Our Mission

Our primary mission is to harness the power of the Internet and other new media platforms for the benefit of public broadcasters.

To realize this mission, we concentrate our three broad activities

• Identifying and supporting industry leadership through information, peer-to-peer networking and executive training.
• Monitoring industry results through
  • Accurate measurement of new media usage and public service (webmetrics)
  • Tracking new revenue streams
  • Comparing “our” performance with results achieved by other service providers
• Facilitating collaboration among public broadcasters and related public service publishers to create a strong public service presence on emerging new media platforms

A Brief History

IMA started in 1997, under the name of PRISA, the Public Radio Internet Station Alliance. PRISA was a radio-oriented R&D project organized by executives from six major licensees

In 2002, PRISA reorganized to include PTV participation and changed its name to "The Integrated Media Association." In the following spring (2003), IMA assumed responsibility for organizing the annual "Internet Summit" of public broadcasting. Later that year, we reorganized our governance to include PBS, NPR and PRI on the IMA Board.  

In June 2004, IMA expanded its role in the development of system strategy by convening a meeting of networks and major producing stations.  The current IMA work plan (below) continues to reflect the “system-wide” view that grew out of that meeting.

Through its meetings, conferences, collaborative projects and publications, IMA continues to provide a center within public broadcasting for online service information, policy and practice.

What are our Objectives for FY09?

• Develop management tools, including system-wide metrics, analytical tools, and basic organizational information (job descriptions, salary ranges, organizational charts etc.) needed by managers of new media operations.
• Continue to support the growth of online underwriting among member station and networks, especially in the form of a national network of online sponsorships opportunities, to be developed by National Public Media.
  
• Continue the CEO-directed leadership training offered at the annual Public Media Conference.
  
• Add a "members only" meeting Nov. 9-10, in Minneapolis, MN..
• Support a collaborative new media development approach in cooperation with National Public Radio.
• Develop a working group capable of clearly defining and developing an IMA agenda for television licensees, focused in part on educational applications.