[nfb-talk] FW: [acb -l] interesting letter

[David Evans]

Dear Minnie,

I agree with your logic, but I would offer this idea.
The big reason that this is drawing fire is the low numbers of listeners to
the Radio Reading Services broadcast.
I understand how it works and Radio Reading Services have some very good
things that are hard to replace, such as the specials on sale at the store
or market.
The draw back is that you have to be present and listening to the broadcast
when it airs.
What if Radio Reading Service was broadcast live, but also record and then
made available on NFB Newsline service under the channels feature.
One thing RRS can not show is how many people are listening out there on any
certain day.  NFB Newsline can and by having it available to be listened too
at a time of the listeners choosing would make it more flexible and it could
even be accessed from places out of range of their transmitters.
This could even open up allot of new ideas for show content and make it
reach allot further and to more people than it does.
I think that this idea is worth kicking around just a little just to see
what might fall out, don't you?
There are grants out there for new creative TV and Radio productions.  I
know as I have helped guide a popular Blind Cooking TV show to a few of
them.  Have you heard of "Cookin without Lookin?"  It is a cooking show that
features 3 blind cooks who host blind guest cooks and also do features about
interesting things that Blind People are curious about.  It airs on the
Public broadcast station across the Nation.  

RRS could apply for such grants, and as some of the grants are federal
grants, part of the grant can be used to pay salaries too.
Do you place NFB Chapter newsletters on the channels feature as Florida
Does?  Radio Reading Services could be a good fit hear too and this would
not only extend its life, but give it a new untapped audience it could not
reach before.
Let me know what you think?

David Evans, NFBF

-----Original Message-----
From: nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of David Andrews
Sent: Wednesday, December 12, 2007 10:50 PM
To: NFB Talk Mailing List
Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] FW: [acb-l] interesting letter

Joseph:

I have worked at and run a variety of information access services over the
years including radio reading services, book taping, brailling, and
telephone-accessed services.  The $90 per user cost is pretty typical, lower
then some.  Because our numbers are low, on a per person cost basis it will
always look expensive, even for newsline in most states.

Dave

At 02:57 AM 12/12/2007, you wrote:
>It seems to me that government tends to spend a lot more to serve a lot
fewer people.  This is a little more than $90 per person using the service.
How much do we spend on our readers? I have no opinion about this service,
how it is funded, who gets the money, or the inter-organizational bickering
that is likely to accompany the message.  For me, it nicely resolves the
"many thousands for a few people" thing and makes the letter suddenly much
less interesting. I would certainly suggest that the people in Alabama
consider putting those numbers into perspective when discussing whether this
program should be funded or not. On Tue, Dec 11, 2007 at 07:51:31PM +0000,
Eric Calhoun wrote: > Letters, faxes, and e-mail > Alabama > Â  > Monday,
December 10, 2007 > Â  > Adhering to its mission? > Â  > This letter is in
regard to the fact that the state Department of Vocational Rehabilitation
Services is cutting funding for WHIL-FM's Radio Reading Service. > The
department decided that the $42,000 it has spent annually on the service can
be better used elsewhere. According to WHIL, about 450 individuals use > the
service. > Â  > My problem with the whole situation is what is being said by
the State Department of Vocational Rehabilitation Services and what is being
done by the agency. > Â  > Â  > I am a 57-year-old visually impaired person.
I represent the National Federation of the Blind. Our motto is, "Changing
what it means to be blind," which > encourages independence, not dependence.
> Â  > I see this as not an attempt to save funding, but an opportunity to
have a perfectly qualified blind person removed from the work force. > Â  >
The executive director of WHIL Radio Reading Service, Brad Martin, is
totally blind and has been all of his life. > Â  > I know Mr. Martin
personally. He is highly intelligent in the area of technology and very
capable of handling this service, as he has been doing since he > started
with the program. He is college educated and very qualified to do his job.
The funding being taken away is Mr.
 employee. > Â  > If you take the $42,000 yearly funding away, then Mr.
Martin is another blind person without a job. The irony is that the Alabama
Department of Vocational > Rehabilitation Services will use the same $42,000
to find Mr. Martin a job -- something he would already have if the funds
were left in place. > Â  > So how is the Department of Vocational
Rehabilitation Services helping the blind and disabled find and keep
employment? Is this how our tax dollars are > to be spent by the powers that
make these decisions? > Â  > MINNIE K. WALKER > Â  > President, Mobile
Chapter of the > Â  > National Federation of the Blind >
http://www.al.com/opinion/press-register/index.ssf?/base/opinion/11973069043
12630.xml&coll=3 _______________________________________________ nfb-talk
mailing list nfb-talk at nfbnet.org
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfb-talk 

_______________________________________________
nfb-talk mailing list
nfb-talk at nfbnet.org
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfb-talk

No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition. 
Version: 7.5.503 / Virus Database: 269.17.1/1182 - Release Date: 12/12/2007
11:29 AM
 

No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition. 
Version: 7.5.503 / Virus Database: 269.17.1/1182 - Release Date: 12/12/2007
11:29 AM