National Press Club member Sam Holt recalls founding of Broadcast Committee

National Press Club member Sam Holt was a founding member in 2006 of the NPC's Broadcast Task Force, which has since become an official committee of the Club. At this month's committee meeting Holt cataloged his other "founding" credentials.

In 1964, Holt founded the all-news format for a Birmingham radio station, the first with the format in the South. He later hooked up with WGBH in Boston and became a founding head of programming for television's Public Broadcasting Service.

Holt hired chef Julia Childs to "make cooking a public discourse." That worked. He hired Mr. Rogers. That worked. He launched Masterpiece Theatre. That worked.

The "MacNeil-Lehrer Report" was first on public television's Eastern Regional Network, then moved to the national network. That worked.

Holt brought conservative firebrand William F. Buckley to PBS, where Buckley quickly learned that he could no longer signal for a commercial break -- PBS has no commercials -- when interviews got out of hand. Tapes of early shows show Buckley twitching when he couldn't call for a break, he said.

At a time when the commercial networks had no business-news reporters, he founded "Wall Street Week". That worked.

Then it was back to radio where Holt was the founding head of programming for National Public Radio. He wrote a strategy paper for public radio calling for a dramatic decentralization. That did not work.

But Holt did create "Morning Edition" the NPR flagship modeled after his Birmingham program "Morning Newsstand." The key, he said was the modular format, allowing local stations to do cutaways to insert local news. The innovation encouraged the locals to establish news departments. It made public radio stations, he said, "think about being something other than ... a classical music turntable."

And, a final biographical note for this certified "founder" among Press Club members is that Holt was a Rhodes Scholar classmate of musician Kris Kristofferson. But, that's another story.

The NPC's Broadcast Committee welcomes broadcasters and others to help promote its mission of integrating broadcast members into the fabric of the Club. The committee meets on the first Thursday of each month and is open to all Club members. It's members produce podcasts and host broadcast notables for dinner and luncheon events open to all Club members. To join the committee or find out more, email chairman Mark Hamrick at [email protected].