CETconnect.org

CET is launching its Community Media endeavor. Be among the first to check out the web page and learn how to submit video! http://www.cetconnect.org/communitymedia/
-Patsy

You may be aware that the FCC lays heavy fines on stations for language and imagery that appear on programs during “prime time.” For public television stations, the fines are so hefty they can wipe out a budget. Here’s how it’s already affecting this fall’s new Ken Burns film, THE WAR:   Courant.com article - Is FCC `FUBAR’? PBS Stations About To Find Out.
-Patsy

Yesterday I submitted a grant proposal to fund community and educational outreach for THE WAR, the next film on the way from Ken Burns. An exciting aspect of THE WAR, which focuses on World War II, is that it will consist of first-person memories - the oral histories of the people who lived it.

With our partner, the Public Library of Cincinnati & Hamilton County, CET hopes to provide a number of new interviews with our very own neighbors in Greater Cincinnati who are veterans and those who were on the homefront during WWII.

You can visit the Library’s Veterans History Project right now on the web and find more than 100 interviews, mostly local, and other artifacts such as photographs and documents. PLCH is a partner in the Library of Congress’ Veterans History Project, but the local database PLCH has created goes far beyond a collection of interviews. It is searchable, attractive, and ready to be used.

CETconnect hosts several veterans interviews as well, and others will be added in the coming months, leading up to THE WAR’s premiere in September 2007.

Be sure to check out the website for THE WAR, visit PLCH’s Veterans History Project, and frequent CETconnect to find out more today and in the coming months. -Patsy

“The more knowledge you seek, the less you will understand.”
–Lao-Tzu

People often ask me what exactly a Promotions Producer does. Does a Promotions Producer, they ask, do more than just walk around the station all day with a cup of coffee?

As John Lennon once said, “Yes is the answer and you know that for sure.”

As Promotions Producer, I am responsible for what we in the biz call “Interstitial Material.” In regular talk, that means the spots that air between the programs you see here on CET. If you see a promo for this week’s NOVA or a spot featuring the many videos available on CETconnect or even a nice little station ID featuring some of the locations around Greater Cincinnati, then you’re watching something that falls under the jurisdiction of the CET Promotions Department.

So who puts these things together? Most of the promos for PBS shows that you see on our air are “tagged” (meaning labeled with the day and time that it airs – “Sunday at 8 on CET”) by a gentleman in the building named Paul on a tape-to-tape linear editing system. Other non-PBS program promos, like the one for the Joel’s Library Jam kit or the recent Big Comfy Couch Spooky Couch Event, are produced by me on a digital editing system called an Avid Xpress Pro.

So what’s the difference, you ask? Without going into heavy technical terms and thus causing most folks’ eyes to glaze over, the difference between a linear and non-linear system is quite simple. Linear editing systems are tape-to-tape. That means any edits you make are physically put on the tape. Whereas on a non-linear editing system, edits are done on a computer before it is committed to tape. The easiest way to think about it is to think of linear editing as writing on a typewriter and non-linear editing as writing on a word processing program.

Both systems have their good points and their bad points. The linear way can be quick for straightforward editing, such as what Paul does. However, anything that requires several layers (picture atop picture atop picture) requires several passes on a tape which causes wear. The non-linear way gives you a lot more freedom and you can manipulate shots, do animations and do as many layers as you like before anything is laid to tape. But being a PC-based system, non-linear systems can be prone to crashing and cause the editor (i.e., me) to utter several extremely un-PBS Kids friendly words.

Keep checking the CETconnect Blog for more on the mysterious CET Promotions Department. –Brian

Several of us on the staff and other guest bloggers will regularly post updates about what’s going on at CET, in public broadcasting and in our community. We want to provide a behind-the-scenes look at how your public television station operates, and we’ll provide information about upcoming PBS and local programs and special educational projects. While we are launching a new bimonthly member magazine with information about CET programs and services, our blogs will enable us to post the most up-to-date information and to answer your questions.

We hope you will find these posts valuable … please let us know what you think.

Susan Howarth

President & CEO