Corporation for Public Media

Philanthropy and public broadcasting go hand in hand, back to the very origins of PBS. Two recent stories (and one personal experience) related to public broadcasting and digital media made me think about where these relationships might be going as all media seem to become cross-platform.*

1. Driving the rental car back to FL airport yesterday I had an opportunity to listen in live to The Bryant Park Project on Satellite Radio. I'm a fan of The BPP - which I usually listen to on the internet or podcast. (We have satellite radio in our car, but I take the bus to work. It is amazing to me that our local public radio in SF doesn't carry BPP.) The BPP is the only place on public radio I can find voices of people my age or younger. As it happened, the show that I got to listen to live was the first broadcast following NPR's announcement that they are canceling the show, the podcast, the blog and everything else. Listen in to The BPP before July 25 to hear what you missed.

2. Today's NYT has a story on the soon-to-be launched new and improved SesameStreet.org. The new site - with zillions of cool features - goes live on August 11. According to the NYT interview, the makers of show and site hope that the site will become the core platform for program going forward.

"We view this as really the future of the workshop, as becoming the primary channel of distribution down the line," Gary E. Knell, president and chief executive of Sesame Workshop, said in a telephone interview.

3. A friend of mine recently borrowed my four-set DVD collection of The Electric Company. This mainstay of 1970s television is still as entertaining today as it was 35 years ago. My friends and I will gleefully sing along with Rita Moreno and Morgan Freeman ("Hey, You Guys!!!!" - we knew you when). My pals and I are all definitely "powered by Children's Television Workshop." My friend's 5 year old is loving the program and her reading and writing are improving.

Now, I don't know why (beyond money) NPR is canceling The BPP. And I confess, I love Morning Edition (even without Bob Edwards - who is now on satellite radio). It would be a tough choice to pick between the two. But podcasts, internet and satellite radio mean that I don't have to make that choice.

How come the children's learning arm of PBS can figure out sustainable ways to develop media content that not only thrive in their original format but go on to be fabulous in others (tv to dvd, 35 years later)? Can the adult news makers just not make this work? Should The BPP have been blog/podcast-focused and then, if successful, ported over to radio? Is it them or us, the producers, the audience, the content or all/none of the above?

Ah, and what about the funding system itself? Public broadcasting is funded through a mix of public, philanthropic, licensing and advertising (ok, ok corporate sponsorship). They also sell show-driven products - dvds, coffee cups, t-shirts, cds, etc - I guess that revenue stream is called quasi-museum-store. One of the most reliable email form letters is the semi-annual "Save NPR" petition - it comes around almost as frequently as on-air member drives.**

People much smarter than I am are working hard at figuring out ways to finance public radio/TV programming and to make sure independent,*** grassroots and local media thrive. Philanthropy is a key part of the solution, but that is just the point - it is a part, not a whole.

Just as a radio program or tv show must now be developed with an eye toward its other media platforms and outlets, our public/philanthropic financing of these ventures need to be considered within these "cross sector" financing opportunities. We need to think of philanthropic funding strategies - and the public goods they support - as cross-platform. Public goods are now provided by private firms, public agencies, nonprofit organizations, and social enterprises. They are funded by public dollars, charitable donations, fees for service, corporate sponsorship, licenses, social investments, sales, and search engine/ad revenue. Oh, I like this metaphor - I'm gonna have to expand on it --- next post.

*Geek speak for being able to get stuff on TV, radio, web, satellite radio, ipod, pda, cell phone, etc. etc.

** I am a many-year, auto-renew member of two NPR stations, KPFA and KQED. I also support KUSP, KCRW, and WNYC. I am also a member of FreePress and Electronic Frontier Foundation, both linked above.

*** Today's NYT also has a story on bloggers, subpoenas, free speech, and the law. These issues are related, but too much to combine into a single blog post.

Crossposted in philanthropy2173.com.

Comments

[DaveDonelson]

One big reason Sesame Street is so successful in nearly every medium is that it invests a tremendous amount of money ($9.5 million in 2007) in research--not the kind of research directed toward measuring the audience or telling them what features or characters will draw more eyeballs, but research into the effectiveness of the program in carrying out its mission to educate. In other words, the Sesame Workshop constantly tests its product with an eye toward making it better, not more popular.

In interviews I did with Gary Knell, Joan Ganz Cooney, and others for a recent magazine article and series of blog posts, the prevalent theme wasn't how big their audience was (I had to dig that info up myself), but rather how effectively the various programs have made a difference in children's lives. Their focus is on doing good, not being large. Funny how success rewards that philosophy.

Dave Donelson, author of Heart of Diamonds

[tompoe]

The Internet is attractive to individuals that see it as a way to gain a worldwide audience. The Internet is attractive to corporations that see it as a distribution channel. Of course, it also offers a streamlined, profit-maximizing way to do business. The balancing act lies with who controls the Internet, the individuals who would be happy with it remaining as a communication media, or corporations who would not be happy, until it is controlled by a handful of decision-makers who will perpetuate obsolete business practices by turning the Internet into a new-fangled cable channel with interactive capabilities.

Those familiar with virtual worlds, recognize the merging of radio, tv, business methods into one hugely efficient means for streamlining what we do and how we do it. Community virtual worlds is the future, unless corporations manage to prevent them from existing. Once they do exist, business models disappear, and are replaced by mass communications controlled by the public.

Your corporation for public media is spot on, I think. It is a way to prioritize media to enhance access to information, communication, and entertainment. It also counters the unbalanced shift to the Internet, the Digital Age, if-you-will. Keep going. Look forward to seeing what your thoughts are as you move forward.