Rotary Program: 9/21/05

Program Chairperson: Jerry Green

Speaker: Mack Wahl, Executive Director - KET

Mack Wall has 35 years experience in broadcast media, most recently serving as the Executive Director of Kentucky Educational Television. According to interviews with some of his staff, Mack has injected everyone with his unique enthusiasm and personality. His hard work and commitment is reported by all who work with him on a daily basis. Incidently, Mack is also a Rotarian, now attending the Lexington Rotary Club and boasts over ten years of perfect attendance.

Like so many public organizations, public media has come under extra scrutiny especially where public funds are concerned. That is why non-commercial television is more important than ever and the reason that services must be constantly improving to meet the needs of all Kentuckians. One such innovation was announced last month that will put a world of information at the fingertips of Kentucky’s teachers and students. Imagine a single on-line source of 40,000 images, 4,000 video clips, assessment tools and more that will be available for teachers to use to supplement the learning experiences that are aligned with Kentucky’s Core Content Standards. This source is offered to every teacher and student in Pike County and across Kentucky free of charge. It is called Encyclomedia. It will harness the power of the Internet to deliver curriculum-based multimedia resources on a variety of subjects and will probably revolutionize the way technology is used in the classrooms of Kentucky.

Another initiative that is coming to KET is a series of programs called “The CommonHealth of Kentucky”, a partnership with the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky that will create a community-media collaboration committed to healthy lifestyle changes for those who need it most. The programs showcases 23 organizations, community projects, and other initiatives that address the disparities in rural areas where cancer, diabetes, and heart disease rates are unusually high. An extensive web site will support the Health series and it is hoped that it will encourage many outreach efforts for better health and wellness among our people. Hopefully the people of Kentucky will come to rely upon KET for health-related information as much as they have for educational, cultural, and public affairs programs.

Finally, Mack says that KET is ready to launch its digital technology that will broadcast multiple channels and services through a single transmitter. With this new bandwidth, KET will be able to deliver four channels instead of one - and an additional two channels when the General Assembly is in session, all without any cost to the consumer. Even more exciting is the ability to deliver information to computers by datacasting. By partnering with public agencies such as police and fire departments, public safety officials, and homeland security, KET will broadcast emergency alerts, coordinated security information, and emergency health directives without interruption even in times of severe weather conditions. These digital services and DataCast are but two examples of how KET strives to stay on the cutting edge of technology to serve the state. Kentucky can be proud of the public service media with a national impact, an institution that measures its value in the minds that are opened, lives changed, and communities strengthened. KET brings these things to our Commonwealth. Thanks, Mack for your insightful and informative program. - JMC