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V O L . X X I V N O. I V F E B R UA R Y 1 9 , 2 0 1 8 20 He underscores that independent journalism is more important than ever in a society where government officials speak of "alternative facts" and denigrate and even threaten reporters. "It's troubling and yet at the same time encouraging to know we're on the right side of history here when it comes to the importance of a free press," he says. On radio, news and public affairs programming includes "Morning Edition," produced and hosted by Irwin Gratz (with more than 115,000 weekly listeners); "Maine Calling" hosted by Jennifer Rooks and news direc- tor Keith Shortall; and "Maine ings Considered," hosted by Nora Flaherty. Vogelzang, who increased the frequency of "Maine Calling" to five days a week, says that Mainers have a "clear appetite for news and information." e news department employs 16 people and the digital department six. Robert Holt, formerly a programmer with Microsoft Corp. in Redmond, Wash., was hired in 2014 as head of digital. Maine Public is also investing heav- ily in digital technology, including a mobile app introduced last year and a revamped website that allows listeners to live-stream from anywhere. Devotees include Brenda Garrand, CEO of Portland advertising and marketing firm Garrand and Partners, whose first job out of college was at Maine Public in 1979. Speaking by phone from a vacation in Florence, Italy, she says that she and her husband like listening to "Morning Edition" with Irwin Gratz in the afternoon there. "It's six hours difference in time, but we listen to what we call Radio Free Irwin." TV news and educational programming On TV, news and public affairs con- tent includes the "PBS Newshour" and "Nightly Business Report," international news from the BBC and Deutsche Welle, and original cover- age in Maine of the governor's address from Augusta as well as debates and candidate profiles and interviews dur- ing election years.. Educational programming includes the new PBS Kids channel, which Vogelzang says he would hold up against any other children's pro- gram on cable TV. "I would absolutely think parents would choose PBS Kids every single time," he says, "because of the high quality educational nature of it. It exhibits the very best quality of what public broadcasting should exhibit." One PBS show that's done well nationwide is "Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood," an animated series based on a character from "Mister Rogers Neighborhood," the series cre- ated and hosted by the Fred Rogers in the late 1960s. "Sesame Street," from the same era, is as "strong as ever," Vogelzang says. 'Quiz show' ambitions For its new locally produced "High School Quiz Show: Maine," Maine Public raised $150,000 from foun- dations and individuals as part of a longer-running capital campaign that brought in a record $35 million to fund ongoing operations. at $150,000 in seed money was used to build a set, hire people and create a show for three years. After that, the plan is to keep raising money or secure under- writing for some costs. In a year or two, Vogelzang would love to see all Maine high schools apply to be on the show. So who from this year's academic 'Sweet 16' will win the $1,000 grand prize and go on to Boston to compete against other regional champions? All will be revealed in the season finale, ursday, May 17, at 8 p.m. on Maine Public TV. R e n e e C o r d e s , M a i n e b i z s e n i o r w r i t e r, c a n b e r e a c h e d a t r c o r d e s @ m a i n e b i z . b i z a n d @ r s c o r d e s » C O N T I N U E D F RO M P R E V I O U S PA G E I T S O LU T I O N S TO P OW E R YO U R G R OW T H I T S N E . C O M / T E C H 8 8 8 - 2 6 4 - 7 8 5 2 Technologent is a leading provider of enterprise-class technology solutions for Fortune 1000 companies in manufacturing, healthcare, finance, energy, gaming and more. They focus on data center infrastructure, cloud, monitoring, automation and security—the foundations of today's IT environment. With most staff engaged in pre-sales, Technologent finds partnering with subcontractors like ITS to be a more cost-effective solution. —Doug Kennedy, Service Manager at Technologent, Irvine, CA "ITS has the intelligence and temperament to work well with even our most demanding customers. Their approach is always, 'What can we do to help the customer?'" I T S PA R T N E R S W I T H T E C H N O LO G E N T TO D E L I V E R E X P E R T, T I M E LY I T S E R V I C E S N AT I O N W I D E . " T H E E X P E R T S F R O M I T S M A K E O U R C U S T O M E R S V E R Y H A P P Y." F O C U S P H O T O / J I M N E U G E R We know that we have a mandate to continue to serve Maine with unique and relevant content. — Mark Vogelzang Maine Public View from the audience during the taping of 'High School Quiz Show: Maine' at Maine Public's studio in Lewiston.

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