BIO & CONTACT
Larry Kirkman is professor emeritus, Film and Media Arts, and dean emeritus, School of Communication, American University.
His work in media for public knowledge and action includes television documentaries, social advertising campaigns, online journalism projects, and strategic communications and issue advocacy for nonprofit organizations.
He was executive director of the Benton Foundation from 1989 to 2001 and AFL-CIO Labor Institute of Public Affairs from 1982 to 1989. He was the first director for TV and Video at the American Film Institute, where he produced the National Video Festival in 1981.
larry@american.edu
(202) 262-9230
Reinventing public service campaigns for the digital age
Benton, BlogIt started with a cold call from the Advertising Council to the Children’s Defense Fund (CDF). In 1996, the Ad Council, with more than $2 billion a year in donated media for public service advertising, decided to make a ten-year commitment to campaigns on behalf of children as the centerpiece of its work. To launch the initiative, the Ad Council was looking for a partner who could deliver a grassroots network and reinvent fulfillment for the digital age, replacing 800 numbers and brochures with websites to provide information and resources for action. CDF said, That’s not what we do, but you should talk to the Coalition for America’s Children and Larry Kirkman at the Benton Foundation.