THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNESTLY STATEWIDE

posted to AZ Week Notebook by Michael Chihak

Arizona Public Media Director of News and Information Peter Michaels will head to Phoenix with me on Tuesday, as we lay groundwork for the debut of Arizona Week, now just 11 days away.

Peter and I will meet with journalists at the Arizona Republic and at the Arizona Capitol Times to discuss their participation in AZ Week's reporters' segment, which we plan as the way to end the program.

We have secured Luige del Puerto of the Capitol Times for the first program; he covers the state Senate. We hope to have word by Tuesday afternoon on an Arizona Republic journalist to appear with Luige.

As part of the overall mission to bring depth to issues affecting all of Arizona, we will include journalists from throughout the state on the program. The trip to Phoenix on Tuesday is the first outreach in that effort.

Eventually, we plan to have knowledgeable journalists from Flagstaff, Yuma, Kingman and Eastern Arizona as well as from the Phoenix and Tucson metropolitan areas available for commentary and analysis on the program.

HAPPY 2011

posted to Rappaport's Notebook by Robert Rappaport

The new year promises to be an exciting one for Arizona Public Media, as a new year will bring new things.

We'll be on top of all of the goings-on at the Arizona Legislature, as newly-installed and returning lawmakers begin the task of finding a way to plug a nearly $2 billion budget hole over the next year and a half.

All that legislative stuff will no doubt dominate discussions on our new AZPM TV show Arizona Week, which picks up where the "Friday Roundtable" ended last year, but in a different fashion. Arizona Illustrated will now have pretty much the same format Monday-Friday.

Personally, I've decided to try some things I hate, like saying "twenty-eleven" for the year. I still prefer using the phrase "two thousand" in front of the current year, but I hear more people doing it the other way. It sounded funny when I heard people say "twenty oh nine," but the new decade doesn't seem to sound as bad. I still refuse to say "oh" when it refers to a number. Last time I checked, "oh" was the letter O. Zero is the number 0.

I'll also continue to feel odd saying "SB 1070," but that's how Arizona's immigration law is commonly described by just about everybody. Sure, "SB" technically stands for "Senate Bill," and it should be dropped when a bill becomes law, but I can't save the world from itself.

Have a great year and stay tuned to AZPM platforms for lots of great in-depth coverage throughout the year and follow me on Twitter for more timely updates on a daily basis.

HOW I SPENT MY NON-VACATION

posted to Cue Sheet by James Reel

Sorry about the paucity of blog entries recently. Besides my usual radio duties, a lot of other distractions have pelted me this month: about 500 reviews and features arrived for me to edit for Fanfare magazine; I'm serving as dramaturge for Arizona Onstage Production's forthcoming version of Master Class, in which Maria Callas, haunted by her past, makes life hell for some vocal students; I'm one of the actors involved in this weekend's Antonio Vivaldi show, written by Harry Clark and presented by Chamber Music Plus (I'm typecast as a know-it-all); and I've had a general technology meltdown this month--dead computer printer (retired), declining audio-video receiver (replaced), unreliable "classic" car (finally replaced with a new hybrid), spontaneously rebooting Kindle (fixed by taking it out of its official Kindle case, which causes the unit to short out).

The next thing I have to do is get ready for a little talk in Green Valley, and then prepare for my next meeting with the participants in Arizona Theatre Company's teen critics program, for which I'm a mentor. On the subject of criticism, blogger Lisa Hirsch offers this interesting item about what separates real criticism from a mere personal essay.

THE JOURNALISM IS WHAT WILL MATTER MOST

posted to AZ Week Notebook by Michael Chihak

Seventeen days until Arizona Week launches on KUAT-TV, and we are deep into the preparations. Today's production meeting included:

-- Discussions of how we provide "connectivity" with studios in Phoenix to allow for timely interviews with state capital newsmakers and journalists.

-- Review of the graphic elements for the program, including those that will appear on the set and in the transitions between segments.

-- Theme music for the program's opening. It needs to sound "newsy," everyone agreed.

-- Whom we are lining up for newsmaker spots and the journalists' panel on the first program.

Many people at Arizona Public Media are working on these elements to make the first program and all subsequent programs strong and appealing. Yet in the end, AZPM Director and General Manager Jack Gibson said, what will make the difference is the journalism at the core of the program.

Agreed. And we are working hard on that. Stay tuned for your chance to take part in what we're doing.

GATHERING STRING FOR FIRST PROGRAM'S KEY TOPIC

posted to AZ Week Notebook by Michael Chihak

Arizona Week's first program on Jan. 14 will focus on the state's budget issues. In that, the week of Gov. Jan Brewer's State of the State address and the opening of the legislative session, we will explore the depths of what is clearly a dire fiscal situation.

Legislators must cut $825 million from the current fiscal year's budget, and do it quickly. Then they must turn around and construct a budget for 2011-12 that will take another $1.4 billion from where they end up for this fiscal year. That's a total of $2.25 billion in cuts for the next 18 months, or 23 percent less than the current fiscal year's original operating expenditures, as enumerated by the Joint Legislative Budget Committee.

On the Jan. 14 program, we will ask the governor and legislative leaders how they plan to make those cuts, and how the cuts will affect you and me. We have asked for an interview with Brewer, and we have confirmed an interview with Senate President-Elect Russell Pearce.

After hearing what they have to say, we will ask two veteran journalists to analyze and comment on the plans and what the impact will be. We'll let you know who those journalists are as soon as we confirm with them for the Jan. 14 program.

It will without a doubt be an important program to watch, as we strive to explain the fiscal situation and the consequences of what the Legislature and the governor must do.

THAT DEER IN THE KLIEG LIGHTS LOOK

posted to AZ Week Notebook by Michael Chihak

The crew for Arizona Week held its first dress rehearsal today in KUAT-TV's Studio A. All went fairly well for setup, lighting, camera work and every other technical aspect of the operation.

Of course, all of those tasks were handled with aplomb by the experienced studio crew, including several students who work for Arizona Public Media.

The host, yours truly, got more comfortable -- or shall we say less uncomfortable -- as the rehearsal progressed. Yet the feeling of relief was stronger than the feeling of confidence at the end of the 90-minute session.

More to come, including another rehearsal on Thursday, all aimed at get us ready for the Jan. 14 debut of the program.

We're looking forward to bringing viewers a solid half-hour of in-depth exploration and discussion of issues important to all Arizonans.