KEET: 50 Years Strong and Counting & The PBS American Portrait Initiative

KEET-TV is celebrating its 50th Anniversary of producing quality programming for our community. We'll discuss the PBS approach to news presentation in this age of instant, unvetted information, and we'll see some examples of the types of stories resulting from their rigorous editing process. Jennifer Bell is working with KEET TV to draw in over 300 diverse north coast residents to submit stories for the PBS American Portrait program. This program is a collection of stories that are submitted as videos, photos, written word and scanned artwork submissions in response to one of a number of prompts. While most of the stories submitted are from urban regions of our country, we are excited to have the opportunity to round out the project with rural stories from our region. PBS American Portrait is an ongoing, evolving initiative that asks you and people all over the country to submit your individual stories, by responding to one of a number of thought-provoking prompts. Whether it’s joy or sorrow, triumph or hardship, family traditions you’ve followed for decades, or just the chaos of your family in the morning, we want to put together a picture of life as it’s really lived, today. It’s a chance for you to give us a glimpse into your life, and a chance for you to be heard.

David Gordon has spent 42 years in the broadcasting business, the majority of which has been in public radio. He has been in station management since 1993 in Nevada, North Carolina and Louisiana. David now serves as the executive director of KEET-TV and as executive producer for KEET’s award-winning documentary "Addicts Among Us," the twice-weekly Homework Hotline show, the weekly news and public affairs program North Coast Perspectives, the live music shows Lost Coast Sessions and Live from the Old Steeple and the cooking show North Coast Cuisine.

Jennifer Bell has been a local media producer for over 25 years. She was the host and producer of Food for Thought on a local public radio station for over 10 years and directed and co-produced the film High Water Mark: Stories from the ‘64 Flood. She has co-produced and co-directed three Food for Thought films, including the recently released Albacore Tuna: The Tale of a Fish. Currently Jennifer is helping KEET gather local stories for the PBS American Portrait initiative.

 

• See upcoming presentations at the Brown Bag Lunch presentations website.
• See more past presentations at the Brown Bag Lunch presentations archive.