WASHINGTON - March 31, 2017 - America's Public Television Stations (APTS) announced today the creation of the Bornstein-Pacific Mountain Network Fund for Strategic Communications to enhance public television's ability to communicate its value to the public, strategic partners and major funders.
The Fund will be established through the transfer of $700,000 from the Pacific Mountain Network (PMN) to APTS, as PMN winds down its operations after almost 40 years. The fund name honors Ron Bornstein, the long-time Executive Director of PMN and a public broadcasting veteran, whose public media career includes serving as Acting President of NPR and as CPB Vice President for Telecommunications, who is retiring at the end of PMN's 2017 fiscal year.
"When Ron announced his intention to retire, it prompted our membership to assess what PMN should be going forward. While the organization gave voice to stations in the Pacific Intermountain West and provided some modest production grants each year, we felt there was more that could be accomplished with our funds. After work by a task force of our membership, we proposed the transfer of our fund corpus to APTS in order to create this fund that will benefit all of public television and radio. We are very pleased to partner with APTS and to honor Ron's significant contributions to our industry in this way," said Kurt Mische, Chair of PMN's Executive Council and President/CEO of KNPB-TV in Reno.
"We are extremely grateful to the Pacific Mountain Network for supporting America's Public Television Stations, and the entire public broadcasting system, with this new Bornstein-PMN Fund for Strategic Communications," said APTS President and CEO Patrick Butler. "The Fund will enable us to tell public television's story of public service more comprehensively and compellingly than it's ever been told before, and this investment comes at a particularly propitious time when our public funding is under challenge. We are honored by the Pacific Mountain Network's confidence in APTS to manage this generous fund wisely and effectively, and we salute PMN's work under the fine leadership of Ron Bornstein in facilitating the full development of public television in the Rocky Mountain and Pacific states and in encouraging innovation and entrepreneurship in the entire public television system. This is a transformative event in the history of both our organizations, and America's Public Television Stations pledge to make the most of the resources PMN has made available to ensure this system's future success."
About APTS
America's Public Television Stations (APTS) is a nonprofit membership organization ensuring a strong and financially sound public television system and helping member stations provide essential public services in education, public safety and civic leadership to the American people. For more information, visit www.apts.org.
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