Carnegie Reporter, Vol. 3, No. 1

Extending the Reach
of Public Radio

The Ford Foundation has recently joined other funders in supporting Public Radio Capital (PRC), an organization that works with public broadcasters to acquire new channels and stations to extend the reach of public broadcasting and bring its programming to underserved areas.

Working closely with public broadcasting stations and affiliation groups, PRC offers a range of services to support these transactions: an intermediary to purchase radio stations, a representative for organizations deciding to buy or sell stations and as a financial advisor to public broadcasters for strategic business planning. PRC has also introduced the use of tax-exempt financing to public broadcasting, enabling nonprofit entities to participate in the highly competitive media marketplace.

Since its creation in 2001, PRC has been involved in transactions around the country that have advanced the reach of public broadcasting, resulting in the addition or preservation of 12 locally owned public stations that provide news, information, music and cultural programming to over 10.5 million listeners.

Original funding for PRC came from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting through the Station Resource Group. Since then, the Surdna Foundation, the Open Society Institute and other foundations have also provided support. Ford Foundation funding will enable PRC to break new ground with additional broadcast partners and to insure that additional broadcast channels are owned and operated by local public broadcasting organizations. For more information: www.pubcap.org.

Youth Vote a Force
to be Reckoned Withs

Research and polling data show America’s 18-to-24-year-old registered voters now represent a voting bloc sizable enough to affect the outcomes of elections over the next several years.

According to the New Voters Project’s (NVP) 2004 Youth Vote Briefing Memo, Generation Y—the largest generation since the Baby Boom—has nearly 25 million eligible voters, and for the first time in 20 years, young people’s interest in politics and civic participation is on the rise.

NVP predicts that youth voters could tip the scales in several 2004 state elections, including Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Missouri, and that they might have a significant impact on the presidential race as well. The numbers haven’t been lost on political parties: both have supported major grassroots efforts targeting young voters and GOP and Democratic leaders have appeared on MTV.

The nonpartisan NVP is coordinating projects in six states—Colorado, Iowa, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon and Wisconsin—with the goal of registering 265,000 young voters, coordinating person-to-person contact among one million youth, and organizing voting initiatives on 300 campuses.

NVP is a joint project of the Graduate School of Political Management at The George Washington University, the State Public Interest Research Groups (PIRGs) and The Pew Charitable Trusts. For more information: www.newvotersproject.org.

Solutions Proposed for Spiraling Tuition Costs

America’s college students and their families, especially those from the middle and lower-income strata, are facing spiraling tuition costs that may limit access to higher education and ultimately, lifetime opportunity.

A new policy brief from Lumina Foundation identifies conditions responsible for the jump in cost, including a greater demand for college diplomas, shortages of space and learning support programs, national and fiscal economic problems and the public’s demand for accountability from colleges and universities over academic standards.

Lumina’s report—Collision Course: Rising College Costs Threaten America’s Future and Require Shared Solutions—suggests a set of sweeping remedies for these problems such as bolstering the purchasing power of Pell Grants, the lynchpin of student financial aid and streamlining related federal regulations.

Other suggestions: state governments can reassess funding priorities by considering the economic benefits a college education brings—higher salaries, increased tax revenues, social cohesion, decreased crime rates and improved quality of life. Recognizing that more graduates want to earn a college degree, high schools can offer academic rigor to ensure their students are well prepared. Colleges and universities can nurture academic achievement by providing support programs, reallocating financial resources, and building institutional endowments. For more information: www.luminafoundation.org.

New Guidebook for Foreign Policy Advocacy

The Henry L. Stimson Center in Washington, D.C. has announced publication of a “how-to” book that offers nonpartisan strategies for engaging Congressional members on national security issues and promoting effective policy changes.

Policy Matters: Educating Congress on Peace and Security lays out new ways of thinking about today’s security needs and offers user friendly tips for formulating strategies to engage Congress that can be employed by a diverse constituency, including religious groups, verteran’s organizations, grass-root activists and academics.

Because, as polls indicate, most Americans favor cooperative security arrangements based on shared values and common good, they also mistakenly assume that legislative policy reflects public opinion, according to a recent study by the Woodrow Wilson School of Princeton University. As a consequence, they remain passive when it comes to advocating for balanced, long-term and cost-effective approaches to U.S. security.

Countering this misconception and pushing for legislative change are major challenges to Americans hoping to revise national security.

Drawing on their expertise in the security field and their considerable Capitol Hill experience, authors Lorelei Kelly and Elizabeth Turpen offer an inside-out view of navigating peace and security issues in Congress and informed insights into promoting balanced solutions to the nation’s most pressing foreign policy and security challenges. For more information: www.stimson.org.