Kerger addresses membership criteria

PBS chief Paula Kerger, in her State of the System address to pubcasters at the PBS Showcase yesterday, touched on the ongoing controversy surrounding changes in critieria for PBS membership. "The Station Services Committee is still reviewing criteria for PBS membership and will issue its recommendations in this area soon," she told the crowd in Baltimore. "As I stated during our GM Planning Meeting earlier today, I recognize that some of these changes will be painful for some of your stations. But I believe they will help our system to achieve greater equity and ensure our membership policies better reflect the realities of the digital era in which we live." Membership discussion continues over "the three nons," and PDP stations are lamenting new rules for fundraising programming. The Showcase continues through Thursday.