Public
Radio's Regional Organizations
California
Public Radio●Eastern Public Radio●Public Radio in
Mid-America●Southern Public Radio●Western States Public Radio
Presentation of 2005 PRRO Award
by Ron Kramer, WSPR, on Behalf of PRRO
May
2, 2005 Washington, DC
Fred
DeMarco
Executive Vice-President, and Senior Advisor to the President, CPB
Each year Public Radio’s Regional Organizations present the PRRO award to an individual whose work has significantly contributed to the health and growth of Public Radio. I’m Ron Kramer, President of Western States Public Radio, and my fellow presidents have asked me to speak for them in presenting this year’s award.
The PRRO Award is a fully restored and working vintage radio especially selected for its recipient. This year’s Award is a beautiful Farnsworth AM-SW radio, in a bakelite case, with an illuminated dial-pointer.
This year’s PRRO Award recipient has worked in broadcasting for over 35 years in broad aspects of the industry spanning operations, finance, budgeting, fiscal analysis, interconnection systems, community outreach and general management. After a lengthy and successful career in commercial television, in 1988 he brought that breadth of experience to public broadcasting circles.
He shortly thereafter was named a Vice-President of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting where he has had a profound impact. His knowledge of broadcast station operations led him to redesign CPB staffing scenarios and to hire individuals who possessed a clear grasp of our nation’s station-based public broadcasting system and their local station operations.
In the ensuing years, through successive promotions in his responsibilities at CPB, he has:
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been a keen advocate, observer and leader in our fundamentally important relationship with the federal government
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continued to advance the shared vision of CPB’s constructive engagement with public radio stations,
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and remained an ongoing source of wise counsel to us all.
His co-workers describe him as a great personality with a great heart - a description with which we readily concur.
In perhaps his only professional misstep, it’s reported that he advocated starting a Saturday morning PBS program about his first granddaughter, Samantha, but CPB declined Future Fund support.
For a career in which he has consistently championed public radio’s highest ideals, effectively defended our interests, and worked elegantly and tirelessly to maximize CPB’s constructive and effective relationship with the stations of the public radio system, - and throughout been a good friend to us all - we are pleased to confer this year’s PRRO Award to CPB’s Executive Vice-President and Senior Advisor to the President – Fred DeMarco.