PRESS RELEASE

Washington, DC – Donald V. West, longtime Editor-in-Chief of Broadcasting and Broadcasting & Cable magazines and former assistant to the president of CBS Inc., has been elected President-CEO of the Library of American Broadcasting Foundation, Inc.(LABF), effective September 15, 2005. He has been an active member of the LABF Board for the last three years. Announcing his election, Ramsey L. Woodworth, Chairman of the LABF Board, called West “… an astute observer of the broadcasting industry for more than 40 years… ,” and stated: “I can think of no better person than Don to lead our Foundation and the Library during the next stage of its development. He brings an unparalleled depth of knowledge and experience in broadcasting to our Library.” Among his industry honors are the Freedom of Speech Award of the Media Institute, the Distinguished Service Award of the Association of Local Television Stations, the American Broadcast Pioneer Award of the Broadcasters Foundation and induction into the Hall of Fame of the Washington Society of Professional Journalists.

West succeeds Lucille Luongo as President-CEO, of whom Mr. Woodworth further stated: “In leading our revitalization effort over the past four years, Lucille has done wonders and set a very high standard for the leadership of our Foundation. On behalf of the entire Board, our commendation for a job well done.”

As part of this transition, the Foundation has opened offices at the Hornbake Library on the University of Maryland campus in order to more closely coordinate the operation of the Library with its academic partner, the University of Maryland Libraries. “The co-location of the Foundation with the Library will greatly enhance our collective ability to strengthen the role of the Library as the institutional memory of broadcasting,” said Dean of Libraries Charles Lowry in welcoming West and the Foundation to the UM campus. “We look forward to an even closer relationship as we move the Library to its next stage of development as the pre-eminent repository of broadcast history in the United States.”

The Library of American Broadcasting (LAB) was founded at the Washington headquarters of the National Association of Broadcasters 33 years ago and since 1994 has been located on the University of Maryland campus and operated in partnership with the University of Maryland Libraries. Chuck Howell is the LAB curator. The Library now occupies over 25,000 square feet of prime university real estate and is actively engaged in continuing its decades-long program of oral histories, now numbering over 1,000. Its many collections include over 250,000 photographs, 10,000 books, 1,000 kinescopes and videotapes and – at last count -- 4,300 radio and television scripts. The address of the Library is 3210 Hornbake Library, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742.

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