NATIONAL TELEVISION ACADEMY

Why use five words when three will do? The Board of Trustees voted in October to use the phrase National Television Academy as the common identifier for the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. It’s short, sweet and descriptive. It does not replace the full, formal name, which will continue as our legal identifier. This new moniker simply unifies the organization by formalizing how we commonly refer to ourselves. Look for the new name and logo to be phased in during the coming year.

STATE BUDGETING AND FINANCE:
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW BUT DON’T KNOW HOW TO ASK
Saturday, Jan. 11, 2003
at the University of Minnesota School of Journalism & Mass Communication

• The 2003 State Fiscal Challenge: How Did We Get Here?
• State Revenues and Finance: A Comparative Analysis
• State Policy and Budgeting: Managing the Relationship
• Preparing for 2003 and Beyond: Emerging State Budgeting Challenges

For more information about this workshop, go to: http://www.mjc.umn.edu/FACS2003/
To register for this workshop, go to: http://sjmc.umn.edu/default.cfm?PID=1.17.12
If you have any additional questions, call (612) 625-8095 or e-mail [email protected].

NATIONAL STUDENT TELEVISION AND THE INAUGURAL AWARDS OF EXCELLENCE FOR OUTSTANDING HIGH SCHOOL TELEVISION JOURNALISM
PBS and TIME Classroom serve as official partners

National Student Television and Student Awards of Excellence honor outstanding television journalism by high school students. This program will promote, encourage and support journalistic skills among students. It is designed to expose young journalism enthusiasts to the substantive and ethical aspects of television news. Students from around the region will be recognized for merit in television journalism through the bestowing of the Student Award of Excellence, to be presented in May, 2003. Regional winners will be invited to Washington, D.C. for a national recognition luncheon in June.

“Fostering the next generation of television viewers and professionals is a tangible, valuable way to promote creative leadership,” said Price. “The educational value of National Student Television combined with the honor of the Student Award of Excellence will make this initiative a huge win for this country’s students.”

National Student Television is the first program supported by newly formed Foundation of the National Television Academy which will administer this initiative among other educational undertakings under the leadership of Executive Director Av Westin, long-time ABC News executive and former Executive Producer of ABC News’ “20/20.”

“There is more to TV journalism than hair, make-up and on-camera performance,” said Westin. “This program will serve as an educational tool for high school broadcast journalists, broadening their outlook by providing them with a significant grounding in the need to be clear, fair and accurate in the presentation of information on television. By planting the seeds early, National Student Television can make a difference for young students who want to become broadcasters by educating them about the protections and responsibilities engendered in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The long term benefit is this: If these young people become adult communicators, they will have been rewarded for work that demonstrated high ethical, editorial and intellectual standards.” Award categories for the Student Award of Excellence are News; Arts & Entertainment/Documentary; Public Affairs/Community Service/Public Service; Sports; Technical Achievement; Writing.

Students currently enrolled in high school and sponsored by the school where the work was produced may submit an entry. Application deadline is March 3, 2003. All entries must have been originally broadcast, cablecast or webcast within the eligibility period from August 1, 2002 to February 28, 2003.

For more information, registration and entry information, go to http://www.nationalstudent.tv or email [email protected]

NATAS DEMANDS ARBITRATION ON LATIN EMMYS

The New York-based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Thursday announced it does intend to establish a Latin Emmy Awards competition for Spanish-language programming and filed a demand for arbitration to force the Los Angeles-based Academy of Television Arts and Sciences to stop "impeding" the process.

"The time has come for major national and international recognition of distinction in Hispanic television -- and there is no better platform than the distinguished Emmy Award," NATAS President Peter Price said in announcing the decision to appeal to the American Arbitration Association in New York. "The establishment of the Latin Emmys is a way for the National Television Academy to embrace Hispanic television and to create new and innovative ways to build for the future."

NATAS had hoped to form a partnership with ATAS to jointly launch the Latin Emmys -- and indeed is required under current rules to get the OK of ATAS to create any new Emmycast -- but said it has been unable to get ATAS on board for Latin Emmys able despite having "tried repeatedly over the last six months to secure ATAS's participation. Regrettably, ATAS has not only refused to commit to the project, it has used stalling tactics to obstruct the National Television Academy's efforts to move forward with its plans to stage the Latin Emmys next year," said the NATAS announcement about the surprise move.

The response from ATAS suggested that a colorful battle is ahead. "While NATAS was busy hiring lawyers and plotting arbitrations, ATAS has been actively soliciting the input of both the Hispanic community and Spanish-language broadcasters," said ATAS President Todd Leavitt in a statement. "Even as today's self-serving NATAS press release hit the media, our ATAS leaders were meeting with members of the Hispanic congressional caucus to hear their thoughts. If Mr. Price had done as much listening as he's done talking, he would know that the Hispanic community is divided on this issue and interested in more dialogue before moving ahead."

"The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences recognizes and will continue to salute the accomplishments of the Latino community," said Mr. Leavitt. "ATAS will continue to stay involved in this issue, passionately believing in diversity and the honoring of all quality television, while at the same time protecting the rights of our organization's leadership to make its own informed decisions on its own appropriate timetable," said ATAS Chairman Bryce Zabel in a statement.

"We want to work with ATAS in making the Latin Emmy Awards a reality, but we simply cannot afford to wait any longer," Mr. Price said. "It appears that we will have to move forward without ATAS if we want to create an Emmy Award that recognizes the importance of Hispanic culture in television and brings more diversity to the presentation of the Emmys. We had hoped that ATAS would join us in this important effort and have resorted to arbitration only as a last resort."
(TV Spy/ShopTalk, 12/20/02)

SHORT TAKES

RTNDA Edward R. Murrow Awards:
Enter your best work from 2002. Entries must be postmarked by January 31, 2003. Forms and information are available at the RTNDA website: www.rtnda.org/asfi/awards/murrow.shtml or email [email protected]. Good luck!

$40K Scholarship for Children and Grandchildren of NATAS Members!
Application deadline for the John Cannon Memorial Scholarship is February 1, 2003. It’s open only to children and grandchildren of NATAS members, which means the pool of potential applicants is fairly small. If you’ve got a High School senior heading off to college, check this out. Forms and information are available online at www.emmyonline.org or by emailing [email protected]

Spanish-speaking TV Pros - we need your help!
The National Television Academy believes Spanish-language entries deserve to be judged by Spanish-speaking professionals. If you qualify, please email [email protected].

Group Health for Members:
As announced in the December issue of NATASNews, a Group Health Insurance is now available for members. For rates and benefits information, call Group Health Solutions at 1-888-NATAS88

GOT NEWS? EMAIL!

Station news, people news, industry news. We want it all! Send submissions to Claire at [email protected].

NatasNews is published monthly by the Upper Midwest Chapter of The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. We are always looking for news of interest for your colleagues around the region. Please email suggestions, notices, or items of interest to [email protected]

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