MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Alabama Educational Television Foundation Authority, one of Alabama Public Television’s governing bodies, has called a special meeting for Wednesday in Montgomery, the latest in a complicated saga about conducting an opinion poll.
The Foundation postponed a previous special meeting in August that was called to approve using part of its rainy day fund for a statewide poll. Though it doesn’t mention the fund, Wednesday’s meeting has a similar agenda.
Board members will “take up the matter of the approval and funding of an agreement to conduct a survey of a cross section of Alabamians about Alabama Public Television,” according to the meeting notice submitted to the secretary of state’s office.
The board intends to use a new pollster, Cygnal, for the survey, after plans to use national polling firm McLaughlin and Associates fell through.
“We’re gonna take up where we left off as we were seeking a polling company to ask questions about Alabama Public Television’s programming, and so we expect a vote on an agreement that we have,” board member Ferris Stephens told Alabama Daily News. “We’ve been talking with the polling company Cygnal about this, and so we’re going to take up whether to hire them and also we’ll probably take up what would be the types of questions in the script that they would use.”
Stephens declined to share the dollar amount or any other details of the proposed contract with Cygnal.
The board had previously OK’d using the rainy day fund to finance the survey in July after the Alabama Educational Television Commission, which oversees APT’s operations and programming, decided on McLaughlin.
The board’s selection of McLaughlin garnered criticism from board members who said its history of primarily working with Republican clients, including the Republican National Committee and the Alabama Republican Party, would politicize the survey.
Those critics, especially board member Pete Conroy, said the survey was a way to reopen the conversation about whether APT should disaffiliate from PBS.
The Commission had considered disaffiliating more than a year ago but formally voted not to after viewers pushed back and Gov. Kay Ivey sent a letter urging a viewer survey before taking any action.
Stephens, who introduced the agreement with McLaughlin and advocated for it, said the contract with McLaughlin “just didn’t work out.”
“There’s a lot of things that go back and forth in negotiations, so it just happened not to work out,” Stephens said. “You have to have a meeting of the minds on both sides, and so we didn’t get there.”
Though McLaughlin is out as the pollster, Conroy, a vocal opponent of PBS disaffiliation, is still concerned the survey sends the wrong message to the public.
He called on the board to “take a step back and consider what will best restore public confidence” in an email obtained by Alabama Daily News. He further urged the Foundation to return control of the survey’s development and administration to APT’s professional staff.
“We must ensure that our survey process is viewed as credible, independent and above political influence,” Conroy’s letter reads.
Stephens, who also serves as the Commission’s president, said he did not receive a copy of Conroy’s email, which he called “disappointing.” He said he believes the Commission and Foundation have high public trust, which they deserve because of commissioners’ hard work.
“We really do care about the interests of the millions of people that will receive our broadcasts, and so we take that responsibility very seriously…” Stephens said. “As far as the (survey) script is concerned, it’s not written to get a certain response. The questions don’t do that. We expected them not to, and they don’t.”
One of the survey questions does ask directly about disaffiliation from PBS, according to a draft script obtained by ADN.
“Alabama Public Television pays annual fees to PBS for national programming, which makes up roughly 80 to 90 percent of what it broadcasts,” the question reads. “Ending that relationship would free up those fees, but it would also mean replacing most of the current lineup, including children’s programming, from other sources. Should Alabama Public Television continue its relationship with PBS, or end it?”
Another question asks about the ideology of APT programming.
“Based on what you have seen or heard, would you say the programming on Alabama Public Television leans politically liberal, leans politically conservative, or is generally balanced?”
Most other questions in the draft script ask about respondents’ awareness of programming and views on values and politics.
The meeting agenda sets aside time for public comment after the Foundation discusses the survey. The Foundation meeting will begin at 12:00 p.m. on Wednesday at APT studios in Montgomery.