Pubcasters' requests among those rejected for broadband stimulus money

At least three public broadcasting requests for broadband stimulus funding have been turned down. The site simulatingbroadband.com, which tracks news about the effort, reports that the federal agency overseeing the grants, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), is mailing out around 1,400 rejection letters and updating its online database to reflect the nonfunded applications. Included in the rejections: Mississippi Public Broadcasting, which wanted $2.2 million for a public computer center for children and childcare providers; Florida Public Broadcasting Service, which requested $22.8 million for a HELPS (Health, Education, Local, Public Safety) Network; and PBS, asking for $8.7 million for an eight-station local and national partnership (California, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Utah and Virginia) to combine content and outreach programs to stimulate demand for educational broadband content. For background, see Current's Sept. 21, 2009, story.