The Wisconsin Broadcasters Association
Foundation contribution to broadcasting in Wisconsin
encompasses a strategic, long term vision for enhancing,
promoting and supporting the broadcast industry by
encouraging the preservation of broadcast history,
participating in public affairs activities in the State
of Wisconsin and providing educational opportunities for
professional broadcasters and those who seek future
careers in the broadcast industry.
CURRENT HEADLINES
Wisconsin
Broadcast Museum Concept Approved
A Wisconsin Broadcast Museum will become a
reality, making its debut on the internet, under
a concept plan approved by the WBA Foundation
Board at its September, 2008 Board meeting.
The ambitious plan includes the following
strategies: 1st Creation of an online Museum;
2nd Collection, cataloguing and maintaining
archival material; 3rd Creation of a special
Museum Membership Club and a Museum Store to
generate small amounts of revenue; 4th Creation
of a traveling physical Museum Exhibit that
includes the Forward Communications/Pinney
Broadcast Sculpture; 5th Establishment of a
bricks and mortar Museum. The tentative plan
covers three to five years and implementation is
expected to begin in early 2009.
The initial startup of the Museum will include
placement of the WBA Hall of Fame Gallery on the
Museum website, creation of an exhibit detailing
an historical time line and growth of Wisconsin
broadcast stations using voiced narrative and
graphics, and an exhibit on major political
debates in Wisconsin. Plans call for these items
to be produced and placed on the Museum web site
in the first year. In years two and three, the
Museum would be enlarged with the addition of at
least two exhibits each year.
Among the topics under consideration for initial
two to three for exhibits are: TV Weather
Exhibit; Kids TV exhibit; Rock & Roll Radio
Exhibit; Story of Large Wisconsin Broadcast
Groups Exhibit; Women in Wisconsin Broadcasting
Exhibit; Wisconsin Public Radio & TV
establishment & growth Exhibit; Politics &
Wisconsin Broadcasting Exhibit..
Discover Mediaworks will be working with the
Foundation to implement the initial stages of
the plan, including building the website and
creating the first.
As work gets underway, it is expected that the
Foundation will survey Wisconsin broadcasters to
determine what historic material, artifacts,
equipment and historic recordings are available
that they would be willing to contribute to the
Wisconsin Broadcast Museum. At that time it is
also expected that the Foundation Board would
create a Museum Site/Building Acquisition
Committee to begin investigation of a future
site for a bricks and mortar Museum and appoint
a Museum Board to oversee the Museum, consisting
of Foundation Board Members and others as
determined by the Board.
R. Perry
Kidder News Resource Center
Thee WBA Foundation Board of Directors has
approved the creation of the R. Perry Kidder
Broadcast News Resource Center, which will be an
on-line resource for Wisconsin broadcast news
managers, reporters and producers and
photographers. The approval came at the Board=s
September 17, 2008, Board meeting where it also
accepted the designation of Perry Kidder=s
Legacy Club pledged contribution of $25,000 as a
start up contribution for the Center and
Kidder=s pledge to provide between $10,000 and
$15,000 over the next there years to assist in
maintenance of the Resource Center. The
tentative plan approved by the Board for Kidder
News Resource center envisions a internet
web-based site to provide legal and 1st
Amendment advice, reporting and producing tips,
Wisconsin news background features and links to
other web sites for background, research and
story ideas.
Board Approves
Engineers = Education Initiative
The WBA Foundation Board of Directors has
approved a Broadcast Engineers= Education
Initiative Pilot Project for 2009 that is aimed
at encouraging and contributing to the education
of new broadcast engineers and enhancing the
education of current broadcast engineers.
The first part of the two-pronged initiative is
the Broadcast Engineers= Mentorship Program
which will provide up to 10 stipends of $2,500
to prospective engineers for 2-month summer
internships at WBA-member radio and television
stations. Initially, potential interns will be
sought from Wisconsin colleges, universities and
technical schools. The second part of the
Engineers= Education Initiative is a Fellowship
Program under which up to 5 grants of up to
$1,000 will be given to currently employed
Senior broadcast engineers for continuing
education such as It courses, Leadership
courses, Basic Electrical Engineering courses or
>New= Technology training. (Contact WBA Vice
President, Linda Baun, for more information).
WBA Foundation Awards 2009 Scholarship
Winners
Alex Dufek
Madeline Nordholm
Y Mae Sussman
Daniel VanDenEng
A total of four WBA Foundation scholarship
awards were presented on March 7 at the 2009 WBA
Student Seminar. This year’s winners were:
Daniel VanDenEng, Y Mae Sussman, Madeline
Nordholm, and Alex Dufek. Daniel VanDenEng, UW
Oshkosh, received the $2,000 WBA Foundation
Scholarship; Y Mae Sussman was named the Morgan
Murphy Scholar and received a $2,000
Scholarship; Madeline Nordholm, UW-Madison,
received the $1,000 Howard Gernetzke
Scholarship; and Alex Dufek, William Allen White
School of Journalism at the University of Kansas
was named the Results Broadcasting Scholar and
received a $1,000 Scholarship.
WBA Foundation Awards Educational Support
Grants
In 2000, the Wisconsin Broadcasters
Association Foundation Board of Directors
created a Educational Support Grant Program to
award up to $10,000 annually to assist
non-profit college and technical school
broadcast education programs in acquiring
equipment, hardware, software, and/or other
teaching materials that are necessary to conduct
broadcast education programs and promote careers
in broadcasting.
In the first eight years, the program generated
such good responses in the quality of
applications, that the Foundation Board has
actually approved $90,100 in grants. For 2008,
the WBA Foundation Board approved $10,334.90 in grant monies.
The deadline for 2009 applications is Friday,
April 10. For complete details on the grants
awarded this year and more information on the
Educational Support Grant Program go to the
Scholarships and Grants section of the web
site.
Staff
& Leadership
