Skip to content
Roger Simmons Roger Simmons

Birds, Words, Pics + TV

  • Home
  • All Posts
    • Orlando Wetlands
    • Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge
    • Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive
    • Joe Overstreet Road
    • UCF Arboretum
    • Fort DeSoto Park
  • My Bird Catalog
    • All Birds Catalog
    • American Flamingos
    • Bald Eagles
    • Barred Owls
    • Belted Kingfishers
    • Black-and-White Warblers
    • Eastern Bluebirds
    • Florida Scrub-Jays
    • Green Herons
    • Little Blue Herons
    • Northern Parulas
    • Ospreys
    • Reddish Egrets
    • Red-Shouldered Hawks
    • Roseate Spoonbills
    • Sandhill Cranes
    • Whooping Crane
  • Orlando TV News/History
    • Orlando TV Schedules
    • Florida TV History
  • About this Site
Roger Simmons
Roger Simmons

Birds, Words, Pics + TV

Former WMFE chief launches non-profit media venture

Roger Simmons, August 4, 2009

ttt-towerSome say the future of journalism will be in non-profit groups. One Central Florida media executive is going see if that’s true.

Former longtime WMFE TV and radio president and CEO Stephen McKenney Steck has announced the formation of the Carroll McKenney Foundation for Public Media.

“Carroll McKenney Foundation for Public Media is a new Oviedo based non-profit public charity launching as a non-commercial and educational online public media program venture,” the group said in a news release. “CMF will produce and distribute the programming via the Internet in the form of short audio segments of features and full length sound-rich audio programs and documentaries all available online via on-demand audio streaming and downloadable audio podcasts.”

After the jump, what local anchor is involved with this project …

Judy Duda, the foundation’s board chair, said that “CMF’s program content will be geographically derived from ever-widening circles in Central Florida with east Seminole County as it initial epicenter.”

The group will initially produce shows under the title “Central Florida Matters,” and later will add “Central Florida: State of our Spirit.” CMF hopes to produce twice-yearly documentaries on topics such as local history of faith. CMF plans to recruit and develop local high school and college talent, as well as try to fund independent audio producers to present their work in digital form on the group’s site.

Steck founded CMF with his wife Desta L. Horner after his retirement from WMFE in December 2007. He had served 38 consecutive years as president and CEO of the public broadcasting stations.

In addition to Steck, other local broadcasters with ties to this project include WFTV-Channel 9 anchor Bob Opshal, current WMFE president and CEO Jose A. Fajardo and Majorie Bekaert Thomas, president of Ivanhoe Broadcast News — all of whom are serving as trustees of CMF.

You can visit the group’s Web site at CMFMedia.org

Share on Social Media
x facebook reddit email
Internet Orlando TV Public Broadcasting WMFE-24

Post navigation

Previous post
Next post

Related Posts

WKMG’s newscasts go HD; WESH loses longtime employee

June 4, 2012

Posted by Roger Simmons Some quick Orlando TV news notes … For nearly three years, WKMG-Local 6 has been the only major news outlet in Orlando not broadcasting its local news in high definition. That apparently changed this week. Nearly six years after WFTV-Channel 9 became the first station in…

Read More

Before super doppler, there was “Miss Fairweather”

November 25, 2011

As regular readers probably know, we’ve been busy archiving newspaper advertisements for TV stations in Orlando (and other Florida markets too.) We recently came across one that is a gem — a 1963 advertisement for Channel 9’s “Mid Florida News.” This was from the era long before Eyewitness News became…

Read More
Orlando TV

What’s on TV tonight? You finally found out in July 1951

July 27, 2017

Jacksonville’s WMBR-TV Channel 4 went on the air on Oct. 16, 1949, broadcasting four hours a day from its 478-foot antenna on the city’s southside. But it would be nearly two years before Orlando newspapers took note and began running daily TV listings for the area’s closest station.

Read More

Latest Posts

  • Spending a magical morning at Orlando Wetlands
  • Finding some very colorful characters at Lake Apopka
  • Story of Merritt Island flamingos still being written
  • You never know what you’ll see at Orlando Wetlands
  • Reddish Egret puts on a sunset show

Top Locations

Orlando Wetlands

Posts about visits to Orlando Wetlands


UCF Arboretum

Posts about visits to UCF Arboretum


Merritt Island

Posts about visits to Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge


Lake Apopka

Posts about visits to Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive


Fort DeSoto

Posts about visits to Fort DeSoto Park


Galleries

Roger's Favorites

An ever-changing collection of my favorite pictures


American Flamingos

Photos of American Flamingos in Indian River


Belted Kingfishers

Photos of Belted Kingfishers across Central Florida.


Oystercatchers

Pictures of American Oystercatchers at Fort DeSoto Park


Spoonbills

Pictures of Roseate Spoonbills in Central Florida


Whooping Crane

Pictures of one of the last Whooping Cranes in Florida


MORE GALLERIES


Topics

American Flamingo American Kestrel Anhinga Bald Eagles Barn Swallow Barred Owl Belted Kingfisher Black-and-White Warbler Black-Crowned Night-Heron Caspian Tern Common Gallinule Common Yellowthroat Digital TV Eastern Bluebird Great Blue Heron Great Egret Green Heron Limpkin Little Blue Heron Loggerhead SHrike Northern Cardinal Northern Parula Orlando Wetlands Park Osprey Palm Warbler Prairie Warbler Red-bellied Woodpecker Red-shouldered Hawk Red-Winged Blackbird Reddish Egret Roseate Spoonbills Sandhill Crane Savannah Sparrow Snowy Egret Tricolored Heron Tufted Titmouse WESH-2 WFTV-9 White Ibis WKCF-18 WKMG-6 WMFE-24 WOFL-35 Wood Stork WRDQ-27

©2025 Roger Simmons | All Rights Reserved