Big Bird and Beyond : : The New Media and the Markle Foundation / / Lee D. Mitgang.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Fordham University Press Complete eBook-Package Pre-2014
• VerfasserIn: Mitgang, Lee D.,
• Place / Publishing House: New York, NY : : Fordham University Press, , [2022]; ©1989
• Year of Publication: 2022
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (292 p.)

Over 30 years ago, Lloyd Morrisett, a young foundation executive, asked this question at a dinner party: "Could the power of television be used to teach millions of pre-school children the basics of literacy?" In an industry that had placed faith in selling soap rather than serving the educational needs of its wide audiences, Sesame Street, one of the most popular children's programs to date was created. Big Bird & Beyond discusses the large role Morrisett played since 1969, as president of The John and Mary R. Markle Foundation and as chairman of the Chilren's Television Workshop. He launched Peggy Charren's Action for Children's Television, saved the Columbia Journalism Review and the Fund for Investigative Journalism from bankruptcy, established the National News Council, and led to Cable News Network providing more issue oriented presidential election coverage. In this read, Lee Mitgang notes how Markle promoted the idea of using computers and the Internet to enrich the lives of the elderly, and, most recently, how electronic mail might connect citizens more effectively to government and other institutions that affect their everyday lives.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction: The Neglected Field -- 1: Enter Sesame -- 2: Beyond Big Bird: Markle and Children's Television -- 3: The Diffusion of Knowledge -- 4: The Coming of Cable -- 5: Messages to the Media -- 6: Changing Channels -- 7: Electronic Everything -- 8: Aging.org -- 9: Communications and Democracy -- Epilogue: "So What Do You Do, Give Away Money?" -- Bibliography -- Index -- About the Author