Board of Education backs governor's veto of pubcasting money in Florida

The Florida Board of Education, which has purview over public broadcasting, has made it official: For the first time in 35 years, the state will not provide funding for the 26 stations, "throwing the future of state-funded public broadcasting into question," according to a report from the Orlando Sentinel. The board approved a budget list in line with Gov. Rick Scott’s veto in May of $4.8 million the Legislature had previously provided to public broadcasting.

The Florida Public Broadcasting Service said in a statement to Current: “Florida’s public broadcasting stations make important contributions to education. Our children’s programs are standards-based and have proven value in getting kids ready for school. We train Voluntary Prekindergarten (VPK) providers and others who work in early childhood. And we provide PBS education resources to classrooms across the state. All for free. Several Board of Education members did not know that, and expressed interest in learning more. We hope that, as Board members and legislators gain a better understanding of our educational services, they’ll see the value in state funding for public broadcasting.”

A crazy news cycle, captured in Carvin's tweets and storified by MediaShift

Andy Carvin's epic weekend of tweeting the Libyan revolution inspired MediaShift to storify a day in the life of NPR's star Tweeter. The chosen day, Aug. 23, turned out to be an extraordinary news cycle. Carvin was following Libyan rebels' takeover of Moammar Gaddafi’s compound in Tripoli and the plight of western journalists being held in the nearby Rixos Hotel, then reacted with shock as a 5.9 magnitude earthquake rocked his home outside Washington, D.C.

News collaborations enable "many voices" in pubcasting, Kerger says

The second speaker in ITVS's short-video series on the future of public media is PBS President Paula Kerger, who calls this a "profoundly interesting" time for pubmedia, especially with all the collaborations taking place. "Being able to leverage journalism from multiple places is really, I think, an exciting development for public media," she says, "because it enables many voices and many stories to be told but also the talents of a diverse range of reporters than can bring stories forward."