Public Television for Western New England

Message from the General Manager

Rus Peotter, WGBY General ManagerAs the world around us warms and greens up, it seems hard to believe that for public television, it's already time to start planning for the new year (which for us begins in September).

This year, as we look to the future, we'll have some special help from the past when almost all of WGBY's former General Managers will join us for the Forty and Forward Anniversary version of our Annual Murrow Gala. And as part of the RSVP process, we've already been warned, that they have many insights and opinions to share. For instance, while we think we live in very lean times, our GM Jack Caldwell has some hard times stories that put today in some perspective. We'll be sure to capture all their various thoughts on camera and online so that our viewers and members can share those experiences. We'll be
talking with former staff members and volunteers for their stories as well.

Toward the end of the month PBS will hold its Annual Meeting; this year in Denver. While we know that there will still be a lot of talk about Downton Abbey and plans for rolling out season 3 next January, the full schedule for Fall and Winter is something that we will learn about at this important meeting.

However, we do know that our coming new year will take an already heated political season and bring it to the next level. And much of our planning for that is underway right now. With the leadership of the Springfield Public Forum, WGBY has joined a broad consortium of organizations striving to ensure that voters in Western Mass get their close-up view of the Brown-Warren debate for the US Senate. We are both pleased and proud that the consortia
have chosen our own Jim Madigan to moderate this important debate, which will be scheduled for sometime in October. This race will have not only the eyes of the region on it, but the nation's as well.

We're grateful to have such great partners in our region that—along with the Forum—will include The Springfield Republican, Masslive.com, Western New England University, WWLP, New England Public Radio, WGGB, WFSB, The Daily Hampshire Gazette,
GazetteNET.com and probably several more by the time you read this. Consortia like this can be hard to manage, but I'm proud to say that our colleagues have found consensus as we strive to inform the citizens of our region. Of course, there will be other races and issues and we'll be covering them as well— planning ahead as we have for the past 40 years.

Hopefully, this glimpse toward the fall and beyond has not spoiled your anticipation of a spectacular spring and summer. Thanks for your support, which makes this all possible.

Russell Peotter, signature
Russell J. Peotter
General Manager