At Lincoln South Rotary Club on December 3, our presenter was Nancy Finken of Nebraska Public Media.
Nancy took us on a journey of the the creation of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, to the creation of NET in Nebraska to the varied content and delivery of today's Nebraska public Media.
https://nebraskapublicmedia.org/en/about/:
"We Connect Nebraskans to the World and Each Other. One Conversation at a Time."
Jack McBride was the man who got public broadcasting going in Nebraska. Along with Ron Hull they are considered the founding fathers of Nebraska public television.
According to Finken, radio took a lot longer to become a statewide entity. There was a public radio station at Union College in Lincoln and a few in Omaha - but not anywhere else in the State. There was a great deal of work put into the effort, as well as Union College's donation of their station, to finally get public radio to the entire state in the late 1980s.
We were introduced to the new logo - new brand - one that depicts all of the public media - television, radio and digital. Nancy stated that she believes it also enforces the focus on conversations and stories that connect people and unite our state. She shared a video that states "This Is Nebraska Public Media". Nebraska is not just a fly-over state in the middle of the nation - from the video it is obvious that Nebraskans learn and grow, develop ideas and heal, and we feed the world.
Like other public media stations, Nebraska Public Media broadcasts PBS programming like "Finding Your Roots, PBS NewsHour, NOVA, etc. But there is a great amount of local content that is produced from locally hosted classical music on radio to award winning news to high school sports championships to Husker Volleyball and Women’s basketball to Nebraska Stories. Nancy stated that these are character-driven stories that capture the unique culture of Nebraska.
Per Fnken, "We know that Nebraska is a state comprised of people who are makers, doers, and pioneers who pave their own way because they want to make a living in a place they love. We have inventors, engineers, civic leaders, scientists, and artists who take risks who push the envelope who dig deep and we think their stories are worth telling and that’s how “What If” was born."
It was developed to cover creativity and ingenuity. She made us think about the times that we may have asked 'what if we did this . . . or what if we did that . . . " and how this series covers those stories. In a video she shared we learned about the DPAA Nebraska Lab at Offutt where people are constantly working to find missing military.
Nancy announced an upcoming series celebrating the upcoming 50th anniversary of Title IX. It will cover 5 decades of social change - a revolution of women. It starts with the 50th anniversary of the NSAA Volleyball championships to the first ever women's high school wrestling event.
BIO
Nancy Finken is the Chief Content Officer at Nebraska Public Media where she has worked for 29 years. Nancy first joined the radio network as news director, followed by program director and station manager before adding television to her duties several years ago.
As Chief Content Officer, Nancy’s team is responsible for broadcast programming and production---everything you watch on television and hear on radio, from Husker Volleyball to Nebraska Stories, Big Red Wrap-up, Nebraska news, and classical music.
Nancy is a native of Harlan, Iowa and Northwest Missouri State graduate. She and her husband Tom Ernst are empty nesters who enjoy boating, golfing, attending concerts, and rooting for the Huskers.
Nancy is a proud member of Lincoln Rotary 14.