Did anyone notice the shout out on KFSY News last night they have a half hour special coming up Saturday night, March 30 from 6:30-7 pm called “Empowered by Lifescapeâ€. It will run every day next week at noon on the CW channel. How does a nonprofit have enough money for a fully produced half hour advertisement in the aftermath of a public lawsuit on the abuse of a resident last summer? And let’s not forget the fiasco of how they tried to force the street closure of Elmwood Avenue and all the bad press they have created for themselves through their tactics not just in the neighborhood but throughout the city.
Are they looking for donations or something bigger?
In the news recently, Sanford Health partnered with the VA for research with a $25 million research grant from T. Denny. Does Sanford have expansion plans in the VA neighborhood?
Lifescape had their orders and failed to get the street donated and made A LOT of people angry in this city. They may have even lied directly to the City Council about moving. Lifescape has already admitted once in this process they want/desire to move within 5 years, but as these things go, they need a buyer.
I would love to still support Lifescape as a neighbor, but the process they used to close the street has left a bad taste in my mouth and a rather chapped hide. I was denied a meeting with the Foundation, and with CEO Steve and VP Rick DeSanto when I requested it on the safety issue of the parking lot for their employees. I received a call at exactly 5:30 pm, one half hour after my business closes so Rick thought he would get my voicemail, however, I answered personal. It was obvious it was a written/prepared statement 8 hours and 20 minutes after my call to request the meeting and told them what I wanted to discuss. In the return call I was told “Your intentions are “disingenuous†and that I do not believe in the mission of Lifescape or care about their employees or the people they serve.â€Â That could not be further from the truth, if they would have taken the time to talk to me, they would know that my aunt and maternal grandmother and grandfather were all crippled from mercury poisoning during my Mom’s senior year in high school. So by the end of that year at graduation she was working 3 jobs, buying them a house in town, and had her younger sister enrolled in the ND Cripple Children’s School after she was released from the University of Minnesota Hospital.
I wish Lifescape luck on their attempt to the gain positive public opinion and raise money with their half hour commercial. It’s unfortunate that a few bad apples at the organization are over turning the apple cart of an otherwise useful and well intentioned institution.
What an ignorant post. This half-hour special is a public service partnership between LifeScape and KSFY. Broadcasters do free public service work with non-profit organizations all the time. This is the second-consecutive year for this special program.
TY for clarifying, I wondered if it was a PSA. As a person who worked in radio for awhile I got schooled in the PSA requirement.
That aside, I do take issue with LS saying one thing (about selling property) then changing their story later. When you are asking taxpayers to subsidize you for the work you do, you have to be factual. I would support almost any charity getting public funding as long as they are being honest about their mission.
I’m not familiar with the fine print of current FCC license requirements or their periodic review. Historically, there has been a requirement that broadcasters prove they have “operated in the public interest”. One way to substantiate that is to furnish a number of n/c PSA’s throughout the year – “Public Service Announcements”. My impression this is normally in the form of commercials (ie :10 or :30 spots) produced and/or aired at no charge to one or more a qualifying “charities”. In the past, common sense would dictate most TV stations would do the bare minimum of freebies, as airing a free spot obviously took the place of a paying advertiser. The internet has obviously put a big dent in broadcast advertising revenue, so airing PSA’s may not represent the financial sacrifice it once did. And, I doubt the FCC has ever put a maximum on the amount of free air time a station can give away. Also, I’m not sure to what extent a TV station’s “service in the public interest†has to be demonstrated to be distributed throughout the year….or if a station can cash in their requirement all in one effort. All that being said, it’s one thing to give away free :30 spots sprinkled throughout the year, and another to give away a total of 3 hours in 30-min increments (between KSFY & the CW ) w/in one week. So, MMMike may have the correct inside track that this is an annual “public service partnershipâ€. However, at this day & time my Midco Programming Guide lists today’s 6:30pm KSFY broadcast of “Empowered by Lifescapeâ€. The noon repeats next week on the CW are listed as “Paid Programmingâ€. Hmmm.
Blasphemo – “Paid Programming†is infomercials, the standard daytime fare on CW. KSFY threw in the extra LifeScape airings on CW, but didn’t bother to update the Guide. Not unusual. As of last Thursday, my Guide said “Entertainment Tonight†is airing next Tuesday on KELO (when I’m looking forward to the debut of MMM’s “Tears of a Clownâ€).
MMM: I’m well aware “Paid Programming” petains to infomercials. I’ve been featured on & hosted more than one. I’m also aware that the on-screen cable programming guide is often inaccurate and is subject to update prior to a given hour of the day. Given your rather provocative first sentence four word characterization of Ms. Cain’s guest post, I offered additional frames of reference to suggest the issue may not be as simple as your curt indictment.