World project to kick off July 1

CPB President Pat Harrison announced a July 1 launch of the multiplatform World content project (Current, Sept. 8, 2009), and told station execs May 20 in Austin that CPB would cover their fees for the first year of carriage. The long-awaited project will use emerging media to draw in producers and news consumers of more widely varied ethnic and cultural backgrounds, as well as a younger crowd. The work is being developed by partners including WGBH, ITVS, the Bay Area Video Coalition, NPR and members of the Minority Consortia. One of the first projects is "The Skin You're In," incorporating content from stations, viewers and users about everything from genetics to tattoos, to explore the the idea of identity. Al Letson, host of pubradio's State of the Re:Union, will also be a video blogger for World. He finds the project valuable because it reaches out to people "who have been on the sidelines, and this brings them to the forefront. It lets a community station interact with the rest of the world through this online portal."