Selected press items featuring WNET, its programs, projects and services from the period Friday, June 20 through Thursday, June 26.

Inside Thirteen Blogger: Gloria Deucher, Director, Volunteer Services

Yesterday we celebrated a very special event here at Thirteen. It was Volunteer Recognition Day! Although National Volunteer Week is observed in late April, at Thirteen we traditionally celebrate in June, at the end of the fiscal year. It just seems like a good time to take stock and recognize the accomplishment of our volunteers who contribute an extraordinary amount of time and effort to the mission and goals of the station.

Thirteen staff member Cora Myers and
volunteer Betty Lou Necarsulmer

Our President and CEO Neal Shapiro primed the pump by sending out an all-station email reminding employees to pick up a ‘V for volunteer’ ribbon at the reception desk on their way in to work. It was great to see most people wearing the blue V-shaped ribbon. Employees realize that even if they don’t work directly with volunteers, their life here at 450 West 33rd St. is enhanced by the volunteers’ presence. Neal noted that although it’s important to set aside a day to formally recognize our volunteers, a simple “Thank you” at any time during the year is an important investment in our volunteer program.Today we got to see how that investment pays off.

At the luncheon in their honor, Neal pointed out that our volunteers racked up an impressive score card this year. Almost 120 individuals in departments throughout the company and an equal number of corporate volunteers contributed over 17,000 hours of service. They staffed the reception desk, helped with huge mailings, staffed the Member & Viewer Relations information line, answered those ringing pledge phones, gave tours and helped at community events such as World Science Day and the Teaching and Learning Celebration.

We paid special tribute to volunteers who celebrated significant milestones – 10, 15, 20 and - believe it or not- 30 years of service to the station. Really- how many of us can say we’ve been dedicated to a cause or stuck with a commitment for 30 years? But these people are not just dedicated to the mission of public television. There’s something more that keeps them coming back week after week, year after year. That “something” is the lasting bonds they have forged with their fellow volunteers and the staff at Thirteen. That camaraderie, team spirit and sense of accomplishment were very apparent in the room today. On days like today, we all know why we’re here.

Gloria Deucher (L) and Thirteen President & CEO Neal Shapiro present Elizabeth Nathan with her certificate for ten years of service.

All photos: Joe Sinnott

Interested in volunteering at Thirteen? Call 212-568-1313 for more information.

Inside Thirteen blogger: Nan ‘otek’ Rubin, Project Director, Preserving Digital Public Television

Recently, a huge fire ravaged several back lots of the Universal Studios, and you might have watched a blazing roof collapse into billows of thick, black smoke as reporters told us a New York city street scene and other bits of Hollywood scenery were gone.

For the moving-image archivist community, it was far more alarming. The building that collapsed housed the Universal film library, and it was 40,000 plastic video and film boxes reduced to ashes that released all that toxic smoke.

Universal sent out word that “…the fire destroyed nearly 100% of the archive prints kept on the lot. Nothing irreplaceable was lost, but many of these films will never be seen publicly again.” Even though these were only copies, they were shown at public programs and screenings, and now all of us have lost access to thousands of iconic films that have lived in popular memory for generations (except on Reel 13!).

Like me, you may have also gotten important formative images from television. Added to movies, my early view of the world was indelibly shaped by Ernie Kovacs, CBS Reports with Edward R. Murrow and Great American Dream Machine, all in black and white.

Now is this kind of history being saved?

It’s easy to assume that, if you went looking for an old TV show, it would be right there on a shelf, waiting to be viewed. But it takes money and planning to create a media archive, a long-term investment that has to be maintained and supported over time.

Losing the Universal vault was just another reminder of how important it is to preserve what you have. The video Archive was established 10 years ago, and though many programs were thrown out, taped over, lost from age, or never recorded in the first place, this collection has close to 35,000 videotapes, including many early programs and historical broadcasts. As Thirteen continues to produce, we’re adding outstanding new programs each year.

But even though these shows exist, it may be very difficult to view them. Most older programs are on videotape formats that we can’t play back without specialized expertise and equipment. At the same time, new programs are increasingly taking the form of video files, which themselves may not be viewable in a few years without planning their playback now.

Safely storing Thirteen’s programs is crucial, but that’s not enough to keep them viewable. Over time, we also need the extra commitment of restoring them. Then not only will we be saving our television history, but also guaranteeing that copies will continue to live and be seen well into the future.

Inside Thirteen blogger: Josh Kail, Associate Publicist at Thirteen

Graduating students who participated in the GED Connection and GED en Español programs produced by Thirteen/WNET

This past Tuesday I had the opportunity to see the unique impact Thirteen/WNET has on the community beyond the glow of the television set. Over 100 men and women, surrounded by their friends and family, were awarded their General Educational Development (GED) diploma in our main studio. These graduates came from all around the city, where for the past year, with the help of their dedicated teachers, they studied, learned and ultimately passed the GED exam.

The atmosphere in the halls at Thirteen was noticeably different, the busy hustle of business replaced by the excitement and pride of the day. Each of these students had their own stories and reasons as to what brought them to this point in their lives, but this one event was the culmination of their unified goal. The pride in that collective success could be felt by everyone.

I am proud that Thirteen had an active part in the success of some of these students. By broadcasting GED Connection and GED en Español, adult students whose busy schedules do not allow for them to participate in traditional classes are able to record these programs to help them prepare for the exam. This, coupled with the availability of tutors and teachers, gave a helping hand in their success.

Although the graduation has passed and the graduates have moved on to their next goal, Thirteen’s commitment to education continues. This year was just one in nearly twenty of GED programming and graduations, and thankfully, it is not the last. A new year of educational programming for students of all ages is close to starting, and the same opportunities provided for the 2008 graduating class are open to the future 2009 graduating class. Go here for more information about Thirteen’s adult education projects, or see the Adult Education section at EdOnline.

More graduating students — all photos: Joe Sinnott

Inside Thirteen Blogger: Hugh Siegel, Communications

Thirteen lost a friend today.

Tim Russert was a good friend and longtime colleague of mine at NBC News.

I could write so much about my memories of him when we both worked in the news division, but in this space, as we mourn his passing, I wanted to acknowledge that there is so much more to Tim than just being one of the most respected political reporters of our time.

Tim cared about his community…in fact, he cared about many communities.

He spoke at churches and synagogues and universities and community groups.

He cared passionately about education and played a vital role here at Thirteen, as our Vice President of Education, Ron Thorpe remembers:

Very few Americans don’t know Tim Russert, the smart, affable, respectful but no-nonsense host of NBC’s “Meet the Press.” In fact, it says a lot about the man that we all think we know him just from our television sets. He had that ring of authenticity.

In March 2007, I not only got to meet Tim Russert, but shook his hand, had my picture taken with him, and actually talked with him for a bit. Amazingly, he was the guy I “knew,” and there was no screen separating us. I wasn’t the only lucky one on that occasion. There were thousands of others, mostly teachers attending our annual education conference, the Celebration of Teaching & Learning. Tim Russert had accepted our invitation to speak at the conference, which wasn’t a surprise since the invitation came from our Board Member and Education Committee Chair, Meredith Brokaw. They were old friends, and I remember smiling when I saw Mr. Russert’s email reply: “How can I say no to the Divine Ms. M!”

We hadn’t really asked Mr. Russert to give a talk at the Celebration. Rather, we invited him to carry on a conversation with five amazing people – the chair of the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, Karen Cator, Asia Society President Vishakha Desai, IBM executive Nick Donofrio, RPI President, Shirley Ann Jackson, and New York State Education Commissioner Rick Mills. Of course, such an environment was the perfect milieu for Mr. Russert, and his questions swirled through the group, bringing out each distinctive voice and perspective without letting them get away with anything.

But as good as the panel was, what I remember most is what he offered the audience before the panelists came on stage. Alone, pacing from side to side, Tim Russert spoke to the teachers about the teachers who made the difference in his life. He talked specifically about one teacher who, in order to channel the young Russert’s “excess energy”, created a school newspaper and put Russert in charge of everything from writing the articles to collating and delivering the sheets. The message got through to the 2,000 teachers in that room: a teacher had made him who he was.

There was so much humanity and grace in what Mr. Russert shared with that audience, and even more in how he did it. Happily, thanks to digital video, we still have that story, and it’s a much-visited clip on our Web site. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house that March afternoon. Today when I think about that story and the news of Mr. Russert’s death, I’m right there again.

-Ron Thorpe

Watch Tim Russert’s speech at the 2007 Teaching & Learning Celebration here.
The panel discussion is here.

Earlier this week I took the train up to Albany. It was my first official visit to my “hometown” since I became Thirteen’s President & CEO. I grew up just outside Albany in the town of Delmar, and in my mind I can still see the downtown area as it was. But so much has changed, from new office buildings to beautiful parks and other improvements. On my drive from the train station, I went past the building where I had my first job — at age 16, as a disc jockey at a country/western radio station.

It must have been the hottest day in Albany so far this year. The high ceilings of the state Capitol trap lots of hot air (I am avoiding easy political jokes here), so the Capitol building felt like an oven. Efforts were underway to conserve energy: no air conditioning in the hallways, lights were dimmed everywhere, and all escalators were stationary.

Despite the heat, or maybe because of it, the Capitol and Legislative Office Buildings were teeming with people. Throngs of folks of all ages, persuasions and interests were trekking the halls of both the Capitol and the Legislative Office Building: tour groups of school children, constituents pressing their cases for or against pending bills, legislators and staffers hurrying to and from one meeting or another … and me.

Public television stations in New York State are educational institutions chartered by the New York State Board of Regents, and as such, we are also the recipients of State funding in the annual budget.

As one of the newest “kids on the block,” I went to Albany to introduce myself and spend a few minutes meeting some members of the Legislature and several of Governor David Patterson’s key staff. The reception I received, I am happy to say, was as warm as the weather!

First up was a meeting with Charles O’Byrne, Secretary to the Governor, and reputed to be one of the new Governor’s most trusted advisors. He was gracious and a great fan of public television. I took the opportunity to extend an invitation for the Governor to do a call-in program or town meeting that we would broadcast live in prime time on all nine of New York’s public television stations. I hope the Governor agrees to do it, I think he’s a natural for television.

Next up was a short visit with Deputy Secretary to the Governor Carl Andrews. He is a former State Senator from Brooklyn, and I was again impressed by how much he knew about Thirteen and public television. I reiterated my invitation to the Governor to do a live call-in.

I also spent some time with Long Island Assemblyman Bob Sweeney and Commissioner “Pete” Grannis of the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation — both ardent environmentalists. We talked about telling the State’s conservation and restoration stories on public television.

I ended the day with a quick visit to Assemblyman Dick Gottfried. Thirteen’s broadcast offices are in the Assemblyman’s district and the Assemblyman, who also chairs the Assembly’s Health Committee, has always been a great supporter of the station.

My recent foray up to Albany is likely to be first of many in the months and years ahead. I just hope the next time I hop a train to the Capitol, the reception up there is just as warm, but the temperature isn’t!

Real journalists don’t spend their idle hours writing about Hillary’s pantsuits. Nor do they tell people who sit in front of their office writing screenplays about world-threatening weather and world-threatening insects and world-threatening greed and stupidity and world-saving special effects done in Flash animation to hold their calls, should they get any.

Imagine my satisfaction, then, when cartoonist Roz Chast agreed to let me present “Public Television: The Swimsuit Issue,” as if done by her mother-in-law, a sweet unsuspecting woman with grandchildren. Roz understands that I live in the world of words, while she lives in the world of the senses, of color, and light.

So when I sensed a unique promotional opportunity for public television in a concept immortalized by Sports Illustrated, I grabbed it. I drilled down. I did not pander to the least common denominator. No. I pandered to the most uncommon numerator. And I retained the celebrity-driven power of art.

And Roz understands this, even if she is totally unavailable at the present time. Which is why, for our first summer issue of “The Thirteenth,” I give you “Public Television: The Swimsuit Issue,” by Roz Chast’s mother-in-law, as storyboarded by me, exclusively for you. What can I add except to say, bring on summer and bring on summer tv!

Please note: No members of the Chast family were harmed during the making of this cartoon. Members of the Thirteen family were neither consulted nor harmed, except for Rafael, who looks ten pounds heavier when illustrated.

Inside Thirteen blogger: The Thirteenth (Vickie Karp, Freelance Writer for 13)

Coming Soon: Look for Vickie Karp on The Huffington Post starting Summer 2008.

Inside Thirteen Blogger: Ellen Doherty, series producer, CYBERCHASE

On CYBERCHASE, not only do I get to work with wonderful colleagues here at Thirteen, making fun action adventure cartoons about math, but I also have the pleasure of working with incredibly talented actors like Christopher Lloyd, who was recently nominated for an Emmy Award for his performance as The Hacker, and comedian Gilbert Gottfried, who brings such humor and heart to cyberbird Digit.

This week, I got another memorable experience because Matthew Broderick, who’ll always have a place in my ‘80s heart for playing Ferris Bueller, stopped by to record a guest star spot in a special “Father’s Day” episode of CYBERCHASE that’ll premiere next year.

Matthew is playing both Max (the easy-going and likeable dad of a good friend of the CyberSquad) and an evil robot version of Max created by the villainous Hacker in order to ruin both Father’s Day and Max’s spotless reputation.

It was a real treat to watch Matthew bring these characters to life using only his voice, giving a warm “Daddiness” to Max and a dastardly zeal to Robot Max, Hacker’s evil invention. One of my favorite moments: there’s a spot in the script where Robot Max is spraying maple syrup over a crowd of people. The hilarious maniacal laughter Matthew gave Robot Max is not to be missed!

Matthew’s decision to take the role was motivated by someone who is perhaps both his biggest and smallest fan: his 5-year-old son, who watches CYBERCHASE all the time. (Matthew said he sometimes watches the show in the morning with his son.)
We had already decided to approach Matthew for the role of Max when we discovered this, but it was great to hear his wife Sarah Jessica Parker mention that their son was a CYBERCHASE fan during a TODAY show appearance in April.

Tune in a year from now to see Matthew’s performance as Max and Robot Max. It’s a long way off but don’t worry…we’ll remind you all about it!