Urgent message regarding WHRO state funding

The Virginia General Assembly will vote on the governor’s amendments during the scheduled re-convene session on Wednesday, April 21.

WHRO needs your help. The need is critical, and it’s urgent. I’m referring to Governor Bob McDonnell’s proposed budget amendments to phase out all state funding for public television and radio over the next four years, beginning July 1, 2010.

Under these amendments, over the coming two-year budget cycle, Virginia’s public broadcasters will lose over $2.2 million – funding that provides on-air and on-line instructional programming, as requested and used by teachers in the classroom all over the Commonwealth. All funding would be terminated in the subsequent two years.

The governor’s amendments would also implement a four-year phase-out of all state funding to support public broadcasting’s programming in the arts, cultural matters and public affairs. Statewide, the reduced funding in this category totals $592,835 beginning in 2011, with total elimination scheduled over the following two years.

This is NOT a question of saving Big Bird. The on-air general viewing programs are funded by our members/donors. This is a question of maintaining the educational services that public broadcasting stations provide to the schools, educators and students of Hampton Roads. The funds allocated to public broadcasters like WHRO in Virginia budget's are used to provide direct support to public education in Virginia...NOT to fund general viewing programs, as too many assume.

It is critically important that the Hampton Roads legislators hear from their constituents, and to that end, we’re asking you to email or call your legislators within the next 48 hours, urging them to restore funding to public broadcasting to the level recommended by the Conference Committee and approved by the House and Senate...and continue to give the public school teachers in Virginia valuable tools for the classroom.

The Virginia General Assembly will vote on the governor’s amendments during the scheduled re-convene session on Wednesday, April 21. I can’t stress more emphatically the influence your voices have on the General Assembly. Please let them hear from you within the next 48 hours, and please share this message with your friends who value what we provide to education in Hampton Roads.

Please call and email your representative of the Hampton Roads delegation. If you’re not sure who that is, you can visit the “who’s my legislator” page of the Virginia General Assembly website.

Capitol Steps or Halliburton Steps

The Capitol Steps, who started out as a group of Senate staffers, appeared at Virginia Beach's Sandler Center on Sunday, September 28th. They satirize the crazy business of U.S. politics. And, they're equal opportunity artists of the political lampoon, i.e. they're "bi-partisan butchers"! And hilarious! My face hurt from laughing so much.

We met a few of the Steps prior to the show and laughed as they told us that they just couldn't make this stuff up. What goes on in politics today provides SO much material that they just can't use it all, and they could change their schitck daily!

Some of the best skits dealt with Bushisms, Spoonerisms and the naming opportunities of major corporations, hence the lampoon of their own name into "Halliburton Steps".

See some of their hilarity for yourself on their YouTube Channel HERE.

HD Radio(TM) Content Sees Strong Momentum

WHRO makes the Wall Street Journal! Here's the excerpt:

Hampton Roads Uses Six Channels to Time Travel.

Hampton Roads Educational Telecommunications is taking multicasting to a new level with two FMs in Norfolk, Virginia. In what could be the most ambitious complementary programming strategy for HD Radio programming today, WHRO and WHRV program six digital channels daily. The main station, 89.5 WHRV (an NPR affiliate) is news/talk; the station's HD2 channel offers a "SpeakEasy" format; and an HD3 channel airs an alternative music mix dubbed "RadioNtenna." Meanwhile, 90.3 WHRO main channel plays classical music; its HD2 channel serves up connoisseur classics within its "Alternative Classic Music" format; and its HD3 brings listeners back to the roaring 20s via the "1920's Radio Network" channel.

For the full story.

Undecided Voter?

If you're undecided in this year's Presidential campaign, then "What Matters", the local public affairs TV show on WHRO-PBS and hosted by Cathy Lewis, wants you for a special election coverage show in October.

Contact Barbara Hamm Lee, WHRO Chief Community Affairs Officer and Producer of "What Matters", to be part of WHRO's Friday night public affairs line-up. Call Barbara at (757) 889-9437 and leave a message now, if interested.

Sharing Thoughts #13

#13 is an appropriate number for this quote:

"If we're not making mistakes,
we're not really trying."
- Bert Schmidt, CEO of WHRO Public Broadcasting
in Hampton Roads, Virginia

WHRO improves the civic, educational and cultural life of the Hampton Roads community through broadcast, communications, and media services.

(Bert is shown in picture above with Virginia Governor Tim Kaine on left)

Engage in '08

WHRO's Center for Regional Citizenship is supporting a local initiative to engage people **especially youth** in the political process.

Be There, Be Counted is the website. And, it's fantastic! Whether you call them Gen X, Gen Y, Millenials, whatever... they're our future and we need to involve them in the "process" now.

Be sure to check out the very cool "Select A Candidate" tool; simply answer some questions and find out which presidential candidate most fits your views.

Port Folio Weekly's Best ofs...

Port Folio Weekly is one of my favorite sources for culture and events in Hampton Roads. A recent series featured “Best of” solicitations from various public figures. These were some of my favorite responses:

“Best Radio Station for Talk. Cathy Lewis. She turns a listening area into a community” says Chris Hanna, Artistic Director for the Virginia Stage Company (VSC).

My note: If Cathy isn’t already using that tagline, she should consider it. What an enviable designation!


“Best Radio Station for Music. WHRV-FM. I love Out of the Box with Paul Shugrue. And the Friday Night Fish Fry. Really all the music they play is great,” according to Michael Khandelwal, Director of the Muse Writer’s Center.

“Best Radio Station for Music. WHRO and WHRV-FM. Particularly because of their diversity of programming and their commitment to local arts organizations,” adds Rob Cross, Director of Virginia Arts Festival and Principal Percussionist of the Virginia Symphony.

And, another vote goes to WHRO/WHRV for Best Radio Station for Music from Jeanne Bollendorf, Chrysler Museum of Art’s Historic Houses Manager who says “I don’t often listen to music on the radio, but love Out of the Box with Paul Shugrue. His program keeps me young and hip so I don’t embarrass myself.”

My note: yes, gotta love Paul! He keeps us all current and gives us a tapas of new music. Listen to Paul Mon-Thu 7-9pm, Sat 1-5pm on WHRV 89.5FM, and on-demand at www.WHRV.org

Wait Wait revisited...

My favorite NPR radio show "Wait Wait Don't Tell Me!" was here in Hampton Roads in early June. No, make that my favorite radio show. Period.

Anyway, thanks to WHRO's wonderful freelance photographer, I was able to grab some of these great pictures:



Stars of the show Peter Sagal and Carl Kassel get the audience warmed up before taping.

Bert and I after the show with Peter Sagal, host of "Wait Wait", and Virginia Beach mayor, Meyera Oberndorf.


Bert and I with Mal Branch of the Virginia Ship Repair Association and his lovely wife, Nancy.


Bert and I with Carl Kassel, the "Wait Wait" co-host and official prize (at least his voice).


Rob Cross of the Virginia Arts Festival, his very talented wife Deb (Virginia Symphony principal flute), me and Bert.


Margaret Blackwell of Northrop Grumman and I share wine and stories at the "Wait Wait" pre-party.


An avid (or is that rabid) Carl Kassel fan. Yes, her shirt says "I Have Carl's Voice".

Virginia Association of Broadcasters Awards in Virginia Beach

Keynote speaker and recipient of the Distinguished Virginian Award, author David Baldacci.

Walking the red carpet: Bert (CEO of WHRO), Producer/Director Amy Broad, Director of WHRO's Center for Regional Citizenship Kelly Jackson and me

WHRO cast of characters: Daniel and Michelle Harrell, Heather and Matt Mazzoni (reformed WHRO staffer, now of BlackHawk!)

The WHRO table.

Missy and Amy enjoy wine.



And the winners are:
Bert, Kelly and Amy show off the Best TV Documentary award for "Fortress Monroe: Kingdom by the Sea".

Michelle wins for Best Radio Documentary: "Hampton Roads Heroes".

More pictures from the Downtown Corporate Olympics

http://www.flickr.com/photos/11479789@N04/sets/72157605480067640/
Thanks, Bobbie and Annie!

WHROlympians Win Three Awards, including 1st Place Overall

Congratulations to the WHROlympians!!!

In spite of public broadcasting's reputation as being smart, but not athletic, the WHROlympians dominated at the inaugural Downtown Norfolk Corporate Olympics, a kickoff of Norfolk Festevents' HarborFest 2008.

There were seven events and eleven teams, including Nauticus, Goodman & Company (accounting firm), Bank of America, Virginian-Pilot.

First, Annie powered her way through a tricycle riding time trial.

Second, Chuck was blind folded and was instructed by Kim through a maze while sitting in an office chair. They blew the field away and came in first by a long shot.

Third, Homer and Michelle tossed a egg back in forth until it cracked in Michelle's hand on the fifth toss. (We still maintain the egg was defective.)

Fourth, Robin and her strapping husband Mark, performed a great synchronized chair routine to the music of Thriller. They were one of the top three teams that were allowed an encore performance for the entire crowd at the end of the Games. The kiss was a great addition!

Fifth, the five person team of Robin, Kim, Michelle, Joe and Annie took turns dressing and undressing in a timed race (you can ask them about the details). I think they came in second overall.

Sixth, the girls came through again when I joined Debbie, Kim and Robin to give Bobbie great moral support as she single-handedly dominated the competition with a perfect 10 score in the "pass the message" game. What a memory!

And finally, the whole team came together for the big event of the day, the Tug of War. In a bracket format competition, the WHROlympians ran through the brackets winning four straight matches (in probably less than 15 seconds cumulatively) to win the Tug of War. Bert was interviewed by one of the local TV news stations with the team in the background shouting and cheering (and he even got a pitch in for membership).

At the awards ceremony, the special awards were:
Best Costumes - Scallywags (Targeted Publications)
Best Spirit - (hmmm, don't remember, must have been the heat getting to us)
Best Cheering - WHROLYMPIANS

And then, based on the 7 events, the overall winners were:
3rd - Nauticus
2nd - Bank of America
1st Overall - WHROLYMPIANS

The plaques and the traveling trophy will be sitting within WHRO's awards hallway.

Thanks to Ginny for being team captain and coordinator, Megan for the designer shirts, Bobbie for the team moniker and the entire team for doing so well.

For more photos from the Olympics and HarborFest, courtesy of the Virginian-Pilot, click HERE.

And, of course, it was really, really fun. I was glad to be a part of such a wonderfully cohesive group. Every workplace should be this lucky to have such heartfelt camaraderie. Hmmm, do I hear another award-in-the-making ? ? ? ?

Wait! Wait! Don't Tell Me! Naw, just kidding...PLEASE TELL ME!

WHRO and the VA Arts Festival did it again. They brought a NPR radio show to Hampton Roads. This time it was the magnificently wicked and intelligent Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! This is NPR's weekly hour-long quiz show, and it came to life for me on the stage of the Sandler Center in VA Beach this week. I can't wait to hear the podcast and the version edited for radio (no, it's not aired live and now I know why! lol)

Each week on the radio I test my knowledge with real news and some that's just made up. I must say, I like the mixture!

WHRO and VAF had a joint event afterward to meet/greet the stars of the show. So, who did we meet?

Peter Sagal -- the show's host who, according to his bio, has had a varied career including stints as a playwright, screenwriter, stage director, actor, extra in a Michael Jackson video, travel writer, essayist, ghostwriter and staff writer for a motorcycle magazine. I was lucky enough to have him sign his new book The Big Book of Vices: Very Naughty Things (and How to Do Them). Thanks, Peter!

Carl Kasell -- is the "Official Judge and Scorekeeper". He's been on NPR's Morning Edition since 1979. If you're not familiar with the show, Carl's voice on your home answering machine or other voicemail device is the PRIZE for winning callers. What started as a lark (come on, they had little to no budget) has become a prized possession! One audience member and avid fan who had earned Carl's voice years ago sported a t-shirt espousing her success!

This week's panelists included Roxanne Roberts, a writer for The Washington Post's Style section; P.J. O'Rourke, a correspondent for the Atlantic Monthly and sometimes commentator on HBO's Real Time with Bill Mahr; and, last but certainly not least, Tom Bodett, an author and commentator, yet he will be forever immortailized by Motel 6 commercials for saying "We'll leave the light on for you".

What fun! Hope to SEE them again soon!

I hung out with Garrison Keillor

Garrison Keillor made a stop in Virginia Beach on Tue, May 20 at the Sandler Center for the Performing Arts.

The show was wonderful, yet the best part was hanging out in the green room with Mr. Keillor before the show. Hey, it pays to know people; what can I say?!? (co-presented by Bert's PBS station WHRO)

Mr. Keillor is as down-to-earth and quirky as the character he portrays in stage as a solo act and with the long-running public radio hit "A Prairie Home Companion". Bert and I had the pleasure of seeing APHC last fall at their home theater, the Fitzgerald in St. Paul, Minnesota. He is tall and gangly, and, yes, he still wears his red socks and red sneakers...and, I do believe they may even be the originals. Mr. Keillor is as warm and comfy as his voice, even stretching out and trying the strange wavy couch in the Sandler's green room.

My friends, Barbara and Bobbie, promoted at WHRO

Barbara Hamm was named Chief Community Affairs officer of WHRO. Barbara will produce programming for WHRO's public TV station, including a new public affairs program hosted by Cathy Lewis and a magazine-style program geared toward the interests of the African-American community in Hampton Roads. Barbara will also serve as backup host for "HearSay With Cathy Lewis," the public affairs radio program that airs at noon weekdays on WHRV-FM (89.5). Her first radio program will air Feb. 1.

Barbara has been the WHRO's chief communications officer since March 2006. She's a former director of WTKR-TV, Channel 3. Congrats, Barbara!


WHRO also named Bobbie Fisher as the new Chief Communications Officer. Bobbie came to WHRO in 1996, serving most recently as director of corporate communications. She'll be responsible for the communications, public relations and marketing functions of WHRO's family of services (subjects near and dear to my heart).

WHRO includes public television (WHRO TV15/HD15.1), WHRO Kids and WHRO Create; two public radio stations (WHRO-FM (90.3) and WHRV); the WHRO Voice Radio Reading Service; four new digital radio services; and educational services. Way to go, Bobbie!

Bringing back the "local" in local broadcasting

The ‘local’ in local broadcasting: Public stations struggle to produce quality programming on tight budgets

A snippet of the story by Chris Graham

I had an inkling as to what the meeting was going to be about - just from the tone of the e-mail. The station management at WVPT, a public-television station based in Harrisonburg (VA) whose audience over the air extends from Charlottesville to Winchester and by satellite stretches into the Washington, D.C., market, had requested a meeting with me to talk about my fledgling monthly TV show, “Virginia Viewpoints.” I had been waiting for the ball to drop for several months by this point - nobody had stepped up to sponsor the show, and really it had seemed to me that money issues were killing the station all around. ...

***

Budget issues are nothing new in the public-broadcasting business - it seems that station managers in both public-radio and public-TV are all working on margins that are ever-shrinking, for a variety of reasons.

“The state and federal funds have tended to not grow over time - so you have to find ways to raise money either from the contribution side of things, whether it’s individuals or corporations, or through whatever other means you can try and come up with,” said Curtis Monk, the president and CEO of the Richmond-based Commonwealth Public Broadcasting Corp., which operates three television stations and two radio stations under the Community Idea Stations umbrella in Central Virginia and Northern Virginia.

***

Former WVPT president and general manager Bert Schmidt is in something of a different galaxy now than he was when he was back in the Valley - now the president and general manager of the Hampton Roads-based WHRO, he oversees radio and TV operations that are housed under one umbrella and that have a $13 million annual budget to work with, more than four times what he had back in Harrisonburg.

And yet Schmidt still can’t go out and spend money like it’s going out of circulation.


“You’ve still got to be smart,” said Schmidt, who - full disclosure - was the person who hired me to produce and host “Virginia Viewpoints” during his tenure at WVPT.

“Yes, we have certain advantages here. WHRO is in a much more populated area. It’s the 40th-largest TV market in the U.S. - versus Harrisonburg, which is 186th. So there are obviously a lot more sources for funding than Harrisonburg ever had,” Schmidt said.

“And having both TV and radio is a wonderful combination. Right now, we have four TV stations - if you include our high-definition, kids channel and how-to channel - and we have two broadcast radio stations, a pure classical and a NPR news and public affairs. And two digital radio stations as well. Plus we have extensive educational services that are used statewide. So WHRO is fortunate to be in a position to have a lot more products to be able to raise money for,” Schmidt said.

“Of course, it costs us a lot of money to be able to provide those products,” Schmidt said. “But being able to house them all under one roof allows the administrative costs, the fund-raising costs, to be spread over all those products - as opposed to being at a smaller station, where you have just TV, and all the fund-raising and incidental costs have to be covered from just that one TV station.”

***

Of note is that even with that much, much larger operating budget, WHRO was by and large out of the local-production game before Bert Schmidt’s arrival earlier this year.

That interests me if only because it seems to me that the lifeblood of a public-broadcasting station - radio or TV - would be its local programming.

***

“The cost of doing a show in Harrisonburg is pretty similar to what it is in Norfolk or anywhere else. The odds of me being able to find funding for a similar type show in Hampton Roads is greater when you have Fortune 100 companies based in the area. The advantage is that the likelihood of finding funders for it in the Hampton Roads region is much greater than being in Harrisonburg,” Bert Schmidt said, comparing his current situation at WHRO to what he used to have to deal with in the Valley at WVPT.

And even with all the talk about how expensive local shows are, “You don’t have to spend six figures every time you want to do a local show,” Schmidt said.

“That may be the easiest way to win a bunch of awards - but I’m much more interested in creating programming that is a benefit to the community,” Schmidt said.

“The important thing is you have to have your ears to the community - and hopefully do programming that’s relevant,” Schmidt said. “When I was at WVPT, we started ‘Virginia Farming’ - which has gotten great funding, and continues to get great funding. We’re doing a similar approach in Hampton Roads - focusing on programming that’s relevant to the community that surrounds the military, the African-American population, both of which are significant in this region."

“We have several TV shows in the development stage right now - and it’s not because we have this huge budget. In fact, the budget that we have is already committed to a lot of different things. So we will take a similar approach to trying to be smart with programming - to try to talk to the community and understand what the community wants and needs,” Schmidt said.

***

However you slice it all up, though, the bottom line is, well, the bottom line - and when money is tight, “the first thing that’s going to go at any station is its local programming,” Bert Schmidt said.

Schmidt understands why management at WVPT did what they did after his departure - and as somebody who was directly affected by the cuts that came down this summer, I do, too.


Read the full story HERE.

Happy Haunting

Be sure to watch all of Halloween Haunts on WHRO and listen on WHRV. Also available via iTunes.

WHRO Film takes a fresh look at Fort Monroe

On the evening of October 15th, I sat next to a very nice young man from the Daily Press who was as interested in the future of Fort Monore as the rest of the crowd at The American Theatre in Hampton.

The WHRO documentary, produced and directed by Amy Broad of Rock Eagle Communications, debuted and a panel discussion led by WHRV's Cathy Lewis followed.

By MATTHEW STURDEVANT
October 16, 2007
HAMPTON - — A new documentary on Fort Monroe takes a step back from recent debate and concentrates on long-term planning, National Trust for Historic Preservation attorney and regional director Robert Nieweg said during a public discussion Monday.

The documentary allows people "to get away from the wrestling match and on to the marathon," Nieweg said.

The local PBS affiliate, WHRO, held an advance screening Monday night of its half-hour documentary "Kingdom by the Sea: Fortress Monroe" followed by a panel discussion about the fate of the military base. Fort Monroe has been a military base for centuries. That historic designation ends in 2011, when the Army will vacate the premises.

The screening and discussion at The American Theatre in Phoebus drew hundreds of people who packed the theater, and many of them lined the aisles to ask questions of the panelists.
The wrestling match was back on.


The much-discussed issue — whether to make Fort Monroe a national park — was raised, and that led to questions about whether that is feasible, and how to make it a destination that is economically sustainable. That raised the question of money and how much of Fort Monroe — if any part — should be open to private development.

"We are not dealing with a blank slate, and developers love a blank slate," said Conover Hunt, interim executive director of the Fort Monroe Federal Area Development Authority, the panel charged with plotting Monroe's future.

Hunt said she agreed with fellow panelist, Daily Press reporter Kimball Payne, who said the fort's future will be defined by its characteristics — historic, natural and architectural.

People in Hampton and across Virginia see Fort Monroe as one of the most important historic places in the state, if not the country. As the Army's departure nears, there has been increasing disagreement about what should happen to it.

That's where the documentary comes in — both as a history lesson and as a way to further the dialogue about the base.

The documentary tells the history of Fort Monroe, which goes back to 1609 when Fort Algernourne was built as a defense for Jamestown. The island in the Chesapeake Bay just off of Phoebus was a strategic military location through the Civil War. It is also considered the place where "the story of emancipation begins," as University of Pennsylvania history professor Robert F. Engs says in the documentary.


"Kingdom by the Sea" premieres on WHRO-TV 15 and WHRO-HD 15.1 at 8:30 p.m. Oct. 24.
Panelists at the event included Hunt, Payne, Nieweg, L. Preston Bryant Jr., Virginia's secretary of Natural Resources, Steve Corneliussen of Citizens for a Fort Monroe National Park, Hampton Mayor Ross A. Kearney II and Jason Sweat of the Defense Department's Office of Economic Adjustment.

In discussing the military's responsibilities and perspective on Fort Monroe, Sweat said, "The Pentagon wants to see what's best for the community, what's best for the commonwealth."
There are options other than maintaining the area as a national park. Bryant said Monroe can't become a financial burden on the state or the region. Bryant said Gov. Timothy M. Kaine has three goals in planning the future of Fort Monroe: to respect the history, to allow unfettered public access and to make it economically sustainable.

Found this great aerial shot on a Russian website. Hmmm....

The Sardonic Wit of David Sedaris

It was our infinite pleasure to meet David Sedaris on Sunday, October 7th and hear some of his stories read by the man himself at Chrysler Hall in downtown Norfolk,

that's pronounced...

Nor·folk [nawr-fuhk; also nawr-fawk; or more commonly by locals as naH-fuhk] -noun 1. An independent city of southeast Virginia on Hampton Roads southeast of Richmond. Founded in 1682 and today the largest city of Virginia, it has been a major naval base since the American Revolution. Population: 232,000.

If you don't know who David is, then shame on you...get to it! His wit is truly sardonic,


that's pronounced...

sar·don·ic [sahr-don-ik] –adjective characterized by bitter or scornful derision; mocking; cynical; sneering: a sardonic grin.


Hearing him tell his own stories, in his own voice and pronunciations, was absolutely side-splitting, such as


that's pronounced...

Nic·a·ra·gua [nik-uh-rah-gwuh] –noun 1. a republic in Central America. 4,386,399; 57,143 sq. mi. (148,000 sq. km). Capital: Managua.


And, the antics when he visited a nudist trailer park....well, you'll just have to read it for yourself. (see the Amazon link on the RH sidebar or click HERE)

David can be regularly heard on:

and on:

And, check out his audio books, etc. available on iTunes. David was gracious enough to stay VERY late to sign EVERY one of his books brought to or bought at the Chrysler after completing his readings. And, I found nothing sar·don·ic [sahr-don-ik] whatsoever about that! He's a gem, even if he wouldn't like me to say/write that.

But that's ok, and, by the way, AVOID fudge-colored towels at all costs! ;-)

GOVERNOR’S ROUNDTABLE

WHRO CEO APPOINTED TO GOVERNOR’S ROUNDTABLE
Committee Will Develop Blueprint for Insuring Statewide Access to Broadband

NORFOLK: Bert Schmidt, President and Chief Executive Officer of public broadcaster WHRO, has been appointed to Governor Tim Kaine’s Broadband Roundtable Outreach Committee, a group of executives from telecommunications, academia, industry and the public sector that is charged with developing a telecommunications blueprint to advance the Governor’s goal of ensuring broadband access for every Virginia business.

The group, which will be led by former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner and Virginia Secretary of Technology Aneesh Chopera, is scheduled to begin its work this summer, with its final report due by July 2008.

The Roundtable will concentrate its efforts on five areas critical to the delivery of low-cost, last-mile service: Broadband Adoption, Technology, Innovative Applications, Business Models, and Community Outreach. The Roundtable will coordinate its efforts with those of the Wireless Broadband Telecommunications Subcommittee of the Joint Commission on Technology and Science, co-chaired by Senator William Wampler (R-Bristol), and Delegate Joe May (R-Leesburg).

“Governor Kaine has called broadband access a priority for his administration, and I’m proud to serve on this roundtable,” said Schmidt. “The initiative will not only serve rural Virginia companies who don't have easy access to low-cost, high-speed Internet service, but will also establish Virginia as a player in the increasingly global economy.”

WHRO is a regional media company that promotes education, culture and citizenship to the citizens of Hampton Roads, Virginia through a variety of services. Every day, thousands of viewers and listeners tune in to broadcast programming on WHRO's public television and two public radio stations. Since its founding more than 45 years ago to support education, WHRO has employed creativity and technology to serve its mission to enrich audiences through content that educates, entertains and promotes understanding. Owned by 17 local school divisions, WHRO delivers educational and new media services to 286,000 students and 25,000 educators per month as well.

Bert Schmidt, President and CEO of WHRO, out in the community. Visiting with Michael Curry (left), Director of the American Theatre and the Hampton Arts Commission ( a long time underwriter of WHRO) and Ven. Thupten Tendhar, one of the visiting monks from Tibet during the monks annual residency at the American Theatre.

Meet Bert Schmidt, Pres/CEO of WHRO, Hampton Roads Public Broadcasting

Bert (my significant other) and I have been quite busy since we moved to Hampton Roads, making the rounds to meet everyone in our new community.

Here is a video of his recent interview from the city of Norfolk's Neighborhood Network, NNN TV-48 www.norfolk.gov/tv48.

http://wmstreaming.whro.org/norfolk/NP0829073.asf

And, what's on our coffee table? Bert was just featured in the Sept/Oct 2007 issue of Hampton Roads Magazine. I even received a mention, including my spicy meat loaf recipe that he loves. (They just misspelled his name in the headline, oops!)



For a full, easy-to-read, snapshot of the article (with corrected spelling, too), click HERE.