National Black Programming Consortium gets $600K in funding for New Media Institute

National Black Programming Consortium gets $600K in funding for New Media Institute

It’s been a lucrative month for the National Black Programming Consortium (NBPC).

The New York-based organization dedicated to expanding diversity in media programming has received two grants totaling $600,000 to aid the implementation of its New Media Institute (NMI). NBPC materials announcing the grant awards describe the NMI as “a yearly production lab [that] works to transform multicultural producers into content providers who can work seamlessly between platforms.”

Participants in the NMI receive hands-on experience and training in technological advances and techniques to help them work both in traditional media, such as television and radio, and new, online-oriented media. The consortium also encourages content producers to focus on civic responsibility in the creative process.

The bulk of the funds come through a $550,000 award, to be spread over three years, from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). A private nonprofit corporation, CPB was created by Congress to facilitate the development of quality, noncommercial programming and telecommunications services, and to ensure universal public access to such services.

The consortium also received $50,000 in grants from the Falk Foundation, specifically for the third annual NMI. The Falk Foundation is a Pittsburgh-based organization that provides financial support for research, education, media, civic engagement and public policy work specifically benefiting African American communities.

“It is NBPC’s goal to support our media-makers in online authorship in the interest of growing and linking communities that have historically struggled to be included in the political discourse, said Jacquie Jones, the consortium’s executive director, in a statement announcing the funding awards.

“NBPC is happy to be a part of the revitalization of public media, and pleased to have the opportunity to use new media to help link public television and radio to traditionally underserved communities to expound upon the role that new media has taken in active citizenry,” she said.

This year’s NMI will take place from September through November, allowing participants to take advantage of opportunities for civic dialogue during the coming presidential election season.

The New Media Institute is produced in conjunction with the National Minority Consortia, which consists of the Center for Asian-American Media, the Latinos in Public Broadcasting, the Native Americans in Public Telecommunications, the Pacific Islands in Communications, and the NBPC.

For information on the application process that will determine the institute’s 25 trainees and on what’s in store for this year’s institute, visit www.nbpc.tv/nmi.