Here is an interesting passage from an article by Jerrold Starr about PBS stations lack of responsiveness to local communities, a critique that also applies to Pacifica - which is in dire need of social capital - and which fails to utilize an instrument - i.e. Community Advisory Boards that could help address this problem. How is Pacifica to remain relevant if it does not engage directly not only with the communities it serves, i.e. current loyal listeners, but reaches out to new listeners in communities that might be naturally drawn to Pacifica. To be sure, Pacifica has created internal mechanisms for this person, i.e. the Committees of Inclusion, and Outreach Committees but these bodies remain generally inactive or without a clear purpose or clear feedback loop to the stations. Joe W. http://www.cipbonline.org/press13.htm PBS STATIONS NOT RESPONSIVE TO LOCAL COMMUNITIES. PBS Wants To Be A Center For "Social Capital." Jerold M. Starr is executive director of Citizens for Independent Public Broadcasting, a grassroots campaign to improve broadcasting. He is also, professor of Sociology at West Virginia University ....What is most revealing about the PBS programming plan is not what is there, but what is not. Nowhere is it acknowledged that all stations are required to have active Community Advisory Boards (CABs) "to advise the governing board of the station whether programming and other policies ... are meeting the specialized educational and cultural needs of the communities" they serve and to make such recommendations to meet those needs. Mandated by Congress in response to public pressure in 1978, CPB regulations specifically state that a major purpose of the CABs is to provide for "effective public participation in planning and decision making." This clearly is the place for community leaders to connect stations to active citizens and build social capital. Researching CABs a few years back, I spoke to Pat Rudebusch, the CPB official then in charge of overseeing them. She said the main problem with the CABs occurs when you have the "old way of thinking ... usually among the management that any kind of outside involvement is bad because they will control programming." Nevertheless, she recommended CABs in four major cities that she considered good models. I examined station materials and interviewed activists in all four cities. Not one of these boards seemed to be having any impact on programming or policy. Management appointed all members and two CABs met only occasionally. My own service on the CAB of WQED-TV Pittsburgh convinced me that these entities were little more than black holes of volunteer energy kept on the books only because they are required by law. When it comes to programming, according to public broadcasting executive Willard Rowland, Jr., station managers are oriented "toward a narrowly defined audience of upscale viewer-check writers" who end up "substituting for the public as a whole." Former KQED-San Francisco CEO James Day once observed: "the greatest force for blandness is not the government; it's the stations." There have been numerous cutting-edge public affairs series offered free by satellite downlink to PBS member stations over the years that only a minority have seen fit to carry. Such programs addressed community issues that are part of the PBS mission, but typically ignored; in the workplace ("We Do the Work" and "Livelihood"), in the gay and lesbian community ("In the Life"), and human rights around the world ("Rights and Wrongs" and "South Africa Now"). A new show, "Mental Engineering," dissects broadcast commercials to educate consumers and keep corporations honest. It is carried by only 50 of about 350 PBS member stations. In 1993, Harper's Editor Lewis Lapham, himself a former PBS producer, characterized the system as "the Holy Roman Empire during the last days of its decaying hegemony – 351 petty states and dukedoms, each with its own flag, own court chamberlain and trumpet fanfare." Social capital? America needs it and PBS is positioned to contribute. First, however, it will have to liberate itself from the commercial culture that has taken hold and explore new ways both to support itself and to serve its publics. ------------------------------------ New Pacifica Working Group http://www.egroups.com/group/NewPacifica 'Save Our Stations!'Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NewPacifica/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NewPacifica/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:NewPacifica-digest@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx mailto:NewPacifica-fullfeatured@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: NewPacifica-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/