Tag Archives: WFSU
Florida Public Media Stations Win Suncoast Emmys
Five Florida Public Media stations were honored with 14 Suncoast Emmy Awards this year.
They included: WEDU PBS, WFSU Public Media, WLRN Public Radio and Television, WPBT2 South Florida PBS, and WUCF TV.
The Suncoast Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences is a nonprofit Florida corporation dedicated to excellence in television.
It offers the annual Regional EMMY® Awards called The Suncoast Regional EMMY® Awards to television markets in the entire State of Florida, Alexandria, Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Lake Charles and New Orleans, Louisiana, Mobile, Alabama, Thomasville, Georgia and Puerto Rico.
“The Chapter is composed of professional people who work in television or students who are studying television in colleges or universities and aspire to become professionals.”
FPM Elects Mullins Chair, Grove Vice Chair, Adds McGowan
The board of Florida Public Media elected David Mullins, General Manager, WFSU Public Media, as its new chair in a special election. Mullins succeeds Phil Hoffman, former Executive Director of WUCF-FM/TV (Orlando).
The board also added David McGowan, President and CEO of WJCT Public Media (Jacksonville) as its At-Large member of the Executive Committee.
Other members chosen for the Executive Committee include:
- Vice Chair. Paul Grove. President and CEO. WEDU-TV. (Tampa-St. Petersburg)
- Treasurer. Amy Shumaker, Associate General Manager – Content, WGCU-FM/TV (Ft. Myers/Naples)
- Secretary. Chris Puorro, Station Manager of WQCS-FM (Ft. Pierce)
- Immediate Past Chair. Randy Wright, Executive Director, WUFT-FM/TV(Gainesville/Ocala)
Florida Public Media (FPM) is the organization of 24 public radio and public television stations in the state. The stations broadcast programming by NPR and PBS, and a wide range of news, public affairs, and music programs.
TV members provide the main distribution of The Florida Channel, and radio members serve as the backbone of the Florida Public Radio Emergency Network (FPREN).
FPREN is headquartered at WUFT on the campus of The University of Florida in Gainesville.
FPM is the state’s leader in educational programming and emergency communications.
WFSU, WLRN, WUFT Win National Murrow Awards
The Radio Television Digital News Association today announced the national winners of the 2021 Edward R. Murrow Awards. These awards recognize more than 100 outlets for outstanding work in digital, radio and television journalism in technical and editorial categories.
WLRN (Miami) was received a national award for Overall Excellence.
WUFT (Gainesville) won national recognition for video reporting in the small market radio and students categories. You can watch the feature story, Beyond the Finish Line.
WFSU (Tallahassee) won a national award for it series, Committed: How and Why Children Became The Fastest Growing Group Under Florida’s Baker Act.
“A core pillar of RTDNA is celebrating the best in journalism, and one of the ways we do that is through the Edward R. Murrow Awards,” said RTDNA Executive Director Dan Shelley.
“This year especially, we are honored to recognize outstanding achievements in broadcast and digital journalism. The past 18 months have been some of the most challenging in the history of our profession, and these recipients — among thousands of other journalists — clearly fulfilled their obligations to serve the public.”
There were more than 5,200 entries this year. In May, RTDNA recognized more than 750 winners of the Regional Murrow Awards, which automatically advanced to the national competition.
Weinstein Named Winner of Public Media Innovation Award
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – July 27, 2021
WFSU’s Tasha Weinstein was named the 2021 winner of the Janyth Righter Innovation Award by the board of Florida Public Media during the group’s July annual meeting.
The award is given to a staff member at one of the organization’s 24 public radio and television stations for their entrepreneurial and innovative leadership.
Weinstein is the Public Media Education and Engagement Manager at WFSU-TV/FM in Tallahassee. She was selected for her innovative response to delivering engaging educational content to educators and families during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Florida Public Media is delighted to honor Tasha Weinstein with this year’s award,” said Patrick Yack, Executive Director of Florida Public Media. “She brings enthusiasm, passion, and a strong commitment to her job, to WFSU and most importantly – to the parents, students, and teachers of the Big Bend area.”
“She works tirelessly to tie the ongoing important work of PBS and WFSU to the Tallahassee community. Tasha is a nationally recognized leader in education, and we are fortunate to have her part of our public media family.”
A signature program for WFSU is the Summer Challenge, a program aimed at preventing summer learning loss in children. Weinstein produced a one-hour broadcast special around the theme of Mountains, Hills & Mounds that took children to various sites in the area to learn about the region’s geology. She linked the content to digital resources and worked with partner organizations to build on this theme.
Weinstein is also credited with leading an effort to tie the PBS KIDS program Molly of Denali to the Muscogee people of Florida. She and her education team created a “virtual” museum that provided a wealth of resources and information about Native American people, their culture, history, and stories.
Pivoting this project from an in person “pop-up” museum to a virtual one allowed WFSU to reach more people with this project and she developed a workshop model for educators to better understand how to use this resource.
“Tasha is a dynamo who has taken the WFSU Education Program to new heights,” said Kim Kelling, WFSU Director of Content & Community Partners.
“Everything she approaches is done with the mindset of how we can be more effective in reaching underserved children and families. With a pandemic impacting in person work for the past 16 months, Tasha has been instrumental in rethinking how we do our work and how we can engage the community. She has worked across all of our departments at WFSU to achieve that goal.”
Established in 2017, the award is named in honor of Janyth Righter, the former executive director of Florida Public Media and a pioneer in public broadcasting in Florida.
Past winners include:
Jeff Huffman – WUFT-TV/FM. Gainesville/Ocala. 2017.
Catherine Hiles – WUCF-TV. Orlando. 2018.
Brent Burton – WSRE-TV. Pensacola. 2019.
Penelope Douglas. WPBT-TV. Miami. 2020.
WFSU TV/FM broadcasts throughout Florida panhandle and south Georgia. Florida Public Media is a professional association made up of the NPR and PBS stations in Florida.
Florida Broadcasters Name WUSF News The 2020 Radio Station Of The Year
WUSF News was named radio Station of the Year by the Florida Association of Broadcast Journalists for its journalism produced during 2020.
The team also collected six other first place awards (General Assignment, General Assignment (Long), Education (Single), Health Reporting (Single), Political, Government, Election Reporting (Single), and Political, Government, Election Reporting (Station) in the contest that includes commercial and public media broadcasters from across Florida.
Other Florida public radio stations won numerous first place awards, including:
WLRN – Miami. Continuing Coverage, Team Coverage, Series (Light), Series (Franchise), Feature Reporting (Cultural & Historical), Investigative Reporting, Individual Achievement (Writing), Individual Achievement and (Digital Journalist).
WGCU – Ft. Myers/Naples. Feature Reporting (Hard), Sports Reporting, and Traffic Reporting.
WMFE – Orlando. Digital Programming, Public Affairs, and Health Reporting (Series).
WFSU – Tallahassee. Environmental Reporting (Series), and Use of Sound.
WUFT – Gainesville/Ocala. Feature Reporting (Light).
WFSU Tallahassee Awarded CPB/PBS Ready to Learn Grant
Funding will support production of new educational content and local community engagement that equips young learners with key skills for success
Oct 07, 2020
WASHINGTON, D.C. (October 7, 2020) – The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) and PBS have received a Ready To Learn grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Elementary and Secondary Education. The grant will provide $24,322,018 in year one of a five-year cycle* to fund CPB and PBS’ comprehensive multi-media learning and station engagement initiative, which will connect children’s media and learning environments to build key skills for success.
The initiative will result in the development of new content that helps young children build vital skills to help them succeed in school and life, including functional literacy, critical thinking and collaboration — and shows them career options in age-appropriate ways. This will be done by producing multiple forms of content, some that show real-life examples of success by having adult role models share how they turned their childhood interest into their life’s work. It will also help parents, caregivers and communities support children’s learning and growth, with a goal of putting children on a path to success in learning, work and life.
CPB and PBS will work with experts in early learning and leading children’s media producers to create new PBS KIDS multiplatform content, including “Wombats!” (w.t.), produced by GBH, in which preschoolers will learn critical thinking and collaboration skills by following the adventures of three marsupial siblings as they explore their “Treeborhood.” In “Liza Loops” (w.t.), created and produced by Dave Peth, children ages 5-6 will encounter sociable city kid Liza, an aspiring inventor, and her fuzzy blue sidekick Stu as they invent solutions to help others in their neighborhood. As part of the grant, CPB and PBS will work with additional producers and partners on the third series with a literacy curriculum, in addition to digital games and podcasts, as well as resources to support family learning at home, in virtual spaces and in the community.
Today, children face a future filled with an unprecedented amount of uncertainty. The initiative’s focus on introducing children to the mindsets, knowledge and skills required to succeed in the workforce stems from a rapidly evolving global economy. COVID-19 has also impacted the workforce landscape, making it more important than ever to equip children with skills and ways of thinking that will allow them to successfully navigate their future.
“During these challenging times, public media continues to deliver value to the American people through our consistent commitment to early learners. As COVID-19 continues to disrupt education, public media is working to ensure that the nation’s children, especially those in low-income communities, have access to learning and are not left behind,” said Pat Harrison, President and CEO for CPB. “The funding by Congress and the Department of Education will provide vital resources to public media for the creation of research-based educational content, that will be offered free of charge and commercial free, to help children prepare to succeed in work and life.”
“PBS was founded on the belief that media can be a powerful force for education and inspiration. As we celebrate our 50th anniversary, we are committed to building on our strong legacy of high-quality educational media to meet the needs of young learners,” said Paula Kerger, President and CEO, PBS. “We are grateful for the vital support of CPB and the Department of Education, which allows us to serve millions of children across the country. Together with our member stations and producing partners, we will use every tool at our disposal to prepare the next generation for success in school and life.”
Local PBS stations will work with community partners, including schools, public libraries, museums, businesses, local Chambers of Commerce and other stakeholders, as part of a national network devoted to supporting the early learning needs of children in low-income communities. Critical national partners include the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation and Parents As Teachers.
The first phase of work will take place in 12 communities, including: Anchorage, Alaska (Alaska Public Media); Austin, Texas (Austin PBS); Birmingham, Alabama (Alabama Public Television); Detroit (Detroit Public TV); Las Vegas (Vegas PBS); Lexington, Kentucky (Kentucky Educational Television); Los Angeles (PBS SoCaL); Madison, Wisconsin (PBS Wisconsin); New York (WNET); Owings Mill, Maryland (Maryland Public Television); Pittsburgh (WQED); and Tallahassee, Florida (WFSU). Additional communities will be added during years 2-5 of the grant.
The Education Development Center (EDC) will lead a research effort to assess the success of the five-year initiative, with emphasis on the new content’s ability to build key skills and inspire children to explore the “world of work.” Project research will also provide new insights into the ways in which newer media and intergenerational engagement can support children’s learning. Data analytics will advance the understanding of how games can influence learning gains, and formative studies will drive informed content creation.
*Additional years of funding are contingent on Congressional appropriations.
About CPB
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), a private, nonprofit corporation created by Congress in 1967, is the steward of the federal government’s investment in public broadcasting. It helps support the operations of more than 1,500 locally managed and operated public television and radio stations nationwide, and is the largest single source of funding for research, technology, and program development for public radio, television and related online services.
About PBS
PBS, with its over 330 member stations, offers all Americans the opportunity to explore new ideas and new worlds through television and online content. Each month, PBS reaches nearly 100 million people through television and over 28 million people online, inviting them to experience the worlds of science, history, nature and public affairs; to hear diverse viewpoints; and to take front row seats to world-class drama and performances. PBS’ broad array of programs has been consistently honored by the industry’s most coveted award competitions. Teachers of children from pre-K through 12th grade turn to PBS for digital content and services that help bring classroom lessons to life. PBS’ premier children’s TV programming and its website, pbskids.org, are parents’ and teachers’ most trusted partners in inspiring and nurturing curiosity and love of learning in children. More information about PBS is available at www.pbs.org, one of the leading dot-org websites on the Internet, or by following PBS on Twitter, Facebook or through our apps for mobile devices. Specific program information and updates for press are available at pbs.org/pressroom or by following PBS Pressroom on Twitter.
About The Ready To Learn Initiative
The Ready To Learn Initiative is a cooperative agreement funded and managed by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Elementary and Secondary Education. It supports the development of innovative educational television and digital media targeted to preschool and early elementary school children and their families. Its general goal is to promote early learning and school readiness, with a particular interest in reaching low-income children. In addition to creating television and other media products, the program supports activities intended to promote national distribution of the programming, effective educational uses of the programming, community-based outreach and research on educational effectiveness.
Contacts:
Shana Teehan, CPB, steehan@nullcpb.org, 205-586-5751
Kayla Springer, PBS, kmspringer@nullpbs.org, 571-481-6668
The contents of this release were developed under a grant from the Department of Education. However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government. The project is funded by a Ready To Learn grant [PR/Award No. S295A200004, CFDA No. 84.295A] provided by the Department of Education to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
50 Public Media Stations Receive CPB Education Planning Grants
$10,000 Seed Grants to Spur Education Innovation
Jun 14, 2018
(WASHINGTON, D.C. – June 14, 2018) – The Corporation for Public Broadcasting has awarded $500,000 to 50 public media stations across the country to explore innovative education programs. The grants of $10,000 per station will help fund research and planning, a crucial first step for stations to assess local needs and opportunities and to innovate on a local level.
“Through these pilot grants, we want stations to consider innovative ways to use media to meet pressing educational needs in their communities,” said Deb Sanchez, CPB senior vice president, education and children’s content. “The needs assessment and planning process will give stations the opportunity to discover today’s teaching and learning challenges and how public media can serve as a trusted educational media partner to serve their communities.”
CPB announced the grant opportunity at the Public Media Thought Leader Forum, at the 2018 National Educational Telecommunications Association (NETA) conference in January. Forum speakers inspired public media leaders to think about their education work in new and different ways. For example, Michael Horn of the Clayton Christensen Institute challenged stations to identify individual needs when developing educational content, as well as service and engagement strategies to better connect resources to those individuals.
The 50 stations receiving grants include public television and radio stations as well as joint licensees of all sizes, including WNET in New York City, New England Public Radio, KRWG in Las Cruces, N.M., and a collaboration between East Tennessee PBS and WUOT-FM. CPB will supplement the grants with professional learning activities, including an in-person meeting, needs assessments and personalized technical assistance, and a series of webinars showcasing tools and processes stations can use to build and implement a new vision of their education service. After six months, participating stations should have a fully developed project or service that they can bring to CPB or other partners for funding.
The stations include the following, alphabetically by state:
- KHSU-FM, Arcata, Calif.
- PBS SoCal, Costa Mesa, Calif.
- Rocky Mountain PBS, Denver, Colo.
- Connecticut Public, Hartford, Conn.
- WJCT, Jacksonville, Fla.
- WUCF-TV, Orlando, Fla.
- WMFE-FM, Orlando, Fla.
- WFSU, Tallahassee, Fla.
- WUSF, Tampa, Fla.
- Iowa Public Television, Johnston, Iowa
- Idaho Public Television, Boise, Idaho
- WKU Public Broadcasting, Bowling Green. Ky.
- Louisiana Public Broadcasting, Baton Rouge, La.
- WGBY, Springfield, Mass.
- New England Public Radio, Springfield, Mass.
- Maryland Public Television, Owings Mills, Md.
- WKAR, East Lansing, Mich.
- WGVU, Grand Rapids, Mich.
- Detroit Public Television, Wixom, Mich.
- WCMU Public Media, Mount Pleasant, Mich.
- Twin Cities Public Television, St. Paul, Minn.
- KCPT, Kansas City, Mo.
- Nine Network of Public Media, St. Louis, Mo.
- Montana PBS, Bozeman, Mont.
- UNC-TV, Research/Triangle Park, N.C.
- Prairie Public Broadcasting, Fargo, N.D.
- KRWG, Las Cruces, N.M.
- Vegas PBS, Las Vegas, Nev.
- WSKG, Binghamton, N.Y.
- WNED/WBFO-FM, Buffalo, N.Y.
- WCNY/Public Broadcasting Council of Central New York, Syracuse, N.Y.
- WNET/Educational Broadcasting Corporation, New York City, N.Y.
- WMHT, Troy, N.Y.
- WPBS, Watertown, N.Y.
- WGTE, Toledo, Ohio
- Oklahoma Educational Television Authority, Oklahoma City, Okla.
- WLVT-TV, Bethlehem, Pa.
- WQED, Pittsburgh, Pa.
- WVIA, Pittston, Pa.
- WHYY, Philadelphia, Pa.
- WPSU, University Park, Pa.
- WSBE/Rhode Island PBS, Providence, R.I.
- WCTE, Cookeville, Tenn.
- East Tennessee PBS/WUOT-FM, Knoxville, Tenn.
- Nashville Public Television, Nashville, Tenn.
- Panhandle PBS, Amarillo, Texas
- KERA, Dallas, Texas
- KLRU, Austin, Texas
- KUEN, Salt Lake City, Utah
- WHRO Public Media, Norfolk, Va.
About CPB:
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), a private, nonprofit corporation created by Congress in 1967, is the steward of the federal government’s investment in public broadcasting. It helps support the operations of nearly 1,500 locally owned and operated public television and radio stations nationwide. CPB is also the largest single source of funding for research, technology, and program development for public radio, television, and related online services. For more information, visit www.cpb.org and follow us on Twitter @CPBmedia, Facebook, LinkedIn, and subscribe for other updates.
