A message from Scott Rackham, Executive Director
of MPTV Friends and Ellis Bromberg, General Manager of Milwaukee Public
Television
The Formative Years
Television’s impact on children has been of concern since
the flickering blue box made its debut inside America’s living rooms. Consequently, in 1971, the Surgeon General
reported that while the learning it provides was mainly incidental, television
had become a significant part of our acculturation process. Since that study, thousands more have been
conducted on the effect of television on children. As formal education takes a pause for the
summer season, we reflect briefly on the value of public television in the
lives of our kids.
From our first efforts, PBS has remained committed to making
a positive impact on the lives of children.
Sesame Street needs little
introduction. Born in reaction to the
poor literacy skills of American children during the 60’s, research on its
first two seasons found that viewers in every demographic gained in the academic
areas the program addressed. By
involving parents, teachers and caregivers as learning partners, Sesame Street and other programs helped
to empower a generation of children for success in school and life.
Today, our commitment to kids is stronger than ever. Accordingly, MPTV recently added several new
enhancements to our children’s menu to address learning needs beyond our preschool
target. WordGirl enriches elementary vocabulary and fosters better reading
comprehension while BizKid$ aims to
empower young viewers to take charge of their financial future. Beyond programming, outreach initiatives
remain strong: entries for our recent, 14th annual Reading Rainbow Young Writers and
Illustrators Contest reached a record high – 1,155 participants; more than
2,000 books were collected during our Clifford
Book Drive; and we are expanding the curriculum, available on-line, for our
popular documentary miniseries The Making
of Milwaukee.
Quite simply, our bottom line is measured by how much we
contribute to the welfare of our children.
That contribution would not be possible without your ongoing support for
Milwaukee Public Television. For this
and much more, we thank you.
Sincerely,
Scott and Ellis
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