Welcome

Dear Member,

Welcome to July and welcome to our members who joined or renewed their support during our June Membership Campaign. Your support makes everything we do possible – from local productions to educational initiatives to PBS programming – it’s all available to the communities we serve because of you.

Speaking of local productions, we’ve begun work on two projects that we’re very excited about. The first is a documentary on Bing Davis, an African American artist, activist and educator from Dayton who came of age in the civil rights era. Through this one-hour documentary, viewers will gain insight into Bing Davis’ artistic process, his experiences as an educator and mentor and his activism in the community. In addition, we will bring Mr. Davis’ work and life into the classroom by creating educational resources for PBS Learning Media. The documentary is scheduled to premiere in the spring of 2024.

We’ve also begun work on a regional community affairs program about rebuilding our cities. As a follow up to our redlining documentary, our community affairs program will take a look at efforts in both Cincinnati and Dayton to bring creative solutions to long-standing issues, many of them rooted in our segregated housing. The series will take a Solutions Journalism approach, focused on what the news misses most often: how people are trying to solve problems and what we can learn from their success or failures. By covering solutions to local and regional challenges, we can help equip people with the knowledge to envision and build more equitable and sustainable communities. The community affairs program is slated to premiere in early 2024.

PBS programming in July features the premiere of Human Footprint, a six-part series that is part-science, parttravel and explores the ways humans are transforming the planet and what those transformations tell us about who we are as a species. The crime drama DI Ray introduces viewers to Rachita Ray, a police officer who takes on a case that forces her to confront a lifelong personal conflict between her British identity and her South Asian heritage. POV premieres “A House Made of Splinters” about children in a special orphanage in eastern Ukraine. And Southern Storytellers follows a group of the South’s most significant contemporary creators into their home communities for a thought-provoking exploration of the South and its people.

Then, on July 20th, our Day of Giving returns to CET and ThinkTV. During this special campaign we will have one-time only gifts available for donations as little as $25. Visit our websites for a list of available gifts and additional information.

Thank you for supporting your public television stations –you make a difference in what we do.

Many Thanks,

Kitty Lensman President & CEO CET and ThinkTV

CET and ThinkTV Board of Trustees Public Media Connect

Officers

Barney Wright, Chair

Dave Taylor, Vice Chair

Brian Silverberg, Treasurer

Stephanie Amlung, Secretary

Dorothy (Kitty) Lensman President & CEO

Trustees

Brian Bolam

Lee Bushman

Shannon Cox

Dr. Roshni Dasgupta

Richard Finan

Dawn Gilmore

Jack Greiner

Carrie Haley

Bethany Hartman

Jason Hightower

Stephanie Hogue

Brian Hylander

Jeff Ireland

Chara Fisher Jackson

Dr. Alvin Jones

Barbara Kellar

Crystal Kendrick

Kelly MacDonald

Christopher Owens

Karen Spina

Barbara Weyand

Public Media Connect is the partnership of CET and ThinkTV. Our mission is to strengthen the communities we serve through programs and services that inspire and inform, educate and engage, fostering citizenship and culture, the joy of learning and the power of diverse perspectives.

Your support makes that mission possible; a mission that touches the lives of more than 3 million people every month. Thank you.

For more information on how your generosity makes CET and ThinkTV the most widely used non-profit services in your community visit www.CETconnect.org and www.thinktv.org. You can also talk to us by calling the CET Member line 800-808-0445 or the ThinkTV Member line 800-247-1614.