Maryland Public Television

Maryland Public Television, which had previously denied exchanging its membership lists with political organizations, said yesterday that it had in fact done so twice with the Democratic National Committee.Rob Shuman, president of MPT, will go on the air today with a statement to supporters explaining the exchanges, which were handled by an outside broker and took place before he joined MPT in October 1996. Shuman's on-air message does not say what political organization received the names of MPT members, but MPT yesterday confirmed that it was the DNC.The admission puts MPT near the heart of a growing national controversy that seriously threatens federal funding for public television.

IT'S 2 O'CLOCK on a Tuesday afternoon in Maryland, circa 2003.Four-year-old Sally is watching "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" on Maryland Public Television-1. Elsewhere, Jane, 34, is earning credits toward a sociology degree on MPTV-2. Frank, 14, is in school watching MPTV-3; he's learning about the social and economic factors that led to World War I. And 64-year-old Bill, a retiree, is at home watching a debate live from the City Council chambers on MPTV-4.Now it's 2 o'clock on a Tuesday afternoon in Maryland, January 1999.

Everyone was a star at Maryland Public Television's "Gala '99." As guests arrived at the MPT studios for its 30th anniversary celebration, they were greeted by "paparazzi" (actors posing as photographers and reporters).But the stardom didn't stop there. Some party-goers were interviewed on camera by MPT personality (and event honorary chair) Rhea Feikin, while others had a chance to try anchoring a mock news show, as they toured the MPT facilities.Among the 420 "stars" basking in the spotlight: Carole Sibel and Sharon Nevins, event co-chairs; Rob Shuman, MPT's CEO; Connie Caplan, chair of Maryland Public Broadcasting Commission; Louis Rukeyser, "Wall $treet Week" host; John Waters, Baltimore filmmaker; Frank Burch, chairman of the Piper & Marbury law firm; Cheryl Lockhart, BGE director of corporate contributions; and Earl Arnette, operations director at Arbros Communications.

When it comes to guessing which PBS stations produce the most programs,the big ones shouldn't be tough to figure.Boston's WGBH? Of course. It's got "Masterpiece Theater," "Mystery" and "Frontline," not to mention "The American Experience."New York's WNET? Makes sense. First, it's in New York, where everything's big. And second, it's responsible for "Great Performances."Washington's WETA? Naturally, considering it's got Ken Burns among its stable of stars.But don't forget Maryland Public Television.

Democrat McGuire supports Sauerbrey in governor's raceDr. Terry McGuire, a Davidsonville physician who lost last month in the Democratic primary race for governor, endorsed Republican Ellen R. Sauerbrey yesterday, saying she would provide an alternative to the "intrusive government championedby the extreme Democratic left."McGuire, who picked up 11 percent of the Democratic vote Sept. 15, said he was putting his "entire campaign structure at the disposal of the Sauerbrey campaign." He also lashed out at Gov. Parris N. Glendening for what he called "the arrogance of power."

WHEN RAYMOND K. K. HO was fired two years ago from Maryland Public Television, one of the knocks against the controversial president was that he splurged on shows with a national or international focus, but neglected the folks at home.Monday will bring the latest example of a new era at MPT when it rolls out a weeknight news program called Newsnight Maryland. It is the most ambitious venture to date under Mr. Ho's successor, Robert J. Shuman.The show symbolizes the change at the top of the state's public TV station, from Mr. Ho, who had the air of a tent-revival preacher, to Mr. Shuman, a more contemplative executive from Potomac who founded The Learning Channel on cable.

Robert J. Shuman, the new president of Maryland Public Television, started his answer on the future of MPT conventionally enough, talking about its strength in children's programming and the need to find new "revenue streams" in the face of dwindling public dollars.But he wound up talking about how, growing up as the son of a U.S. Navy attache in Jakarta, he learned about the culture and values of Indonesia by watching puppet shows.He sees a lesson in that for TV executives -- especially for one whose network's stars are Big Bird, Ernie and Bert.

MARYLAND PUBLIC Television is the fourth largest producer of programming for public TV nationwide, creating such well-regarded series as Louis Rukeyser's "Wall Street Week." Yet never has a show born in Maryland opened with the kind of hype surrounding "Kratts' Creatures," a new series for pre-teens."Kratts' Creatures" might best be described as the old Marlon Perkins adventure series made hip for the MTV generation. It follows brothers Chris and Martin Kratt as they cross the globe via backpack, surfboard and mountain bike to explore the animal kingdom.

Robert J. Shuman, a former cable TV executive known for his skill in raising and managing money, will be named today as the new president of Maryland Public Television, a move designed to help the network thrive in an era of dwindling government financing.Shuman, 51, of Potomac, moves to MPT after six years at Civic Network Communications Inc., a Washington company that uses television to provide career development training for community leaders.He fills a job left vacant by the firing last October of Raymond K. K. Ho.One of the founders of the Learning Channel, Shuman also brings to the job an extensive background in educational and community television.

Beginning Nov. 2, parents will be able to watch PBS with their children in the afternoon, then hustle on down to the library that night and help them read more about it.If spending more time with the characters and concepts introduced daily to kids on public television is a good thing, then Maryland Public Television's new "Ready to Learn Library Reading Project" is just what the doctor -- or the educator -- ordered.Presented during a luncheon at Baltimore's Clarion Hotel Wednesday as a groundbreaking partnership between MPT and Maryland's public library systems, the project will place reading stations at branches in Maryland's 23 counties and Baltimore City.

Caught up in the harsh economy that is taking a stiff toll on public broadcasting across the country, Maryland Public Television laid off 18 employees Monday - about 10 percent of its work force. Two senior managers, including a senior vice president for content, are among those laid off. Calls to MPT were not returned Monday afternoon. "The staff reductions at MPT, while extremely painful, will result in no loss of programming and no on-air talent will be affected," Robert J. Shuman, president of MPT, said in a statement.

Margaret Mary Sullivan, a longtime Maryland Public Television producer who produced award-winning cooking shows with such gastronomic legends as Julia Child, Pierre Franey and Jacques Pepin, died Tuesday at Good Samaritan Hospital of complications from surgery. The Hamilton resident was 62. Born in Baltimore and raised on Thornberry Road in Mount Washington, Miss Sullivan graduated from Maryvale Preparatory School in 1965. "When we were kids, she loved piling into the car and going out to the Painters Mill Music Fair to watch shows under the big tent.

Maryland Public Television announced yesterday the largest gift in its history, a $1 million donation that will be used to help develop new programming. Maryland Public Broadcasting Commission Chairman Edward H. Kaplan and his wife, Irene Kaplan, have promised to give $1 million during the next four years for development in MPT's New Initiatives Campaign. The gift is at least twice as large as any other given at one time to Maryland Public Television and much larger than what the organization had asked for, said Robert J. Shuman, MPT's president and chief executive officer.

Homer C. Kornman, former technical operations manager at Maryland Public Television, died of cardiopulmonary arrest Tuesday at his Owings Mills home. He was 90. Mr. Kornman was born and raised in Rochester, Pa., and was a graduate of the Capitol Radio Engineering Institute in Washington. During World War II, he enlisted in the Navy, where he was an electronics instructor stateside and later in Guam. He attained the rank of lieutenant commander and remained an active reservist until 1977.

The public's worst xenophobic instincts are not hard to tap - it requires only a bit of fear and misinformation - so it's not surprising to hear that Maryland Public Television has gotten some heat over its decision to broadcast a startup 24-hour Spanish network called V-me (pronounced "veh-meh"). But despite the best efforts of the local talk-radio crowd and Internet flamethrowers to whip up outrage, MPT officials reported only about 50 complaints as of late last week. Pre-empting Antiques Roadshow would probably have been more vexing to its core constituency.

Ron Katz is an Annapolis sailor desperately seeking news about the Volvo Ocean Race series. "It is like being out in the desert," he said. But lately, Katz, 38, and a group of his friends have found an oasis. They've been tuning in to Maryland Public Television's Saturday night broadcasts of race highlights. The race will arrive in Annapolis and Baltimore this month. The mainstream television media in the U.S. have thus far taken a pass on covering the round-the-world ocean race, and Katz has found that MPT is the only local station where he can regularly watch footage of sailors tacking, trimming their sails and hanging on as water breaks over the hulls of the 70-foot racing boats.

Warren S. Park Jr., a former Maryland Public Television executive and Fells Point neighborhood activist, died of pneumonia Saturday at a nursing home in Rochester, N.H. He was 77 and a former resident of Fleet Street. As the first director of programming and operations at MPT, formerly the Maryland Center for Public Broadcasting, he developed some of its most popular shows, including Wall Street Week, The Critics' Place and Consumer Survival Kit, and selected Sesame Street and the Upstairs, Downstairs series on Masterpiece Theater for local viewing.

Just days before the debut of the new version of Wall Street Week With Fortune, the people out at Maryland Public Television's Owings Mills studios say they're too busy to be nervous. "I don't start getting jitters until a half-hour before we go on the air," says John T. Potthast, MPT's senior vice president for content enterprises, as he sits inside a bustling control room. A graphic artist nearby is manipulating images on one of 24 television screens before him, superimposing a series of faces over the head of a strapping male model from the cover of a fitness magazine - first actor David Hasselhoff, then MPT President and CEO Robert J. Shuman, then that of a golden retriever.

What does Maryland Public Television have in common with Linda Tripp, a promoter of questionable cancer cures and the owner of a South Baltimore factory where Legionnaires' disease broke out? All of the above have hired the same "media crisis manager" in recent years. That would be Levi Rabinowitz, an ingratiating and sometimes infuriating spin doctor who, despite being picked for the job by an MPT board packed with Democratic supporters of Gov. Parris N. Glendening, has rarely found a Republican he didn't like.

The 3-decade-long Louis Rukeyser era at Maryland Public Television is coming to an acrimonious close, as the pioneering financial journalist is being forced out of the anchor's chair of the program that bears his name. Starting this fall, MPT's signature program, Wall Street Week With Louis Rukeyser, will have a new format, a new name and two new anchors. Rukeyser will be replaced by Fortune magazine editorial director Geoffrey Colvin, whose publication will co-produce the show, and another anchor yet to be named.