Boston TV Station Asks Viewers to Fund Special About Adoption

An article in The
Boston Globe noted that public broadcasting station WGBH is asking viewers
to help finance a $1.6 million documentary about the changing nature of
adoption. The project, tentatively titled “Adoption: An American Revolution,”
would include a two-hour TV special and an outreach effort through libraries
and schools, according to executive producer Judith Vecchione. The show is
tentatively scheduled to air in November 2006.

The station received a grant from PBS and the Corporation
for Public Broadcasting, but still needs to raise matching funds for about
three-quarters of the project’s cost. Executives decided to solicit funds from not only corporations and foundations,
but from the adoption community.

WGBH’s fund-raising targeted at those touched by adoption
might work, for several reasons:

• Many of us in the adoption community are disgusted with the
  media’s usual gloom and doom reports about adoption. It would be refreshing to
  see adoption dealt with in a sensitive, in-depth manner.
• That would likely happen with this project, which is
  inspired by Adam Pertman’s fabulous book, Adoption
  Nation. Pertman, the senior adviser for the project, is the executive
  director of the highly-respected Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute. I would
  trust any project he stands behind.
• Finally, WGBH produces about a third of the prime time
  content on PBS, and is highly successful at raising viewer pledges. To learn
  more, visit www.adoptionfilm.org.

Source: The Boston Globe,  August 4, 2005, “WGBH appeals to viewers to fund show
about adoption,” by Joanna Weiss