Earlier this month, the Library of Congress announced the formation of the National Digital Stewardship Alliance (NDSA), what an LOC press release describes as a "partnership of institutions and organizations dedicated to preserving and providing access to selected databases, web pages, video, audio and other digital content with enduring value."

Content (audio, film, video) created by local broadcasters in the past 80 years or so certainly qualifies in the "enduring value" category, and there's much potential in identifying these collections, inventorying them, preserving them, and making them accessible. New technologies, and collective efforts to apply them as broadly as possible, hold out a bright future for the untold history awaiting discovery in these old recordings.

For more information, visit the National Digital Stewardship Alliance homepage.

(Posted by Feliks Banel)

Kalama, WA-born radio and TV writer Jackson Gillis has passed away at age 93. Gillis wrote for some of the most popular programs of either medium in the middle and latter parts of the 20th century.

The New York Times published an intriguing obituary on Saturday, August 28, 2010:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/29/arts/television/29gillis.html

Gillis' daughter provided the most interesting fact in the obit, via this quote: “'He was not impressed by the business,' she said, adding that he didn’t watch much television himself. 'He watched football,' Ms. Gillis said. 'He thought most of what was on TV was junk.'"

(Posted by Feliks Banel)