52nd Annual Public Media Awards Honors PBS SoCal and KCET ‘At-Home Learning’ Initiative for Demonstration of “Overall Excellence in Innovation”
CONTACT
Chelsea Grosbeck
cgrosbeck@pbssocal.org
747.201.5202
For downloadable artwork, please visit kcet.org/pressroom
On-Air Host for PBS SoCal and KCET AT-HOME LEARNING Cara Santa Maria
Image Courtesy of PBS SoCal/KCET
Burbank, Calif. – Jan. 27, 2020 – PBS SoCal and KCET, Southern California’s flagship PBS organizations, announced today that their AT-HOME LEARNING initiative was honored by the National Educational Telecommunications Association (NETA) at the 52nd Annual Public Media Awards. The initiative was recognized alongside RSU Public Television in the “Overall Excellence in Innovation” category. The 52nd Annual Public Media Award Winners were presented on Tues., Jan. 26 at the 2021 NETA Conference and CPB Public Media Thought Leader Forum.
When schools closed due to the coronavirus pandemic last year, PBS SoCal and KCET immediately partnered with the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), the nation’s second largest district, to launch the At-Home Learning Initiative, a free educational resource both on-air and online, reaching 700,000 suddenly homebound students. This collaboration that included KQED in the San Francisco Bay Area combined the rich content and expertise of public television with the instructional expertise of LAUSD. Families, educators and students were provided with an engaging daily educational TV schedule targeted to Pre-K through the 12th grade students that featured original, high-quality short-form content and corresponding state standards curriculum-approved online resources.
Following the leadership of PBS SoCal and KCET, local public television stations from nearly 100 stations in over 40 states began providing similar remote learning resources to families and school superintendents nationwide to ensure that all students had free access to on-air and online educational programming.
The Public Media Awards honors the finest work in education, community engagement, marketing/communications and content. This year saw a record number of entries from stations across the country as new categories were introduced recognizing excellence in podcasts and digital media use as well as awards in each category specific to the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Awards were judged by a group of expert panelists from within the public media system, as well as industry professionals working outside of public media.
PBS SoCal and KCET also placed as a finalist for the locally-produced film HOLLYWOOD’S ARCHITECT: THE PAUL R. WILLIAMS STORY in the Content – Historical Documentary category.
About PBS SOCAL and KCET
PBS SoCal and KCET are both part of the donor-supported community institution, the Public Media Group of Southern California. PBS SoCal is the flagship PBS station for diverse people across California and delivers content and experiences that inspire, inform and educate. PBS SoCal offers the full slate of beloved PBS programs including MASTERPIECE, NOVA, PBS NewsHour, FRONTLINE, and a broad library of documentary films with works from Ken Burns; as well as educational content including PBS KIDS programs like DANIEL TIGER’S NEIGHBORHOOD and CURIOUS GEORGE. KCET is on-air, online and in the community, and plays a vital role in the cultural enrichment of Southern California. KCET offers a wide range of award-winning local programming as well as the finest public television programs from around the world. Throughout its history, KCET has won hundreds of major awards for its local and regional news and public affairs programming, its national drama and documentary productions and its website, kcet.org. For additional information about both KCET and PBS SoCal productions, web-exclusive content, programming schedules and community events, please visit kcet.org and pbssocal.org KCET Originals and PBS programming are available to stream on the FREE PBS App on iOS and Android devices, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Android TV, Samsung Smart TV, and Chromecast. KCET is also available to watch live on YouTube TV.
