:''Not to be confused with Public Broadcasting Services (PBS) in Malta or Public Broadcast Service (PBS) in Barbados or Public, educational, and government access (PEG) cable TV channels in the United States.''

Coordinates	21°27′40″N157°50′28″N
Name	PBS
Logo
Type	Broadcast television network
Country	United States
Available	Nationwide
Slogan	''Be more''
Key people	Paula Kerger, President and CEO
Launch date	October 5, 1970
Former names	National Educational Television (1952–1970)
Picture format	480i (SD)720p/1080i (HD)|
Website	pbs.org
Footnotes	}}

The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American non-profit public broadcasting television service with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters are in Arlington, Virginia.

PBS is the most prominent provider of television programs to U.S. public television stations, distributing series such as ''PBS NewsHour'', ''Masterpiece'', and ''Frontline''. Since the mid-2000s, Roper polls commissioned by PBS have consistently placed the service as America's most-trusted national institution. However, PBS is not responsible for all programming carried on public TV stations; in fact, stations usually receive a large portion of their content (including most pledge drive specials) from third-party sources, such as American Public Television, NETA, WTTW National Productions and independent producers. This distinction is a frequent source of viewer confusion.

PBS also has a subsidiary called National Datacast (NDI), which offers datacasting services via member stations. This helps PBS and its member stations earn extra revenue.

Overview

PBS was founded on October 5, 1970, at which time it took over many of the functions of its predecessor, National Educational Television (NET), which later merged with station WNDT, Newark, New Jersey, to form WNET. In 1973, it merged with Educational Television Stations.

Unlike the model of America's commercial broadcasting television networks, in which affiliates give up portions of their local advertising airtime in exchange for network programming, PBS member stations pay substantial fees for the shows acquired and distributed by the national organization.

This relationship means that PBS member stations have greater latitude in local scheduling than their commercial broadcasting counterparts. Scheduling of PBS-distributed series may vary greatly from market to market. This can be a source of tension as stations seek to preserve their localism, and PBS strives to market a consistent national line-up. However, PBS has a policy of "common carriage" requiring most stations to clear the national prime-time programs on a common broadcast programming schedule, so that they can be more effectively marketed on a national basis.

Unlike its radio counterpart, National Public Radio, PBS has no central program production arm or news department. All of the programming carried by PBS, whether news, documentary, or entertainment, is created by (or in most cases produced under contract with) other parties, such as individual member stations. WGBH in Boston is one of the largest producers of educational television programming, including ''American Experience'', ''Masterpiece Theater'', ''Nova'', ''Antiques Roadshow'' and ''Frontline'', as well as many other children's and lifestyle shows. News programs are produced by WETA-TV (''PBS Newshour'') in Washington, D.C., WNET in New York and WPBT in Miami. The ''Charlie Rose'' interview show, ''Secrets of the Dead'', ''NOW on PBS'', ''Nature'', and ''Cyberchase'' come from or through WNET in New York. Once a program is offered to, and accepted by, PBS for distribution, PBS (and not the member station that supplied the program) retains exclusive rights for rebroadcasts during the period for which such rights were granted; the suppliers do maintain the right to sell the program in non-broadcast media such as DVDs, books, and sometimes PBS licensed merchandise (but sometimes grant such ancillary rights as well to PBS).

PBS stations are commonly operated by non-profit organizations, state agencies, local authorities (e.g., municipal boards of education), or universities in their city of license. In some U.S. states, PBS stations throughout the entire state may be organized into a single regional "subnetwork" called a state network (e.g., Alabama Public Television). Unlike public broadcasters in most other countries, PBS does not own any of the stations that broadcast its programming (i.e., there are no PBS Owned-and-operated stations (O&O;) anywhere in the country). This is partly due to the origins of the PBS stations themselves, and partly due to historical broadcast license issues.

In the modern broadcast marketplace, this organizational structure is considered outmoded by some media critics. A common restructuring proposal is to reorganize the network so that each state would have one PBS member which would broadcast state-wide. However, this proposal is controversial, as it would reduce local community input into PBS programming, especially considering how PBS stations are significantly more community-oriented, according to the argument, than their commercial broadcasting counterparts.

In 1994, ''The Chronicle of Philanthropy'', an industry publication, released the results of the largest study of charitable and non-profit organization popularity and credibility. The study showed that PBS was ranked as the 11th "most popular charity/non-profit in America" from over 100 charities researched, with 38.2% of Americans over the age of 12 choosing "love" and "like a lot" for PBS.

In December 2009, PBS signed up for the Nielsen ratings audience measurement reports for the first time.

"Viewers Like You"

Beginning on October 2, 1989, the phrase "Viewers Like You" has been used to indicate PBS's gratitude to viewers of PBS that contributed to the production costs. The phrase appears in the list of underwriters, at the start and end of all PBS programs with viewer contributions.

Formats

; 1970–1989 Prior to October 2, 1989, donations by viewers of PBS members were recognized as contributions from "Funding for this program was made possible by (the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and) this (station) and other public television stations." The on-screen text just showed "Public Television Stations". ; 1989–1999 From 1989 to 1999 the announcement consisted of:

The underwriting announcement, accompanied by a slide.

The words "Viewers Like You" (with "You" written out in yellow script in the early days) instead of showed "Public Television Stations".

The announcer instead says "Funding for this program was provided (by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and) by the (annual) financial support of Viewers Like You".

; 1999–present Beginning on November 1, 1999, the PBS underwriting guidelines required all announcements to read, "This program was made possible (by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and) by contributions to your PBS station from Viewers Like You. Thank You."

Programming

Primetime

Fine arts (''Great Performances'', ''Live from the Metropolitan Opera'', ''Live from Lincoln Center'', and ''Evening at Pops'')

Drama (''Mystery!'', ''American Playhouse'', and ''Masterpiece'')

Science (''Nova'' and ''Scientific American Frontiers'')

History (''American Experience'', ''History Detectives'')

Public affairs (''Frontline'', ''NOW on PBS'', ''Jermey Clarkson'', ''Wide Angle'', ''PBS NewsHour'', ''Nightly Business Report'')

Independent films (''P.O.V.'', and ''Independent Lens'')

Exercise

''Power Yoga: Mind and Body''

''Wai Lana Yoga''

''Priscilla's Yoga Stretches''

''Body Electric''

''Allaire Back Fitness''

''Fitness Show''

''Functional Fitness with Suzanne Andrews''

''Classical Stretch: The Esmonde Technique''

''Sit and Be Fit''

Daytime/children

{| | valign=top |

''3-2-1 Contact''

''A Place of Our Own

''Arthur''

''Barney & Friends''

''Between the Lions''

''Boohbah''

''Bob the Builder''

''Brum (TV Series)

''Caillou''

''Clifford the Big Red Dog (TV series)''

''Curious George (TV series)''

''Cyberchase''

''Dragon Tales''

''Dinosaur Train''

''FETCH! with Ruff Ruffman''

''It's a Big Big World''

''Kratts' Creatures''

''Liberty's Kids''

| width=60px |  || valign=top |

''Little Critter''

''The Magic School Bus''

''Make Way For Noddy''

''Martha Speaks

''Mister Rogers' Neighborhood''

''The Puzzle Place''

''Reading Rainbow''

''Rosie and Jim''

''Super Why!''

''Sesame Street''

''Shining Time Station''

''Sooty''

''Teletubbies''

''The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That''

''The Electric Company (2009 TV series)''

''Villa Alegre''

''Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?''

''Wishbone''

''Zoboomafoo''

''ZOOM''

|} PBS Kids has also imported British children's series from the BBC and ITV (for example, ''Tots TV'', ''Teletubbies'', ''Boohbah'', and ''Thomas the Tank Engine''), as well as children's shows from Canada (i.e., ''The Big Comfy Couch'', ''Theodore Tugboat'', ''Wimzie's House'' and ''Polka Dot Door''). On June 4, 2007, their first imported Australian children's TV series debuted on PBS – ''Raggs''. Some of the programs subsequently moved to commercial television (for example, ''Ghostwriter'', and ''The Magic School Bus'').

However, PBS is not the only distributor of public television programming to the member stations. Other distributors have emerged from the roots of the old companies that had loosely held regional public television stations in the 1960s. Boston-based American Public Television (former names include Eastern Educational Network and American Program Service) is second only to PBS for distributing programs to U.S. non-commercial stations. Another distributor is NETA (formerly SECA), whose properties have included ''The Shapies'' and ''Jerry Yarnell School of Fine Art''. In addition, the member stations themselves also produce a variety of local shows, some of which subsequently receive national distribution through PBS or the other distributors.

PBS stations are known for rebroadcasting British television costume dramas and comedies (acquired from the BBC and other sources); consequently, it has been joked that PBS means "Primarily British Series". However, a significant amount of sharing takes place. The BBC and other media outlets in the region such as Channel 4 often cooperate with PBS stations, producing material that is shown on both sides of the Atlantic. Less frequently, Canadian, Australian, and other international programming appears on PBS stations (such as ''The Red Green Show'', currently distributed by syndicator Executive Program Services); the public broadcasting syndicators are more likely to offer this programming to the U.S. public stations. PBS is also known for broadcasting British comedy and science fiction programs such as '''Allo 'Allo!'', ''Are You Being Served?'', ''The Benny Hill Show'', ''Doctor Who'', ''Father Ted'', ''Fawlty Towers'', ''Harry Enfield and Chums'', ''Keeping Up Appearances'', ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'', ''Mr. Bean'' and ''Red Dwarf''.

Contributing stations

Stations and/or networks that have produced or presented PBS-distributed programming include:

KAET, Phoenix, Arizona

KUAT-TV, Tucson, Arizona

KETS, Little Rock, Arkansas

KVPT, Fresno, California

KVIE, Sacramento, California

KPBS, San Diego, California

KQED, San Francisco, California

KTEH, San Jose, California

Rocky Mountain PBS, Colorado

Connecticut Public Television

WHYY-TV, Wilmington, Delaware/Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

WETA-TV, Washington, D.C.

WUFT, Gainesville, Florida

WPBT, Miami, Florida

WSRE, Pensacola, Florida

WEDU, Tampa, Florida

WXEL-TV, West Palm Beach, Florida

KHET, Honolulu, Hawaii

WTTW and WYCC, Chicago, Illinois

WTIU, Bloomington, Indiana

WYIN, Gary, Indiana

WFYI, Indianapolis, Indiana

Iowa Public Television

Kentucky Educational Television

Louisiana Public Broadcasting

Maine Public Broadcasting Network

Maryland Public Television

WGBH-TV, Boston, Massachusetts

WTVS, Detroit, Michigan

WGVU-TV, Grand Rapids, Michigan

Twin Cities Public Television, Saint Paul, Minnesota

Mississippi Public Broadcasting

KCPT, Kansas City, Missouri

KETC, St. Louis, Missouri

Nebraska Educational Telecommunications

New Hampshire Public Television

NJTV

WNET, Newark, New Jersey/New York City

WMHT-TV, Albany, New York

WSKG-TV, Binghamton, New York

WNED-TV, Buffalo, New York

WLIW, Garden City, New York

WCFE-TV Mountain Lake PBS, Plattsburgh, New York

WXXI-TV, Rochester, New York

WCNY-TV, Syracuse, New York

WTVI, Charlotte, North Carolina

Prairie Public Broadcasting, Fargo, North Dakota

UNC-TV

WCET-TV, Cincinnati, Ohio

WVIZ, Cleveland, Ohio

WOSU-TV, Columbus, Ohio

WGTE-TV, Toledo, Ohio

Oklahoma Educational Television Authority

Oregon Public Broadcasting

WQLN, Erie, Pennsylvania

WITF-TV, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

WQED, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

WSBE-TV, Rhode Island

South Carolina Educational Television

South Dakota Public Television

WKNO, Memphis, Tennessee

KLRU, Austin, Texas

KAMU-TV, College Station, Texas

KEDT, Corpus Christi, Texas

KERA-TV, Dallas, Texas

KUHT, Houston, Texas

KTXT-TV, Lubbock, Texas

KLRN, San Antonio, Texas

Vermont Public Television

WHRO, Norfolk, Virginia

KCTS-TV, Seattle, Washington

WMVS and WMVT-Milwaukee Public Television, Wisconsin

Wisconsin Public Television

PBS networks

{| class= "wikitable" |- ! Network !! Notes |- | PBS YOU || began 1998; ended January, 2006 |- | PBS KIDS || began October 11, 1993 as a block and 1999 as a TV network; ended 2005 as a TV network |- | PBS Kids Sprout || began September 26, 2005 |- | PBS World || began in 2006; nationwide launch August 15, 2007 |- | PBS-HD || HDTV feed to member stations |- | PBS Satellite Service || 24-hour alternate network that provides a mixed variety of programming selected from PBS's regular network service, as well as for carriage on packaged satellite providers |- | Create || began in 2007 has shows on painting, cooking, traveling, and home improvement. |}

PBS has also spun-off a number of TV networks, often in partnership with other media companies: PBS YOU (ended January 2006, and largely succeeded by American Public Television's Create), PBS KIDS (ended October 1, 2005), PBS KIDS Sprout, PBS World (commenced August 15, 2007), and PBS-DT2 (a feed of HDTV and letterboxed programming for digitally equipped member stations), along with packages of PBS programs that are similar to local stations' programming, the PBS Satellite Service feeds. PBS Kids GO! was promised for October 2006, but PBS announced in July that they would not be going forward with it as an independent network feed (as opposed to the pre-existing two-hour week daily block on PBS).

Some or all are available on many digital cable systems, on free-to-air (FTA) TV via communications satellites, as well as via direct broadcast satellite. With the transition to terrestrial digital television broadcasts, many are also often now available as "multiplexed" (multicasting) channels on some local stations' standard-definition digital signals, while DT2 is found among the HD signals. PBS Kids announced that they will have an early-morning Miss Lori and Hooper block with four PBS Kids shows usually around 08:00. With the absence of advertising, network identification on these PBS networks were limited to utilization at the end of the program, which includes the standard series of bumpers from the "Be More" campaign.

Regional networks

While various digital subchannels are operated on a regional or statewide basis, the creation of individual PBS member stations or groups of stations is called a state network. While not operated or controlled by the national PBS organization, these extra channels typically rebroadcast portions of the programming from the main PBS service in addition to local and regional public affairs coverage and are carried as subchannels of existing PBS stations.

{| class= "wikitable" |- ! Channel !! Origin !! Areas served |- || Alabama Public Television (APT) || Alabama Educational Television Commission || Alabama statewide |- || The Florida Channel || WFSU-TV || Florida statewide |- || Florida Knowledge Network || Florida Department of Education || Florida statewide |- || Kentucky Educational Television || Various || Kentucky statewide, neighboring states |- | Minnesota Channel || Twin Cities Public TV || Minnesota, portions of North Dakota |- | NET || Nebraska Educational Telecommunications Commission || Nebraska |- || ThinkBright TV|| WNED-TV || New York statewide, except New York City, Syracuse and Rochester |- || OETA OKLA || Oklahoma Educational Television Authority || Oklahoma statewide |- || Wisconsin Channel || Wisconsin Public Television || nearly all of Wisconsin |- || GPB Knowledge, GPB Kids || Georgia Public Broadcasting || nearly all of Georgia |- || UNC-NC, UNC-KD, UNC-ED, UNC-EX (future)|| UNC-TV || nearly all of North Carolina |- || South Carolina Channel|| ETV South Carolina || nearly all of South Carolina |- || The Ohio Channel || WVIZ || nearly all of Ohio |- || Smoky Hills Public Television || KOOD || Central and Western Kansas (Wichita Metro Area on satellite only) |}

Also carried on some PBS stations are Create (American Public Television, how-to programming), MHz WorldView (Commonwealth Public Broadcasting, international news) and V-me (WNET, Spanish language educational). None of these services form part of the main PBS network.

PBS Kids

Founded in 1993, PBS Kids is the brand for children's programming aired by PBS in the United States. The PBS Kids network, which was established in 1999 and ran for seven years, was largely funded by DirecTV. The channel ceased operation on October 1, 2005, in favor of a new joint commercial venture, PBS Kids Sprout. However, the original programming block still exists on PBS.

Sports broadcast on PBS

The network has shown some sporting events in its history.

During the 1970s and 1980s PBS was the leading American tennis broadcaster. Bud Collins and Donald Dell were PBS announcers. PBS was the first American network to regularly broadcast tennis tournaments. PBS also broadcast ''Tennis for the Future'', hosted by Vic Braden.

In 1982, PBS, ESPN and ABC provided the first thorough American television coverage of the FIFA World Cup. PBS aired same day highlights of the top game of the day. Toby Charles was PBS' play-by-play announcer.

From 1984 to 1987, PBS broadcast Ivy League football. Dick Galiette and Upton Bell called games for the first season and Marty Glickman and Bob Casciola called the games in 1985. In 1986, PBS increased its coverage and had two announcing teams, Brian Dowling and Sean McDonough, who had been the sideline reporter for the prior two seasons were the play by play announcers and Bob Casciola and Len Simonian were the color analysts. For the final season McDonough and Jack Corrigan were the game announcers and Mike Madden was the sideline reporter.

Another PBS sports series was '''', an interview series hosted by Jim Palmer. ''The Sporting Life'' premiered in 1985 and was canceled soon after.

Many state public broadcasting stations, such as Georgia Public Broadcasting, Maine Public Broadcasting Network, and Nebraska Educational Television, broadcast high school sports championships, and college sports games not seen on commercial TV (such as baseball, gymnastics, tennis, etc.).

Criticism and controversy

Public need

PBS was founded to provide diversity in programming at a time when most television was broadcast over the public airwaves by only three privately owned national networks (as opposed to the multitude of programming sources provided by today's private cable or satellite delivery services). There is debate as to whether or not the PBS system has outlived its public necessity. Public television proponents maintain that the original mandate to provide universal access, particularly to rural viewers and those who cannot afford to pay for the private television services, remains vital. In addition, they argue that PBS provides some types of critical television shows which would not be shown at all on the commercial broadcasting television networks and television channels, including extensive non-commercial educational children's programming, scientific exposition, in-depth documentaries and investigative journalism.

On-the-air fundraising

Since 53% to 60% of public television's revenues come from private membership donations and grants, most stations solicit individual donations by methods including fundraising, pledge drives or telethons which can disrupt regularly scheduled programming. Some viewers find this a source of annoyance since normal programming is often replaced with specials aimed at a wider audience to solicit new members and donations.

Political/ideological bias

The Public Broadcasting Act of 1967 required a "strict adherence to objectivity and balance in all programs or series of programs of a controversial nature". It also prohibited the federal government from interfering or controlling what is broadcast.

Banned by PBS: Muslims Against Jihad On July 19, 2007, Fox News carried published "Banned by PBS: Muslims Against Jihad," charging the network of ''liberal bias.''

In at least one instance (a 1982 broadcast of the United States Information Agency program ''Let Poland be Poland'' about the martial law declared in Poland in 1981), Congress has expressly encouraged PBS to abandon its conventional position of non-partisan neutrality. The program, a protest against the imposition of martial law by a Soviet-backed régime, contained commentary from many well-known celebrities. While widely viewed in the U.S., it met with skepticism on the part of European broadcasters due to concerns that the show, "provocative and anticommunist," was intended as propaganda.

Individual programs have been the targets of organized campaigns by those with opposing views, including former United States Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings.

Kenneth Tomlinson, who took over at Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) in 2003, began his tenure by asking for Karl Rove's assistance in overturning a regulation that half the CPB board have practical experience in radio or television. Later he appointed an outside consultant to monitor the regular PBS program ''NOW with Bill Moyers''. Told that the show had "liberal" leanings, Moyers eventually resigned in 2005 after more than three decades as a PBS regular, citing political pressure to alter the content of his program and saying Tomlinson had mounted a "vendetta" against him. Moyers eventually returned to host ''Bill Moyers Journal'', after Tomlinson resigned. Subsequently, PBS made room temporarily for conservative commentator Tucker Carlson, formerly of MSNBC and co-host of CNN's ''Crossfire'', and ''The Journal Editorial Report'' with Paul Gigot, an editor of ''The Wall Street Journal'' editorial page (this show has since moved to Fox News Channel) to partially balance out the perceived left-leaning PBS shows. On November 3, 2005 CPB announced the resignation of Tomlinson amid investigations of improper financial dealings with consultants.

Tax money issues

One criticism is that PBS's viewers are substantially wealthier than the average American. Thus, the tax funding of PBS is, according the critics, a transfer of money from the poor to the rich.

Another criticism is that PBS has extensively used its tax subsidized programs in order to lobby for tax money to itself by airing numerous advertisements urging its listeners to call Congress regarding PBS.

See also

References

Further reading

B.J. Bullert, ''Public Television: Politics and the Battle over Documentary Film'', Rutgers Univ Press 1997

Barry Dornfeld, ''Producing Public Television, Producing Public Culture'', Princeton University Press 1998

Ralph Engelman, ''Public Radio and Television in America: A Political History'', Sage Publications 1996

James Ledbetter, ''Made Possible by: The Death of Public Broadcasting in the United States'', Verso 1998

External links

PBS "Red Book" (presentation guidelines for PBS programming)

Video interview with PBS President Paula Kerger

''Current'', the newspaper about public TV and radio in the United States

Twitter Page

{| class=wikitable width="99%" style="background: #EAEAFF; margin-right:0;" | :Related navpages: :* Sports television in the United States :* U.S. broadcast television :* World Radio Network |}

Category:Commercial-free television networks Category:Companies established in 1970 Category:Television channels and stations established in 1970 Category:Companies based in Virginia

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Coordinates	21°27′40″N157°50′28″N
Name	Cecilia Rouse
Order	Member of the President's Council of Economic Advisors
Term start	March 10, 2009
Predecessor	Edward Lazear
Birth date	December 18, 1963
Birth place	Del Mar, California
Party	Democratic
Alma mater	Harvard University
Profession	Professor of economics
Footnotes	}}

Cecilia Elena Rouse (born December 18, 1963), is an American economist and the Theodore A. Wells '29 Professor of Economics and Public Affairs at Princeton University. On March 20, 2009 she was formally confirmed as a member of President Barack Obama's Council of Economic Advisers; she returned to Princeton March 1, 2011.

Formal education

Rouse received her B.A. in economics from Harvard University, graduating ''magna cum laude'' in 1986 and then staying on to obtain a Ph.D. in economics in 1992. She then became a professor of economics at Princeton University the same year she graduated.

Personal life

Cecilia grew up in Del Mar, Cal. She has two siblings - Forest Rouse, a physicist, and Carolyn Rouse, an anthropologist and professor at Princeton University. Her father is a research physicist who received his PhD from Caltech in 1956. Her mother worked as a school psychologist.

Rouse attributes the development of her educational career to traveling and exploring as a young child and the "importance my parents placed on learning." Her brother and sister hold Ph.Ds in physics and visual anthropology, respectively.

Career

Rouse is the Theodore A. Wells '29 Professor of Economics and Public Affairs at Princeton University. She has also been a senior editor of The Future of Children and the Journal of Labor Economics.

Prior to serving in the Obama Administration, Rouse served in the National Economic Council under President Bill Clinton from 1998 to 1999. She has two daughters, Nidal Morrison, and Safa Morrison. Her husband is Ford Morrison

References

External links

Official CEA member profile

Category:1963 births Category:Living people Category:People from Del Mar, California Category:American economists Category:Female economists Category:Obama Administration personnel Category:Harvard University alumni Category:Princeton University faculty

de:Cecilia Rouse

Coordinates	21°27′40″N157°50′28″N
name	Fred Rogers
birth name	Fred McFeely Rogers
birth date	March 20, 1928
birth place	Latrobe, Pennsylvania, U.S.
death date	February 27, 2003
death place	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
death cause	Stomach cancer
religion	Presbyterian Church(ordained in 1963)
other names	Mister RogersMr. Rogers
spouse	Sara Joanne Byrd (1952–2003)
occupation	Educator, minister, songwriter, television host
years active	1951–2002 }}

Fred McFeely Rogers (March 20, 1928 – February 27, 2003) was an American educator, Presbyterian minister, songwriter, and television host. Rogers was most famous for creating and hosting ''Mister Rogers' Neighborhood'' (1968–2001), that featured his gentle, soft-spoken personality and directness to his audiences.

Initially educated to be a minister, Rogers was displeased with the way television addressed children and made an effort to change this when he began to write for and perform on local Pittsburgh area shows dedicated to youth. The Public Broadcasting System developed his own nationally aired show in 1968 and over the course of three decades on television, he became an indelible American icon of children's entertainment and education, as well as a symbol of compassion, patience, and morality. He was also known for his advocacy of various public causes. He testified to the U.S. Supreme Court on time shifting; and he gave a now-famous speech before the U.S. Senate, advocating government funding for children's television.

Rogers was honored extensively for his life work in children's education. He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States' highest civilian honor, a Peabody Award for his career, and was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame. Two resolutions recognizing his work were unanimously passed by U.S. Congress, one of his trademark sweaters was acquired and is on display at the Smithsonian Institution, and several buildings and works of art in Pennsylvania are dedicated to his memory.

Personal life

Fred McFeely Rogers was born in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, 40 miles (65 km) southeast of Pittsburgh, to James and Nancy Rogers; he had one sister, Elaine Rogers Crozier. Early in his life, he spent much of his free time with his maternal grandfather, Fred McFeely, who would later move to Florida, and had an interest in music. He would often sing along as his mother would play the piano and, at age five, began to play the piano as well.

Rogers graduated from Latrobe High School (1946). He studied at Dartmouth College (1946–48) in Hanover, New Hampshire, and transferred to Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida, where he received a Bachelor of Arts in Music Composition (1951).

At Rollins, Rogers met Sara Joanne Byrd, an Oakland, Florida, native; and they married on June 9, 1952. They had two sons, James (b. 1959) and John (b. 1961), and three grandsons, the third (Ian McFeely Rogers) born twelve days after Rogers' death. In 1963, Rogers graduated from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and was ordained a minister in the Presbyterian Church. During the course of his career, he garnered forty honorary degrees. Rogers was red-green color blind, swam every morning, was a vegetarian, and neither smoked nor drank.

Rogers had an apartment in New York City and a summer home on Nantucket island in Massachusetts.

Television career

Early work

Fred Rogers had a life-changing moment when he first saw television in his parents' home. He entered seminary after college; but, after his first experience as a viewer, he wanted to explore the potential of the medium. In an interview with CNN in his later years, Rogers stated, "I went into television because I hated it so, and I thought there was some way of using this fabulous instrument to be of nurture to those who would watch and listen."

He thus applied for a job at NBC in New York City in 1951 and was hired because of his Music degree. Rogers spent three years working on the production staffs for such music-centered programming as ''NBC Opera Theater''. He also worked on Gabby Hayes' show for children. Ultimately, Rogers decided that commercial television's reliance on advertisement and merchandising undermined its ability to educate or enrich young audiences, so he quit NBC.

In 1954, he began working at WQED, a Pittsburgh public television station, as a puppeteer on a local children's show ''The Children's Corner''. For the next seven years, he worked with host Josie Carey in unscripted live TV, developing many of the puppets, characters, and music used in his later work, such as King Friday XIII, and Curious X the Owl.

Rogers began wearing his famous sneakers when he found them to be quieter than his work shoes as he moved about behind the set. He was also the voices of King Friday XIII and Queen Sara Saturday (named after his wife), rulers of the neighborhood, as well as X the Owl, Henrietta Pussycat, Daniel Striped Tiger, Lady Elaine Fairchild, and Larry Horse. The show won a Sylvania Award for best children's show, and was briefly broadcast nationally on NBC.

During these eight years, he would leave the WQED studios during his lunch breaks to study theology at the nearby Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. Rogers, however, was not interested in preaching; and, after his ordination, he was specifically charged to continue his work with Children's Television. He had also done work at the University of Pittsburgh's program in Child Development and Child Care.

In 1963, Rogers moved to Toronto, where he was contracted by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) to develop a 15-minute children's television program: ''Misterogers'', which would be his debut in front of the camera. The show was a hit with children but lasted for only three seasons. Many of his famous set pieces—Trolley, Eiffel Tower, the 'tree', and 'castle'—were created by CBC designers. While in Canada, Rogers brought his friend and understudy Ernie Coombs, who would go on to create ''Mr. Dressup'', a very successful and long-running children's show in Canada, and similar in many ways to ''Mister Rogers' Neighborhood''. ''Mr. Dressup'' also used some of the songs that would be featured on Rogers' later program.

In 1966, Rogers acquired the rights to his program from the CBC and moved the show to WQED in Pittsburgh, where he had worked on ''The Children's Corner''. He developed the new show for the Eastern Educational Network. Stations that carried the program were limited but did include educational stations in Boston, Washington, D.C., and New York City.

After returning to Pittsburgh, Rogers attended and participated in activities at the Sixth Presbyterian church in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh, a More Light congregation which he attended until his death.

Distribution of ''Mister Rogers' Neighborhood'' began on February 19, 1968. The following year, the show moved to PBS (Public Broadcasting Service). In 1971, Rogers formed Family Communications, Inc. (FCI), and the company established offices in the WQED building in Pittsburgh. Initially, the company served solely as the production arm of ''Mister Rogers' Neighborhood'', but now develops and produces an array of children's programming and educational materials.

''Mister Rogers' Neighborhood''

''Mister Rogers' Neighborhood'' began airing in 1968 and ran for 895 episodes; the last set of new episodes was taped in December 2000 and began airing in August 2001. At its peak, in 1985, 8% of U.S households tuned in to the show.

Each episode began the same way: Mister Rogers is seen coming home, singing his theme song "Won't You Be My Neighbor?", and changing into sneakers and a zippered cardigan sweater.

In a typical episode, Rogers might have an earnest conversation with his television audience, interact with live guests, take a field trip to such places as a bakery or a music store, or watch a short film.

Typical video subjects included demonstrations of how such inanimate objects as bulldozers and crayons work or are manufactured.

Each episode included a trip to Rogers' "Neighborhood of Make-Believe" featuring a trolley with its own chiming theme song, a castle, and the kingdom's citizens, including King Friday XIII. The subjects discussed in the Neighborhood of Make-Believe often allowed further development of themes discussed in Mister Rogers' "real" neighborhood.

Mister Rogers often fed his fish during episodes. They were originally named Fennel and Frieda.

Typically, each week's episode explored a major theme, such as going to school for the first time.

Originally, most episodes ended with a song entitled "Tomorrow", and Friday episodes looked forward to the week ahead with an adapted version of "It's Such a Good Feeling." In later seasons, all episodes ended with "Feeling."

Visually, the presentation of the show was very simple, and it did not feature the animation or fast pace of other children's shows, which Rogers thought of as "bombardment". Rogers also believed in not acting out a different persona on camera compared to how he acted off camera, stating that "One of the greatest gifts you can give anybody is the gift of your honest self. I also believe that kids can spot a phony a mile away." Rogers composed almost all of the music on the program. He wanted to teach children to love themselves and others, and he addressed common childhood fears with comforting songs and skits. For example, one of his famous songs explains how a child cannot be pulled down the bathtub drain because he or she will not fit. He even once took a trip to the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh to show children that a hospital is not a place to fear. During the Gulf War (1990–91), he assured his audience that all children in the neighborhood would be well cared for and asked parents to promise to take care of their own children. The message was aired again by PBS during the media storm that preceded the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Other television work

In 1994, Rogers created another one-time special for PBS called ''Fred Rogers' Heroes'' which consisted of documentary portraits of four real-life people whose work helped make their communities better. Rogers, uncharacteristically dressed in a suit and tie, hosted in wraparound segments which did not use the "Neighborhood" set.

For a time Rogers produced specials for parents as a precursor to the subject of the week on the Neighborhood called "Mister Rogers Talks To Parents About ''[topic]''". Rogers didn't host those specials though as other people like Joan Lunden, who hosted the Conflict special, and other news announcers played MC duties in front of a gallery of parents while Rogers answered questions from them. These specials were made to prep the parents for any questions the children might ask after watching the episodes on that topic of the week.

The only time Rogers appeared on television as someone other than himself was in 1996, when he played a preacher on one episode of ''Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman.''

In the mid-1980s, the Burger King fast-food chain lampooned Rogers' image with an actor called "Mr. Rodney", imitating Rogers' television character. Rogers found the character's pitching fast food as confusing to children, and called a press conference in which he stated that he did not endorse the company's use of his character or likeness (Rogers did no commercial endorsements of any kind throughout his career, though he acted as a pitchman for several non-profit organizations dedicated to learning over the years). The chain publicly apologized for the ''faux pas'', and pulled the ads. By contrast, Fred Rogers found Eddie Murphy's parody of his show on ''Saturday Night Live'', "Mr. Robinson's Neighborhood," amusing and affectionate, which was also initially broadcast at a time of night when his own child audience was not likely to see it.

Emmys for programming

''Mister Rogers' Neighborhood'' won four Emmy awards, and Rogers received one for lifetime achievement.

During the 1997 Daytime Emmys, the Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Rogers. The following is an excerpt from ''Esquire's'' coverage of the gala, written by Tom Junod:

Advocacy

PBS funding

In 1969, Rogers appeared before the United States Senate Subcommittee on Communications. His goal was to support funding for PBS and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, in response to significant proposed cuts. In about six minutes of testimony, Rogers spoke of the need for social and emotional education that public television provided. He passionately argued that alternative television programming like his ''Neighborhood'' helped encourage children to become happy and productive citizens, sometimes opposing less positive messages in media and in popular culture. He even recited the lyrics to one of his songs.

The chairman of the subcommittee, John O. Pastore, was not previously familiar with Rogers' work, and was sometimes described as impatient. However, he reported that the testimony had given him goosebumps, and declared, "I think it's wonderful. Looks like you just earned the $20 million." The subsequent congressional appropriation, for 1971, increased PBS funding from $9 million to $22 million.

VCR

During the controversy surrounding the introduction of the household VCR, Rogers was involved in supporting the manufacturers of VCRs in court. His 1979 testimony in the case ''Sony Corp. of America v. Universal City Studios, Inc.'' noted that he did not object to home recording of his television programs, for instance, by families in order to watch together at a later time. This testimony contrasted with the views of others in the television industry who objected to home recording or believed that devices to facilitate it should be taxed or regulated.

The Supreme Court considered the testimony of Rogers in its decision that held that the Betamax video recorder did not infringe copyright. The Court stated that his views were a notable piece of evidence "that many [television] producers are willing to allow private time-shifting to continue" and even quoted his testimony in a footnote:

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Death, awards, and memorials

Rogers was diagnosed with stomach cancer in December 2002, not long after his retirement. He underwent surgery on January 6, 2003, which was unsuccessful. A week earlier, he served as grand marshal of the Tournament of Roses Parade, with Art Linkletter and Bill Cosby.

Rogers died on February 27, 2003 at his home with his wife by his side, less than a month before he would have turned 75. His death was such a significant event in Pittsburgh that the front page of the ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'' published the next day devoted its coverage to him. The Reverend William P. Barker presided over a public memorial in Pittsburgh. More than 2,700 people attended the memorial at Heinz Hall, including former ''Good Morning America'' host David Hartman, Teresa Heinz Kerry, philanthropist Elsie Hillman, PBS President Pat Mitchell, ''Arthur'' creator Marc Brown, and ''The Very Hungry Caterpillar'' author-illustrator Eric Carle. Speakers remembered Rogers' love of children, devotion to his religion, enthusiasm for music, and quirks. Teresa Heinz Kerry said of Rogers, "He never condescended, just invited us into his conversation. He spoke to us as the people we were, not as the people others wished we were." Rogers is interred at Unity Cemetery in Latrobe.

On New Years Day of 2004, Michael Keaton hosted the PBS TV special "Mr. Rogers: America's Favorite Neighbor". It was released on DVD September 28 that year. Keaton was a former stagehand on the show before he quit to become an actor. To mark what would have been his 80th birthday, Rogers' production company sponsored several events to memorialize him, including "Won't You Wear a Sweater Day", during which fans and neighbors were asked to wear their favorite sweaters in celebration.

The television industry honored Rogers with a George Foster Peabody Award "in recognition of 25 years of beautiful days in the neighborhood" in 1987, the same year he was initiated as an honorary member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity, the national fraternity for men of music. Rogers was a National Patron of Delta Omicron, an international professional music fraternity. He was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 1999. One of Rogers' iconic sweaters was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution, which displays it as a "Treasure of American History". In 2002 Rogers received the PNC Commonwealth Award in Mass Communications.

He was furthermore awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2002, for his contributions to children's education, justified by President George W. Bush, who said, "Fred Rogers has proven that television can soothe the soul and nurture the spirit and teach the very young". A year later, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed Resolution 16 to commemorate the life of Fred Rogers. It read, in part, "Through his spirituality and placid nature, Mr. Rogers was able to reach out to our nation's children and encourage each of them to understand the important role they play in their communities and as part of their families. More importantly, he did not shy away from dealing with difficult issues of death and divorce but rather encouraged children to express their emotions in a healthy, constructive manner, often providing a simple answer to life's hardships."

Following Rogers' death, the U.S. House of Representatives in 2003 unanimously passed Resolution 111 honoring Rogers for "his legendary service to the improvement of the lives of children, his steadfast commitment to demonstrating the power of compassion, and his dedication to spreading kindness through example."

The same year the U.S. Presbyterian Church approved an overture "to observe a memorial time for the Reverend Fred M. Rogers" at its General Assembly. The rationale for the recognition of Rogers reads, "The Reverend Fred Rogers, a member of the Presbytery of Pittsburgh, as host of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood since 1968, had a profound effect on the lives of millions of people across the country through his ministry to children and families. Mister Rogers promoted and supported Christian values in the public media with his demonstration of unconditional love. His ability to communicate with children and to help them understand and deal with difficult questions in their lives will be greatly missed."

Several buildings, monuments, and works of art are dedicated to Rogers' memory, including a mural sponsored by the Pittsburgh-based Sprout Fund in 2006, "Interpretations of Oakland," by John Laidacker that featured Mr. Rogers. Saint Vincent College in (Latrobe, Pennsylvania) completed construction of The Fred M. Rogers Center for Early Learning and Children's Media in 2008. The Fred Rogers Memorial Statue on the North Shore near Heinz Field in Pittsburgh was created by Robert Berks and dedicated in 2009.

The asteroid 26858 Misterrogers is named after Rogers. This naming, by the International Astronomical Union, was announced on May 2, 2003 by the director of the Henry Buhl Jr. Planetarium & Observatory at the Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh. The science center worked with Rogers' Family Communications, Inc. to produce a planetarium show for preschoolers called "The Sky Above Mister Rogers' Neighborhood", which plays at planetariums across the United States.

False rumors

A false rumor claims that Fred Rogers was once a U.S. Marine sniper in the Vietnam War. The rumor appeared on the Internet in 1994 and re-emerged several times over the next ten years, most notably after his death in 2003. However, Rogers never served in any branch of the military. Beginning in 1963, Rogers developed the ''Misterogers'' program for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. In 1966, he moved back to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the U.S. where he produced ''Mister Rogers' Neighborhood'' through the height of U.S. military involvement in Vietnam. Related claims that Rogers had a number of military tattoos are also entirely false.

See also

Colcom Foundation

Notes

References

External links

PBS Kids: Official Site

The Fred M. Rogers Center

Fred Rogers' Company

Category:1928 births Category:2003 deaths Category:People from Latrobe, Pennsylvania Category:American Presbyterian clergy Category:Actors from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Category:American puppeteers Category:American television actors Category:American television personalities Category:American vegetarians Category:Christian vegetarians Category:Cancer deaths in Pennsylvania Category:Christianity in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Category:Dartmouth College alumni Category:Daytime Emmy Award winners Category:Deaths from stomach cancer Category:PBS people Category:Peabody Award winners Category:Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients Category:Rollins College alumni

eo:Fred Rogers fa:فرد راجرز fr:Fred Rogers id:Fred Rogers pt:Fred Rogers simple:Fred Rogers sh:Mister Rogers

Coordinates	21°27′40″N157°50′28″N
name	Tavis Smiley
birthname	Tavis Smiley
birth date	September 13, 1964
birth place	Gulfport, MississippiUnited States
age	46
education	Indiana University (B.A., public affairs, 2003)
occupation	Talk show host Author Entrepreneur Advocate Philanthropist
ethnicity	African-American
religion	Christian
credits	''Tavis Smiley'' host (2004–present)''The Tavis Smiley Show'' from PRI (radio) host(2005-present)"Smiley & West" co-host (2010-present)''BET Tonight with Tavis Smiley'' host (1996–2001)
url	http://www.tavistalks.com/ }}

Tavis Smiley (; born September 13, 1964) is a talk show host, author, liberal political commentator, entrepreneur, advocate and philanthropist. Smiley was born in Gulfport, Mississippi and grew up in Kokomo, Indiana. After attending Indiana University, he worked during the late 1980s as an aide to Tom Bradley, the mayor of Los Angeles. Smiley became a radio commentator in 1991, and starting in 1996 he hosted the talk show ''BET Talk'' (later renamed ''BET Tonight'') on BET. Controversially, after Smiley sold an exclusive interview of Sara Jane Olson to ABC News in 2001, BET declined to renew Smiley's contract that year. Smiley then began hosting ''The Tavis Smiley Show'' on NPR from 2002 to 2004 and currently hosts ''Tavis Smiley'' on PBS on the weekdays and "The Tavis Smiley Show" from PRI. Most recently, he and close friend Dr. Cornel West have joined forces for their own radio talk show, "Smiley & West". They were featured together interviewing musician Bill Withers in the 2009 documentary film ''Still Bill''.

Early years

Tavis Smiley was born in Gulfport, Mississippi, the son of Joyce Marie Roberts, a single mother who first became pregnant at age 18. On September 13, 1966, just shy of his second birthday, his mother married Emory Garnell Smiley, a non-commisioned officer in the U.S. Air Force. It would not be until a few years later that Tavis would learn the identity of his biological father, whom he identifies in his autobiography, ''What I Know For Sure: My Story of Growing Up in America'' only as "T."

His family soon moved to Indiana because his stepfather had been transferred to Grissom Air Force Base near Peru, Indiana. Upon arriving in Indiana, the Smiley family took up residence in a crowded mobile home in the small town of Bunker Hill, Indiana. Smiley's immediate family size was increased following the homicide of his aunt, whose death left five children with no stable home. Smiley's parents agreed to take in and raise their five orphaned nieces and nephews. Joyce and her husband also had eight children of their own over the years, resulting at one point in 13 children and Mr. and Mrs. Smiley all living in the trailer-home. Smiley's mother was a very religious person, and the family attended the local New Bethel Tabernacle Church, part of the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World. The Smiley children were forbidden from listening to secular music at home and going to the movie theater and could watch television shows that their parents felt were family-friendly. When Tavis Smiley was in seventh grade, New Bethel pastor Elder Rufus Mills accused Tavis and his siblings of "running wild, disobeying their teacher, disrespecting their teacher, disrespecting the sanctity of this building, and mocking the holy message being taught" during Sunday School. According to Smiley's account of the incident, Smiley's Sunday School teacher became more confused as she was asking questions about the Book of John, and while other students "responded by giggling and acting a little unruly," he and his sister Phyllis "remained quiet". Garnell whipped Tavis and Phyllis with an extension cord, wounding the two children. The next day at school, administrators found out about the children's injuries. The local newspaper in Kokomo reported on the beating and the legal proceedings against Garnell, and Tavis and Phyllis were sent to foster care temporarily, Garnell told his children that the judge decided that he had "overreacted" and found he and Joyce as "concerned parents who were completely involved in our children's lives and well-being".

Smiley became interested in politics at age 13 after attending a fundraiser for U.S. Senator Birch Bayh. At Maconaquah High School in Bunker Hill, Indiana, a school that Smiley described as "98 percent white", Smiley was active in student council and the debate team, even though his parents were "skeptical of all non-church extracurricular activities."

College and political career

In 1982, Smiley enrolled in Indiana University Bloomington (IU). Because Smiley's parents refused to complete financial aid papers, Smiley entered Indiana University with only $50 and a small suitcase. Administrators let Smiley complete the paperwork to become a full-time student. The summer after his freshman year, Smiley worked, attended summer classes, and lived off campus with Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball players, then being coached by Bobby Knight. Smiley was accepted into the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity during his sophomore year and became business manager of his dormitory, a member of the student senate, and director of minority affairs. After his friend Denver Smith was killed by Indiana police officers who claimed to have acted in self-defense, Smiley helped lead protests to defend Smith, whom he believed had been wrongfully killed. Those protests led Smiley to a work-study internship at the office of Bloomington mayor Tomilea Allison. Being paid $5 an hour, Smiley wrote letters to local residents, researched for Mayor Allison, and helped write positions on local issues. Mayor Allison rebuked Smiley for padding his time sheets and had Smiley work off the extra hours without pay. During his first semester of junior year, Smiley was under academic probation and blamed his extracurricular activities for interfering with his studies. When Smiley visited Los Angeles to attend a national student leaders' convention, the cousin of his roommate introduced Smiley to football star Jim Brown. Brown introduced Smiley to fellow football player George Hughley, who worked for Los Angeles mayor Tom Bradley and connected Smiley to Mayor Bradley's staff. Every week since meeting Bradley's staff, Smiley wrote a letter to the mayor's office asking for an internship and once personally flew to Los Angeles to appeal. However, by summertime he received a letter from the city stating that all internship positions were filled. Smiley then handwrote a letter to the mayor that he said represented his feeling "from the heart", and Bradley called Smiley to say that he had a position available for Smiley. As the internship was unpaid but counted for college credit, the Bloomington Community Progress Council funded Smiley with $5,000 for living expenses in Los Angeles, and Brown allowed Smiley to live as a houseguest during September 1985. Starting the next month, Smiley lived in the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity house in the University of Southern California. At City Hall, Smiley worked at the Office of Youth Development on the 22nd floor.

Twice, Smiley considered quitting college, first during junior year, and then after finishing his internship with Mayor Bradley. Bradley successfully convinced Smiley to return to college, and Smiley did. Smiley took the LSAT twice, as he was considering attending Harvard Law School. However, in his senior year, he failed a test in a computer class after being accused of copying another student's, so he failed that class and several others and lacked nine hours of credits and thus did not graduate from IU. Following a hiring freeze by the government of Los Angeles, Smiley served as an aide to Mayor Bradley until 1990. A 1988 article in the ''Los Angeles Times'' identified Smiley as "a Bradley administrative assistant who works in South Los Angeles." In 2003, Smiley officially received his degree from Indiana University in public affairs.

Radio and television career

Campaigning for a seat on the Los Angeles City Council in 1991 against incumbent Ruth Galanter, Smiley finished fourth among 15 candidates. Smiley became a radio commentator, broadcasting one-minute daily radio segments called ''The Smiley Report'' on KGFJ radio. With Ruben Navarrette, Jr., Smiley co-hosted a local talk show in Los Angeles where his strongly held views on race and politics, combined with his arguments regarding the impact of institutional racism and substandard educational and economic opportunities for inner-city black youth, earned him attention on the ''Los Angeles Times''. His commentaries focused on local and national current-affairs issues affecting the African-American community. For six months, Smiley worked on a community news program on a local cable network and spent six more months working on television in Montreal.

In 1996, Smiley became a frequent commentator on the ''Tom Joyner Morning Show'', a nationally syndicated radio show broadcast on black and urban stations in the United States. He developed a friendship with host Joyner; together they began hosting annual town hall meetings beginning in 2000 called "The State of the Black Union" which were aired live on the C-SPAN cable television network. These town hall meetings each focused on a specific topic affecting the African-American community, featuring a panel of African-American leaders, educators, and professionals assembled before an audience to discuss problems related to the forum's topic, as well as potential solutions. Smiley also used his commentator status on Joyner's radio show to launch several advocacy campaigns to highlight discriminatory practices in the media and government and to rally support for causes such as the awarding of a Congressional Gold Medal to civil rights icon Rosa Parks. Smiley also began building a national reputation as a political commentator with numerous appearances on political discussion shows on MSNBC, ABC, and CNN.

Also in 1996, Smiley began hosting and executive producing ''BET Tonight'' (originally ''BET Talk'' when it first premiered), a public affairs discussion show on the Black Entertainment Television (BET) network. Smiley interviewed major political figures and celebrities and discussed topics ranging from racial profiling and police brutality to R&B; music and Hollywood gossip. Smiley hosted ''BET Tonight'' until 2001, when in a controversial move, the network announced that Smiley's contract would not be renewed. This sparked an angry response from Joyner, who sought to rally his radio audience to protest BET's decision. Robert L. Johnson, founder of BET, defended the decision, stating that Smiley had been fired because he had sold an exclusive interview to ABC News without first offering the story to BET, even though Smiley's contract with BET did not require him to do so. Smiley countered with the assertion that he had offered the story — an interview with Sara Jane Olson, an alleged former member of the Symbionese Liberation Army — to CBS, which, along with BET, was owned by Viacom. Smiley ultimately sold the interview to rival network ABC, he said, only after CBS passed on the interview, and suggested that his firing was payback for the publicity he gained as a result of providing an exclusive interview to ABC. Ultimately BET and Viacom did not reverse their decision to terminate Smiley's contract.

Smiley was then offered a chance to host a radio talk show on National Public Radio. He served as host of ''The Tavis Smiley Show'' on NPR until December 2004 when he announced that he would be leaving his NPR show, citing the network's inability to reach a more diverse audience. Smiley launched a weekly version of his radio program ''The Tavis Smiley Show'' on April 29, 2005, distributed by NPR rival Public Radio International. On October 1, 2010, Tavis Smiley turned the second hour of his PRI program into Smiley & West co-hosted by his longtime collaborator Dr. Cornel West. Smiley also hosts ''Tavis Smiley'', a late night talk show televised on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) network and produced in association with WNET in New York.

Smiley moderated two live presidential candidate forums in 2007: a Democratic forum on June 28 at Howard University in Washington, D.C., and a Republican forum on September 27 at Morgan State University in Baltimore.

Smiley appears on the ''Democracy Now!'' show.

Controversy over Presidential Candidate Barack Obama

On April 11, 2008, Tavis Smiley announced that he would resign in June 2008 as a commentator on the ''Tom Joyner Morning Show''. He cited fatigue and a busy schedule in a personal call to Joyner. However Joyner—referring to several commentaries in which Smiley was critical of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama—indicated otherwise on his program, stating: "The real reason is that he can't take the hate he's been getting regarding the Barack issue—hate from the black people that he loves so much." Prior to the public controversy and being elected President, Obama had been on Smiley's PBS show six times.

''The Covenant with Black America''

In March 2006, ''The Smiley Group'' and Third World Press published ''The Covenant with Black America'', a collection of essays by black scholars and professionals edited by Smiley. The book covers topics ranging from education to healthcare as discussed in several "State of the Black Union" forums.

Described by the publisher as a national plan of action to address the primary concerns of African-Americans related to social and economic disparities but seen by others as a self-promoting rehash of old ideas, the book became the first non-fiction book by a Black-owned publisher to be listed as the number-one non-fiction paperback in America by The New York Times Best Seller list.

Awards and contributions

Smiley was honored with the NAACP Image Award for best news, talk, or information series for three consecutive years (1997–99) for his work on ''BET Tonight with Tavis Smiley''.

Smiley's advocacy efforts have earned him numerous awards and recognitions including the recipient of the Mickey Leland Humanitarian Award from the National Association of Minorities in Communications.

In 1999, he founded the Tavis Smiley Foundation, which funds programs that develop young leaders in the black community. Since its inception, more than 6,000 young people have participated in the foundation's Youth to Leaders Training workshops and conferences.

His communications company, The Smiley Group, Inc., serves as the holding company for various enterprises encompassing broadcast and print media, lecturers, symposiums, and the Internet.

In 1994, ''Time'' named him one of America's 50 Most Promising Young Leaders. ''Time'' would later honor him in 2009 as one of the "100 Most Influential People in the World." In May 2007, Smiley gave a commencement speech at his alma mater, Indiana University at Bloomington, Indiana. In May 2008, he gave the commencement address at Connecticut College, where he was awarded an honorary doctorate. In May 2009, Smiley was awarded an honorary doctorate at Langston University after giving the commencement address there.

On December 12, 2008, Smiley received the Du Bois Medal from Harvard University's W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research.

He would also be awarded the 2009 Interdependence Day Prize from Demos in Istanbul, Turkey.

Indiana University recently honored Smiley by naming the atrium of its School of Public and Environmental Affairs (SPEA) building, The Tavis Smiley Atrium.

Smiley would be named No. 2 change agent in the field of media behind Oprah Winfrey in EBONY magazine's POWER 150 list.

Bibliography

''Just a Thought: The Smiley Report'' (ISBN 0-963-69523-1)

''Doing What's Right: How to Fight for What You Believe—And Make a Difference'' (ISBN 0-385-49931-0)

''Hard Left'' (ISBN 0-385-48404-6)

''Keeping the Faith: Stories of Love, Courage, Healing, and Hope from Black America'' (ISBN 0-385-72169-2)

''How to Make Black America Better: Leading African Americans Speak Out'' (ISBN 0-385-72087-4)

''On Air:The Best of Tavis Smiley on the Tom Joyner Morning Show'' (ISBN 1-890194-33-6)

''The Covenant with Black America'' (ISBN 0-88378-277-4)

''What I Know for Sure: My Story of Growing Up in America'' (ISBN 978-0-385-50516-1; ISBN 0-388-50516-7)

''Accountable: Making America As Good As Its Promise

''Fail Up'' (ISBN 1-401-93390-4)

References

Further reading

LaRue, William. "Tavis Smiley: NPR Host Brings Latenight Talk to PBS." ''Syracuse (NY) Post-Standard'', 1 February 2004, STARS section, pp. 4–6.

Slade, Scott. "Author Issues Wakeup Call." ''Kokomo (IN) Tribune'', 20 June 1996, p. 7.

External links

www.tavistalks.com Official web site

Tavis Smiley on WNET/PBS

Tavis Smiley at NPR

Tavis Smiley: The State of the Black Union Interview

Tavis Smiley on Rev. Martin Luther King and His Opposition to the Vietnam War - video by ''Democracy Now!''

Category:1964 births Category:Living people Category:African American radio personalities Category:American journalists Category:American memoirists Category:American Pentecostals Category:American philanthropists Category:American political writers Category:American talk radio hosts Category:American television talk show hosts Category:Indiana University alumni Category:National Public Radio personalities Category:People from Gulfport, Mississippi Category:People from Kokomo, Indiana Category:People from Los Angeles, California Category:People from Montreal Category:People from Peru, Indiana Category:Public Radio International personalities

de:Tavis Smiley fa:تویس سمایلی sv:Tavis Smiley