Thursday, July 14, 2005 1:38 PM
Los Angeles Press Club and NPR invite you to meet NPR President and CEO Kevin Klose at Century Plaza Hotel this Thursday, July 14.
The public broadcasting funding crisis and recent CPB’s attemt to to inject political interference in journalism will be discussed at this press conference/discussion, moderated by Alex Ben Block of TV Week.
Kevin Klose, President and Chief Executive Officer of NPR, will discuss the public broadcasting issues currently making headlines – including the drastic last-minute federal funding cutback; its impact on public radio stations across the country, and recent comments and actions by Corporation for Public Broadcasting Chairman Ken Tomlinson – at a press conference on Thursday, July 14 in Los Angeles.
Ken Stern, Executive Vice President, NPR, who has been quoted extensively on these issues, will also be present and available for questions.
The event, sponsored by NPR and the Los Angeles Press Club, will take place at the Century Plaza Hotel, 2025 Avenue of the Stars, in the Sherman Oaks Room (Plaza Level). The schedule is:
6:30-7:00PM – Light refreshments and one-on-one time
7:00-8:00PM – Kevin Klose comments and Q&A
8:00-8:45PM – additional one-on-one time
Due to space limitations, accredited media interested in attending must RSVP in advance and receive confirmation of placement on the check-in list. Emily Hellewell (see below) is contact for RSVPs and information on space status. Andi Sporkin (see below) is contact for editorial details.
The CPB is the organization created by Congress and mandated to perform two roles: administer federal funds that help support public radio and television, and act as a firewall between politics and public broadcasting.
The unanticipated deep cuts made in early June to CPB fiscal year 2006 budget by the House of Representatives, which would go into effect this October, will significantly affect the quality of service provided by the 795 public radio stations around the country; these stations would stand to lose from 11 to 85 percent of their annual operating budgets. (Note: NPR receives less than one percent of its budget from CPB and only through competitive grants.) While $90 million of the $190 million cut was restored through a House amendment passed with strong bipartisan support on June 23, half the budget remains lost due to the original subcommittee recommendation. The Senate’s budget review begins the week of July 11.
On June 26, the New York Times reported that CPB Chairman Ken Tomlinson had secretly retained a consultant to monitor content in several public broadcasting series in 2004, including NPR’s “The Diane Rehm Show” – the only broadcast talk show Mr. Tomlinson chose to appear on since the recent CPB controversy began, and which he complimented during the appearance. Some of the raw data was released by Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) at a June 30 press conference. This latest revelation follows a number of questionable actions and comments by Tomlinson over the past three months that have received extensive media attention.
Klose joined NPR in his present role in 1998; Stern, also in his present role, joined the following year. Under their leadership, NPR has evolved into a primary news provider, leading media company and dominant force in American life. NPR has doubled its audience in only six years – now reaching 26.1 million weekly listeners – and expanded its programming slate to more than 130 hours per week.
Klose and Stern have grown the award-winning NPR News Division to include news bureaus and correspondents in more than 36 cities worldwide. The flagship daily news magazines, Morning Edition and All Things Considered, are #2 and #4 overall among all national radio programming; Morning Edition is also the most-listened-to national morning drive program. In 2002, it further broadened its presence on the West Coast and opened NPR West, a news and programming production facility in Culver City, CA, ; the NPR daily series Day to Day and News & Notes are produced there.
NPR is a privately-supported, non-profit membership organization in partnership with 780 public radio stations across the country. NPR also provides satellite, cable and short-wave services around the world. Its www.npr.org site features extensive original online content, hourly newscasts, audio streaming and comprehensive NPR archives.
Contact:
Andi Sporkin – Vice President for Communications, NPR
Office: 202-513-2320 (best number until June 11)
Mobile: 202-744-2538 (best number from June 11-17)
asporkin@npr.org
RSVP:
Emily Hellewell – Coordinator, Corporate Communications, NPR
Office: 202-513-2322
ehellewell@npr.org
