[Imc-newsroom] Fwd: [NFCB] Race In America Initiative

[Sascha Meinrath]

>"A Public Radio Mega-Project"
>
>What if everyone in public radio focused on one important issue for one
>week? For example, let's say the issue selected is "Race in America."
>Imagine if every public radio station and every national producer from
>Fresh Air to Marketplace worked on this issue over the course of the next
>year to produce stories, documentaries, call-ins, commentaries, events, and
>public forums around this central topic and aired it during one designated
>week. This new kind of collaboration means public radio would be helping to
>set the national agenda on a significant issue in effect stimulating and
>leading a national discourse. I believe this is a unique opportunity for
>public radio. There is no other media entity that can do what all of us in
>public radio can do as independent stations and producers when linked
>together around such a hefty goal.
>
>The idea is really a simple one. It does not depend on any single network
>or producer to be successful. It does depend on many people in public radio
>being willing to experiment with such a project for at least one year, and
>presumably, if successful, making this a model for doing it year by year.
>The target week of September 30th to October 6th 2002 appears to be the
>best first option. This allows for a year-long planning window for seven
>days of special coverage on a topic of national significance. The topic is
>to be determined by participating stations at a series of meetings in the
>fall, after preliminary discussions at PRNDI and PRPD conferences.  Big
>ideas are welcome. Topics already suggested include "Race in America", or a
>focus on the Environment, and Education.
>
>This week of special coverage could include the following:
>
>---A coordinated daily two-hour programming block from one of five
>different anchor stations. For example, each station would produce a major
>one-hour documentary and a one-hour national call-in program with
>well-known guests and hosts, each anchored from a different station and
>made available on the satellite.
>
>---A special four-hour national call-in program could be jointly produced
>for Saturday and/or Sunday.
>
>---A national poll designed to be localized by stations participating in
>the project (This comes at the suggestion of PRNDI participants who thought
>it would be vital to have a news hook for the project.)
>
>---Independents, national producers, and networks would be asked to produce
>and promote programming around the selected topic for that week.
>
>---All public radio stations would have access to this programming and be
>encouraged to carry it, as well as to build local programs, news stories,
>events, and web content around this topic. Stations could share this
>additional programming such as stories and commentaries via a web intranet
>or advance satellite feeds, making it available free to any station that
>needs or wants it.
>
>---A special public web site could also be built and maintained for all
>participating entities.
>
>Following discussions at PRNDI and PRPD, the next steps include a series of
>smaller meetings to select a topic and agree on a date. The CPB has said it
>would offer financial support for the logistics of such meetings, but of
>course the editorial ideas and decisions are ours. While there is a role
>for facilitating these meetings and coordinating the major programming
>blocks, this is a decentralized, editorially diverse project idea. It
>requires a consensus agreement to go forward, but each station and each
>producer is its own editorial gatekeeper in making this project happen,
>doing as much or as little as each desires to make this a reality.
>
>I am confident this idea can produce both a significant public service and
>significant visibility for public radio beyond anything we have seen up to
>now.  I look forward to your ideas and your involvement.  If you are
>interested in taking part, or just have questions or suggestions about this
>idea, please contact:
>
>          Bill Buzenberg, Minnesota Public Radio, 651-290-1407 or
>bbuzenberg at mpr.org
>          Israel Smith, I.S. Marketing, 612-377-3256 or ismarketing at yahoo.com
>
>
>
>Carol Pierson
>President and CEO
>National Federation of Community Broadcasters
>Fort Mason Center, Building D
>San Francisco, CA 94123
>415-771-1160
>cpnfcb at aol.com

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