New PBS President Has Boston Connection

[PublicRef2 <norwood@mln.lib.ma.us>]

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to: <notquite@hotmail.com>. Thanks!

In the morning papers I read today, it was announced that PBS has named
Pat Mitchell it's new president, replacing Ernie Duggan, who has
resigned.

I was wondering if she was the same Pat Mitchell who back in the mid and
late 1970's was at Channel 4 in Boston, first as arts editor and later
as a reporter/anchor. Turns out she is, and that prior to taking the PBS
post, she was a producer of documentaries and other special projects at
CNN Productions.

I feel that there are a few things that Ms. Mitchell should do as head
of PBS:

(1) Try to convince Congress and the President to, over a four-to-five
year period, divert about     $ 20 to $ 25 billion a year from the
budget surplus to an endowment for PBS/CPB. After foru or five years,
PBS and CPB could live off the interest and no longer need to ask for
annual federal funds.

(2) Try to streamline the buracracy at PBS.

(3) Try to end the annoying practice of pre-empting nearly all
prime-time PBS shows during pledge weeks for mass-appeal specials that
don't air at any other time. Such shows should be spread-out over he
entire year. Perhaps if a multi-billion endowment is established, per
suggestion (1), on-air fundraiding could be eliminated or reduced to
brief : 30 second pitches.

(4) Be bold in he field of news and public afairs by having Jim Lehrer's
"Newshour" air live from
8 to 9 P.M. Eastern time. With the show done live at 8, PBS stations
would (at least on the east coast) have a national network newscast in
prime time. TV broadcasters in many other countries run a prime-time
network newscast, but no over-the-air TV network does here in the U.S.

(5) Move "The Nightly Business Report" to a live broadcast at 7:30 P.M.
Eastern time.

(6) With "Newshour" in prime-time and "Nightly Business" at 7:30 P.M.,
it should become possible for the children's block, which now ends at 6
P.M. Eastern on most PBS stations, to run until
7:30 P.M. (Eastern time). At present, there's virtually no over-the-air
children's TV programming
after 6 P.M. Eastern time.

If Ms. Mitchell follows these suggestions, there would be major changes
for PBS, but ones I feel would position he network well as the new
century continues to unfold.

Joseph Gallant
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