[nfbmi-talk] hot off the press

[Joe Sontag]

1300 as opposed to 3100+ subscribers?  And the actual usage issue raised in 
this article is news to me.

With everything else that's going on in our State, I know of no one who has 
time to be used as a political toy over the worthy goal of stable 
NFB-NEWSLINE funding.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "joe harcz Comcast" <joeharcz at comcast.net>
To: <nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, August 28, 2013 15:03
Subject: [nfbmi-talk] hot off the press


> State extends funding for newspaper service for blind By Paul Egan Detroit 
> Free Press Lansing Bureau State funding for a service that gives blind 
> people
>
> in Michigan access to hundreds of newspapers and magazines has been 
> extended for six months while officials try to determine "accurate levels 
> of use and
>
> service," an official said today. The move follows a report in the Free 
> Press on Tuesday that the National Federation of the Blind had notified 
> about 1,300
>
> Michigan subscribers that the NFB-Newsline service would be shut off 
> Saturday due to a cut in state funding. The goal in granting this 
> extension is to
>
> keep the service in place to avoid a shutdown and ensure that the blind 
> community continues to be served in an efficient and cost effective 
> manner," Ed
>
> Rodgers, director of Michigan's new Bureau of Services for Blind Persons, 
> said in an e-mail today. As a member of the blind community I do not want 
> this
>
> service to end," Rodgers said. State officials say this year's grant 
> request was initially denied "due to NFB's failure to provide timely and 
> sufficient
>
> information. Scott White, director of NFB-Newsline in Baltimore, Md., said 
> he's encouraged by the extension and by Rodgers agreeing to meet with him 
> to
>
> discuss the service. But he said he doesn't know what information has not 
> been provided. They asked for certain information and we provided the 
> information
>
> they requested," White said. In the last year, Michigan subscribers have 
> spent 1.2 million minutes on the telephone with NFB-Newsline, White said. 
> That's
>
> only one measure of use, he said. Data transfers through I-phones and 
> other devices are becoming increasingly popular, he said. Larry Posont, 
> president
>
> of the National Federation of the Blind of Michigan, said he's thankful 
> for the extension, but would like to have the issue resolved long-term. 
> The service,
>
> launched in 1995, provides 24/7 free access to about 360 local, national 
> and international newspapers and magazines, including the Free Press and 
> five
>
> other Michigan newspapers.
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> nfbmi-talk mailing list
> nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbmi-talk_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
> nfbmi-talk:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nfbmi-talk_nfbnet.org/suncat0%40gmail.com