming in part from her decision about which way to push the discussion -- beyond what ABC alone offers: "We've not been paying enough attention to diversity and women". Recently, therefore, "This Week in Hampton Roads" did a show called "Driving While Black" that focused on the disproportionate number of people of color pulled over by law enforcement.
WVEC and WHRO are sharing content beyond the program as well. For example, ABC did most of the work in setting up a recent "This Week" program featuring the local black press. Some of the content was later aired on their local news broadcast. Often topics generated by the team at "This Week" will end up on WVEC local news as well. Dickinson said, "It's a two-way relationship". Williams added that WVEC reporters will call up WHRO and provide them with stories that they wish they could spend more time on.
The local newspaper, the Virginia Pilot, is also an ongoing partner with WHRO and WVEC. The paper has a history of public service. In response to readers' concerns about over-reporting on the immediate, and little attention to long term local issues, the paper started publishing "citizen pages" three times per week that use "report cards" and other long-term measurements to evaluate what's happened in the community over time.
The newspaper, the public broadcaster, and the local commercial station partnered during the 1998 state elections. Several public forums were organized throughout the region beginning in June to identify the issues people felt were important and wanted the media to focus on during the election. In another project, the Pilot did a series of stories on Church Street -- a Norfolk port that was home to African-Americans, Greek, Chinese, Jewish, and Irish immigrants during the late 1800s and early 1900s, when segregation ruled the region. WHRO produced a documentary using much of the research done by writers at the Pilot. Through these collaborations, Joe Coccaro of the Pilot says, they are able to utilize their talent beyond the printed page. Writers with expertise in certain areas, such as the environment, transportation, or education are consistently part of "This Week in Hampton Roads" broadcasts as well.
DIGITAL POSSIBILITIES
Although the potential of digital broadcasting has not yet been
realized, WHRO is using what technological capacities it has available
to expand local programming in ways that allow viewers to seek more
information than they could from a conventional television broadcast.
The station is currently undergoing a $10.2 million capital campaign
to purchase technical equipment necessary for digital broadcasting
and has already raised over $3 million. In addition, WHRO provides
telecommunication services to public and private organizations through
its Center for Public Telecommunications
Many locally produced programs digitally integrate audio, video, and data. For example, "Netfiles" programs are now digitized and searchable online. By March, Callahan says, the program will also be WebTV-ready. Instead of a 30-minute demonstration of Web use, a viewer with a WebTV unit will be able to click at certain points in the program and have access to more information on the topic being discussed. Callahan says they've chosen WebTV because it is the most widely known and best demonstrates the digital capabilities of broadcast.
CONCLUSION
The Benton Foundation believes that the future of public broadcasting rests in equal parts on its ability to learn from its past as well as to adapt lessons from various media and institutions committed to community service. With this edition of Digital Beat, we have explored how one community is implementing public service media. A common thread through each example is innovative partnerings that work toward local discussion and problem-solving. As the interactive potential of digital television develops, we will continue to document and assess new public service media models. The work being done in Hampton Roads represents an opening up of public and commercial television beyond the station walls. Alliances with community organizations are being developed and sources for programming are widening. However, interactive possiblities could be explored even further. (For example, audiences of "This Week in Hampton Roads" can email or call in their comments to the show, but rarely get a chance to talk with guests because the show is not broadcast live.) Despite some obstacles, WHRO and its partners in public service media are serving as a resource and a voice for communities, and as models for other broadcasters.
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(c)Benton Foundation, 1999. Redistribution of this email publication -- both internally and externally -- is encouraged if it includes this message.
The Digital Beat is a free online news service of the Benton
Foundation's Communications Policy & Practice program
Benton houses the legacy of the Presidential Advisory Committee
on Public Interest Obligations of Digital Television Broadcasters
The Benton Foundation's Communications Policy and Practice Project is a nonpartisan initiative to strengthen public interest efforts in shaping the emerging National Information Infrastructure (NII). It is Benton's conviction that the vigorous participation of the nonprofit sector in policy debates and demonstration projects will help realize the public interest potential of the NII.
Media Access Project (MAP)
The Center for Media Education (CME)
The Civil Rights Forum on Communications Policy works to bring civil rights organizations and community groups into the debate over the future of our media environment that environment is the key to the future of the nation.
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