About MPT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Colleen Wright
September 26, 2001
Marketing Communications Account Executive
Telephone: (410) 581-4293
E-mail: colleenwright@mpt.org

MPT. This is bigger than television.

Local News destined to be local hit MPT airs a candid behind-the-scenes look at commercial TV news

Owings Mills, MD: For two-thirds of Americans, the number one information source is local television news - a competitive, ratings-driven parade of crime, tragedy and endless weather reports. Viewers and media critics alike bemoan the sad state of live/eyewitness/on-your-side news programs. Yet, until now, viewers have been unable to see how this crucial institution functions.

One Station Fights the Odds, a five-part documentary airing on Tuesdays, October 9 November 6, from 10 11 p.m., depicts one station's efforts to lift its ratings out of third-place - while simultaneously improving its journalistic standards. This surprisingly candid, behind-the-scenes look at WCNC-TV, the NBC affiliate in Charlotte, North Carolina, follows the daily drama of the reporters, news managers and community members who struggle to find a better way for local TV news.

How is television news produced? What stories do - and don't - get on the air? What impact do newscasts have on a local community and its identity? Local News looks at the fundamental issues of journalism, ethics, race and community, and the ever-present tension between responsible reporting and the profit motive. Can local news replace in-the-moment sensation with broad-view information? Can it serve and heal communities, rather than divide them? Will the nightly newscast report survive as a distinctly hometown voice in an increasingly homogeneous national medium?

Underwriters: Ford Foundation, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, The Jacob Burns Foundation, Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, Public Television Viewers, PBS and Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Co-producers: Lumiere Productions and Thirteen/WNET New York. Executive producers: Calvin Skaggs and David Van Taylor. Filmmakers: Ali Pomeroy and Brad Lichtenstein (producers/sound); Nicholas Doob and David Van Taylor (producers/camera); Jay Freund and Cindy Kaplan Rooney (editors). Executive in charge of production: Stephen Segaller. Format: CC STEREO. Online: PBS.org

Maryland Public Television is a not-for-profit, state-licensed public television station which serves the citizens and communities of Maryland and beyond through a variety of broadcast and nonbroadcast activities. MPT is a leader in the production of national and local/regional broadcast programming. Beyond broadcast, MPT has developed instructional videos and Web sites that serve tens of thousands of students, teachers, and child-care providers annually. MPT outreach activities, especially relating to arts, culture, and history, take place in all areas of the state to further fulfill MPT's mission to engage, enlighten, and entertain. For more information, www.mpt.org

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