New Hampshire Public TV faces total state funding cut

New Hampshire Public Television's funding will be debated Wednesday (Jan. 19) in a legislative hearing, the Foster's Daily Democrat reports. A bill has been introduced that would ban the state's university system from using state money to fund public TV. NHPTV President Peter Frid said 31 percent of its $8.8 million budget comes to it via that funding. Without that state support, Frid said, it would be impossible for the channel to function.

Berkman Center to examine mobile giving in first-ever study

The impact of digital tools on charitable giving and the outlook for future mobile giving will be studied by the Berkman Center for Internet & Society, it announced today (Jan. 18). The research, the first of its kind, will survey persons who gave to Haiti earthquake relief efforts to determine how mobile donors differ from general donors. It also will examine how social media spread the mobile-giving campaigns. Partners in the study are the mGive Foundation and the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project; it's supported by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Current reported on the mobile donation efforts of public broadcasters, which so far is limited (March 22, 2010) but holds potential (April 19, 2010).

Access channel advocacy group announces website

Public access channels nationwide are intensifying their ongoing fight to stay on the air with today's (Jan. 18) launch of a new website from the Public Television Industry Corporation. The channels across the country are being threatened with shutdowns as longtime funding contracts expire. The site links to a 10-minute video that says public access TV is "being murdered by a cabal of cable and telecom industries."

"Marmalade Gypsy" looks back at NETA

Here are some cool photos from the NETA convention, and a little wrapup, from the Marmalade Gypsy blogger. One of the pics captures two Current staffers, reporter Dru Sefton (on the right, with the scarf) and Kathleen Unwin, marketing director, at Lucky Table 13. Give yourself extra points if you can figure out the identity of the writer, an anonymous pubcaster. (Hints: Jeanie in Michigan.)