SiliconBeat

Santa Clara chip maker Intel has become a corporate sponsor of The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, broadcast on PBS.

Intel’s support, which began on April 1, will continue through December 2009. Other sponsors of the show include Chevron, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.

Besides providing general programming support, Intel will pay for a series of mini-documentaries examining the role of innovation in the economy, but won’t have editorial involvement, according to PBS.

Intel also will work with the NewsHour and the Aspen Institute to create a series of salon dinners in Washington, DC, culminating in an October summit, which will focus on innovation.