TOM RIELAND

“All the other radio stations were knocked off the air. We had the luck to keep broadcasting. God gave us the ability to stay on the air for the Haitian people and the whole world.”

So says the DJ who was on-the-air at a Haitian FM radio station when the earth shook violently.  NPR reported this story during All Things Considered today. What an amazing example of a radio station serving its community. It reminded me of the efforts of our colleagues in Mississippi during the first days after Katrina.  For some reason, I love the part of this story that described how the DJ playing music just hit repeat as the earthquake hit and HOTEL CALIFORNIA from the Eagles played over and over again. 

A note was sent to radio managers across the country from Vivian Schiller, NPR President, outlining the latest coverage from NPR of the devastation in Haiti.  Here is an excerpt with many links to the amazing storytelling by NPR reporters in Haiti:

NPR staff members in Haiti are doing everything they can to capture, share, and document the voices and stories of the crisis. Among them:

Carrie Kahn on an overwhelmed morgue and family members seeking their loved ones.
Jackie Northam on a search and rescue team’s efforts to find survivors, and difficulties in accepting when they are unsuccessful.
Jason Beaubien on a visit to a hospital and growing violence, and a portrait of a survivor.
Video producer David Gilkey’s photography, including his coverage of a water drop. See his photos and hear his report (see link in the left-hand column).
Greg Allen on victims’ bodies scattered across the capital, and a visit to growing mass graves.
John Poole and Joanne Silberner who are now on the ground after midair drama.

Morning Edition Senior Producer Tom Bullock has taken steady command on the ground in Haiti, National Desk Producer Amy Walters has been doing great all-around production work, and National Desk Editor Russell Lewis has overseen the supply process from Santo Domingo. Correspondent John Burnett and Producer Marisa Penaloza currently in the Dominican Republic will be on the ground shortly. (They are traveling to Port au Prince Wednesday on a public bus.) Very soon staff will start rotating out and others are poised to go in.

NPR journalists go towards the disasters, crises, and danger-zones of the world to ask the questions the rest of us cannot, find the facts, and connect us with individuals, communities, and nations in turmoil. It’s hard for most of us to imagine the professional and personal demands our journalists and reporting teams must shoulder to do that. On Thursday, when Jason Beaubien’s voice shook on All Things Considered as he described a young injured girl, his voice told us more than his words possibly could. I offer my deepest and most profound thanks to every one of our staff in Haiti and to all of you across the NPR community who make our coverage possible.

– Vivian

Check out our first online only annual report from WOSU Public Media. Yes, we’re going green. Saving the environment and lots of printing costs. Dana Viglietta from Communications led the charge on this project. Let us know what you think!

http://www.wosuannualreport.org

Paul Kangas, who has been with NBR since its debut 30 years ago, retired Thursday. His successor, Tom Hudson, will take over tonight anchoring from Miami, where “Nightly Business Report” is produced by the public station WPBT. He will join the co-anchor Susie Gharib, who will continue to be based at the New York Stock Exchange. We understand the new Nightly Business Report will include cool sets, new graphics and music and a new roster of commentators.

The NY Times Sunday edition reported on the transition as follows:

Three decades ago, “Nightly Business Report” led the way in dedicated business coverage on television, but its turf was encroached upon by cable channels, including CNBC and Fox Business Network, public radio’s weekday “Marketplace” program and myriad Web sites and mobile apps that give consumers immediate access to financial data.

Ratings have been slipping but remain strong; Stuart Zuckerman, vice president for sales and marketing for “Nightly Business Report,” said the program in November drew an average 205,000 adult viewers ages 35 to 64 each night, putting it ahead of CNBC’s top-rated “Closing Bell.”

WOSU airs Nightly Business Report at 7 pm daily on WOSU HD.

Tom Hudson, new co-anchor of Nightly Business Report

The General Manager and President of WBNS and ONN, Tom Griesdorn, was honored as the GM OF THE YEAR from the Broadcasting and Cable Magazine this week. Tom is an Ohio State grad, who worked in management at stations in Detroit and Cleveland before coming back to Columbus in 1999. The CBS affiliate, WBNS has been a ratings leader in Columbus for years under Tom’s leadership. I called Tom recently to ask about access to Channel 10’s film and tape archive for WOSU’s three-year COLUMBUS NEIGHBORHOODS multimedia project and Tom was felt so strongly about the importance of the project that he allowed our producers free access. ONN also regularly uses the WOSU@COSI facilities to tape some of its statewide programming. It’s great to have a community minded commercial broadcaster like Tom leading the number one station in the market!

Multichannel News, a national publication and online site has published a review of some of the filings with the FCC related to the use of broadcast spectrum. WOSU Public Media’s filing is mentioned in this piece, which includes commercial and non-commercial TV concerns.

The campaign to keep broadcast spectrum is just heating up. The FCC is taking comments on their consideration of using broadcast spectrum for broadband expansion. WOSU filed comments this week with the FCC outlining how we, as a public broadcaster, use all of our spectrum for three digital television channels, emergency communications and, in the future, plan to bring mobile DTV to Columbus. We also noted that over 140,000 households in our communities of service receive their primary television signal from accessing that spectrum over-the-air with an antenna.

The NAB, which is the lobbying organization for all commercial broadcasters, just released a TV spot that dramatizes the issue:

National Association of Broadcasters TV Spot

This will likely be the hot issue of 2010 for broadcasters, ironically right on the heels of the transition to digital broadcasting, which cost broadcasters and the feds (and taxpayers) millions upon millions.

WOSU is one of the community organizations that co-present Community Cinema screenings across the country. This past Tuesday, WOSU Public Media presented YOUNG@HEART at the Gerlach Center for Senior Health.

Prepare to be surprised, delighted and entertained by the inspiring members of the Young@Heart Chorus, a New England senior citizens chorus that has delighted audiences worldwide with their renditions of songs by everyone from The Clash to Coldplay.

Marcelita Haskins, Director of Educational Services for WOSU Public Media fills us in on the event:

Folks packed the room for the wonderful documentary, YOUNG@HEART, which airs on WOSU TV in January as part of the Independent Lens series.

A 90-year old woman opened the dialogue by telling the group that she’d had a very busy schedule the day before going from one meeting to another covering politics, theology and socialization. “The only thing I did not have time for was sex…but it was already 8:30 and I was tired.”

The discussion centered on the stereotypes associated with aging and how easily they can be broken and dispelled. Participants agreed that a sense of purpose drew the choir members together and strongly motivated them notwithstanding physical, health, and other problems.

The seeming contradiction between singers in their eighties (and older) and rock/punk music added much to the appeal of the documentary for our audience.

The film was affirming to the audience (many of whom are the age of the choir members). Many talked about engaging with the community and the continuing pursuit of activities they love including volunteering and helping others.

Thanks to everyone who came out and made this event such a success.

We had what could easily become an annual tradition at WOSU today…the ugly holiday sweater contest. See for yourself. Note Ann Fisher’s reindeer and the sparkly Mike Thompson.

The WOSU Ugly Holiday Sweater Contest 2009 Finalists

All of the broadcast stations across the country went digital-only this past year and millions were spent in the process by the feds and stations.
NOW, the FCC is taking some steps toward examining whether the broadcast spectrum should be reallocated for wireless broadband. This could, in essence, destroy or greatly restrict over the air broadcasting and could mean that any television watching in the future could be pay-only via cable or satellite.

In its five-page notice of inquiry, the FCC said it will consider “the value that the United States puts on free, over-the-air television,” as well as “market-based mechanisms for television broadcasters to contribute to the broadband effort any spectrum in excess of that which they need.”

This could restrict stations like WOSU, for instance, from carrying multiple digital channels. The WOSU lineup includes The Ohio Channel, WOSU Plus and our primary WOSU HD channel. It will also hamstring our ability to serve Ohio with statewide emergency broadcasts via our digital spectrum and restrict our move into new technologies, like Mobile DTV (see previous post).

The FCC said its inquiry grew out of the efforts to formulate a national broadband plan. “Parties have expressed concern…and have urged the Commission to make available more spectrum for commercial uses,” the notice of inquiry states.

The agency is seeking comment by Dec. 21 on these issues, including which factors should be considered when comparing the benefits of using spectrum for over-the-air broadcasting as opposed to wireless computing. “What would be the impact to the U.S. economy and public welfare if the coverage of free over-the-air broadcast television was diminished to accommodate a repacking of stations to recover spectrum?” the FCC asked.

The National Association of Broadcasters said Wednesday that it intends to file written comments before the deadline. “Broadband deployment to unserved areas is a worthy goal, and broadcasters believe we can help the FCC accomplish its mission without stifling growth opportunities of free and local TV stations and the millions of viewers that we serve,” Executive Vice President Dennis Wharton said in a statement.

Representatives of public television stations are also forming a coalition to comment on the FCC inquiry. Of course, there are powerful interest groups behind this call to reallocate broadcast spectrum and restrict free TV.
Our surveys in Columbus showed that over 150,000 households receive their local television without any subscription service.

Some proposals being floated by the FCC would eliminate high-definition broadcasting and multicasting altogether. Why on earth did we spend millions to get to digital television and provide HD and multiple free broadcast services, just to have the FCC come behind this process and take away the spectrum that stations rely on to deliver these services?

Want more on this?

Links to mediapost and Broadcasting and Cable Magazine articles.