WNIT ANNOUNCES "HELPING HANDS WALL"

October 16, 2009

South Bend - WNIT Public Television has entered a new phase of its Capital Campaign with the announcement of its "Helping Hands Wall" located in the new Center for Public Media in South Bend. Explained WNIT Board member Irene Eskridge, "We are going to provide a wall that recognizes organizations and individuals who contribute $100 or more by displaying a hand with their name. The wall of helping hands with donors' names will be prominently displayed in our new building."

Added WNIT President and General Manager Mary Pruess, "The community has been very generous in its support of our completely renovated Public Media Center. We are looking for this final push to put us over the top."

When completed, the Public Media Center will be a hub of learning and training. It will provide space for citizens to meet with elected officials to exchange views and opinions, better educational opportunities for college age students, a new community room and video on demand.

Work is now underway at the Center for Public Media. WNIT anticipates moving into the renovating building by spring 2010. For more information about the "Helping Hands Wall" contact Gail Martin at 574.675.9648 or gmartin@wnit.org.

WNIT Public Television is a not-for-profit corporation celebrating over 35 years of broadcasting in northern Indiana and southwestern Michigan. WNIT-bringing the Bigger Picture to Michiana.

WNIT's Bigger Picture Campaign

By Mary Pruess, WNIT President and General Manger

September 15, 2009

Images of WNIT's Bigger Picture campaign are popping up all over town. You may have seen Elmo waving to you from the back of a Transpo bus or seen our ad in IN Michiana or Inside Granger magazines. You may have heard about it on radio or television. So, what's it all about?

It is about the public phase of WNIT's campaign to provide digital media services to Michiana that are squarely in the public interest. It's more channels of award-winning programming to your home. It's enhanced program and community services through web and on-demand technologies, providing programming and information anytime, anywhere. More training for college students and more partnerships with community organizations. Live broadcasting from area venues. Compelling stories about the people and places of Michiana. The Bigger Picture provides meaningful connection to our state, our nation and our world, and a place to gather to discuss issues of importance to the future of our region. Much more than a television station, WNIT is poised to continue as a trusted community media resource for the next generation. And it's all made possible by WNIT's renovation of the facility at the corner of Jefferson and Lafayette in downtown South Bend, establishing the WNIT Center for Public Media.

The Bigger Picture campaign builds on the foundation of excellence and trust WNIT Public Television has established over the past thirty-five years. This foundation begins with a commitment to the Michiana community, one that delivers high quality PBS programming like Sesame Street, Antiques Roadshow or the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer directly to your home. The foundation supports PBSKids online and webcasts of many favorite news and information programs. Coming soon it will provide access to even more downloads and video streaming of your favorite programs.

WNIT's commitment to the Bigger Picture for Michiana is extended by the five locally produced and regularly scheduled programs that feature the people and issues of our region. In the past two years, WNIT has also produced such documentaries as RAISING AN AMERICAN LEGEND and THE WAR: MICHIANA'S EXPERIENCE. In June we premiered FARM FRESH TO YOU, which explores the Michiana area with specialty food retailer, restaurateur, caterer and passionate food lover Judy Kite Gosh. And viewers eagerly await the premiere of our Alexander Toradze documentary later this year. In addition, in the nationally-recognized Roper Survey, PBS has been named the most trusted national institution in America for the sixth consecutive year.

As part of The Bigger Picture, WNIT enjoys active working relationships with a wide variety of community organizations. During the past several years, we proudly included Arts Everywhere, The Village at Winona, Fernwood Botanic Garden and Nature Center, the Elkhart County Convention and Visitors Bureau, Lake Michigan College, WVPE public radio, Saint Mary's College, IVY Tech, the Krasl Art Center, The Lubeznik Center for the Arts and DanceSport among the Michiana groups with which we have shared our time, efforts and broadcast space. These partnerships help us to connect with viewers throughout Michiana.

For more information, I invite you to visit our website at wnit.org and click on The Bigger Picture icon, or contact me directly at WNIT. Also, be sure to stop by our exhibits at the St. Joseph County Chamber of Commerce Business Expo on September 16 and the South Bend Art Beat on September 26. Later this fall, WNIT will be represented at the Cornerstone Fall Trade Fair in Benton Harbor and the Elkhart Biz-Ness Expo. WNIT Public Television is proud to be part of the Michiana community and we welcome opportunities to interact with our viewers.

The Bigger Picture for WNIT includes you. Help empower media in the public interest for the next generation with your commitment of support. Join the thousands of Michiana residents who have already helped turn on the power for WNIT's future, for the benefit of you and the future of the whole community. WNIT is a beacon of trust and inspiration for our community. Help us keep that beacon shining brightly!

We stand on the brink of a new age in electronic media. With a professional staff and dedicated leadership, our station can provide Michiana with the best quality programming delivered on the best quality signal. WNIT is uniquely poised to deliver state-of-the-art educational materials in a state-of-the-art learning environment.

However, WNIT's potential is restrained by an outdated facility, with limited space for audience participation and community involvement. In addition, our landlord, the Elkhart Community School Corporation, will end our lease July 1, 2008.

With an up-to-date, centrally located facility, vital new programs become possible:

• Media dedicated to the public interest - connecting leaders and citizens, teachers and students, artists and audiences.
• A training center - for emergency first responders, for students and interns, for parents and educators.
• Studio and meeting space - a forum for discussion and, debate for community-based problem solving in such fields as health, workforce development and public safety.
• Expanded Digital signals - the brilliance of high-definition television, bringing crystalline clarity into Michiana homes and the power of datacasting, bringing real-time assistance to police, medics and firefighters.

Our Vision for A Vibrant Community Center

The foundation of WNIT's success is our partnership with the community we serve. We are seeking to raise $6.5 million in public and private funding for the new WNIT communication center, Michiana's first building dedicated to public media.

• Where would Michiana be without public television?
• Michiana needs WNIT and WNIT needs a permanent home.
• Please join us in support of WNIT's mission to...

WNIT - More than Television
   - An Invaluable Community Resource

WNIT was specifically designed to respond to public needs in a way that marketplace forces could not. Positioned now at the crossroads of community life WNIT is...

• the only universally available television resource that educates, entertains, informs and inspires.
• provides commercial-free children's programming that parents trust above all others.
• serves all 1.3 million residents in 22 counties of northern Indiana and southwestern Michigan - 21% of whom live in rural areas without cable.
• supported by nearly 6,000 members - a true community-owned asset.
• produces seven local programs that reflect the life and history we treasure.
• led by an active, committed board of community leaders.
• well managed and financially sound.
• Michiana's gateway to the best of the world's culture.

Public broadcasting continues to be esteemed nationally as well as locally.
Recent nation-wide surveys confirm PBS as...

• the most trusted national institution.
• recognized as "an excellent use of tax dollars,"
  second only to the nation's military defense.
• provides the most trusted news and public affairs
  programs.
• maintains the most visited website in the world.
• watched by more viewers than any cable network.
• again chosen by the nation's educators as the top
  source of video in the classroom.

Business Case for the Campaign

• WNIT must leave its current space

• The Board of WNIT - with leaders from throughout the region - has carefully evaluated options for this station
• Over two years it conducted a regional search for a new location
• A five year pro-forma budget was done to identify the station's facility needs and business opportunities - independent of the site selection process
• WNIT considered all options: building, leasing, and renovation
• 13 proposals were narrowed to the three best options - one was in Elkhart, one was in Mishawaka, and one in South Bend
• In Elkhart, WNIT worked with the Mayor's office to develop the strongest proposal possible: The cost of the Elkhart site was 33% higher than the final selection. In Mishawaka, the cost of the site was 46% higher
• The selection of the Schurz Communications site was based on the most favorable financial impact on WNIT including:

• The present facility is 8,265 net square feet. The new facility will be 30,000 square feet of technically-adaptable space
• Renovation is needed to create community spaces and to upgrade to 21st century technology
• Costs of renovation are reasonable for a technical facility of this kind