For more information, contact:
Lisa Goss, Communications Specialist, 216-916-6134
April 24, 2015 – (Cleveland, OH) – The National Association of Broadcasters Education Foundation (NABEF) announced the winners for the 2015 Celebration of Service to America Awards, recognizing outstanding community service by local broadcasters, including WVIZ/PBS ideastream. WVIZ/PBS was the winner of the Service to Children Award in the television category.
Winners will be honored at the Celebration of Service to America dinner, held Tuesday, June 16, at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C.
“Broadcasters have an unwavering commitment to serving the public,” said NABEF President Marcellus Alexander. “This year’s winners clearly provide local impact and are an integral part of the fabric of their communities.”
The Service to Children Awards spotlight television and radio stations for outstanding programs, campaigns and public service announcements produced for the benefit of children, and WVIZ/PBS was singled out for helping to generate solutions in Cleveland. This includes broadcasting children’s educational programming every day, including 12 hours each weekday, and providing educational offerings to students, teachers and parents.
For example, in 2014, WVIZ continued its work in the Slavic Village neighborhood, one of the poorest and lowest achieving areas in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District. Along with community partners, the station focused a multiple media early literacy program there, working in classrooms and in the community, even transforming an area hospital clinic’s waiting room into a vibrant learning lab where volunteers teach parents to read to their children and use PBS educational apps.
All Slavic Village 8th graders attended a WVIZ/PBS dropout conference, where recent high school graduates inspired the younger students to continue their education, and the event culminated in a cap-and-gown ceremony. ideastream, a consolidation of eight programs and services, which include WVIZ/PBS, 90.3 WCPN and WCLV Classical 104.9, leverages its multiple media to inform audiences about educational issues with programs on the stations and resources on the web and social media.
Category Finalists:
WHAS-TV Louisville, Ky., Gannett Broadcasting
WISN-TV Milwaukee, Wisc., Hearst Television
WJLA-TV Washington, D.C., Sinclair Broadcasting Group
About The Celebration of Service to America Awards
The Celebration of Service to America Awards are sponsored and produced by NABEF with major support from Hubbard Broadcasting, Inc., Bonneville International Corporation, and the National Association of Broadcasters. In recent years, Paul Simon; Stevie Wonder; Glenn Close; Jeff Bridges; Quincy Jones; Sir Elton John; Bill Clinton; Laura Bush; Muhammad Ali; Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter; and Nancy Reagan; among others, have been presented with the Celebration of Service to America Leadership Award at the event. Details about the Celebration of Service to America Awards are available at http://www.nabef.org/events/sta.
About NABEF
The National Association of Broadcasters Education Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to reinforcing the future of broadcasting through a commitment to education and to advancing excellence in the diversity and community service efforts of our industry. Learn more at www.nabef.org.
About NAB
The National Association of Broadcasters is the premier advocacy association for America's broadcasters. NAB advances radio and television interests in legislative, regulatory and public affairs. Through advocacy, education and innovation, NAB enables broadcasters to best serve their communities, strengthen their businesses and seize new opportunities in the digital age. Learn more at www.nab.org.
About ideastream
ideastream’s mission is to strengthen our communities. ideastream pursues its mission as a multiple media public service organization by providing distinctive, thought-provoking programs and services that enlighten, inspire, educate and entertain.
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