The Official Soledad O'Brien Fan Club
" I loved doing this type of show--It was a very interesting look at a city, researched in depth, and told in a very compelling style. I like covering hard news-I think technology fits that description, and this show does as well. I like having a full hour to tell a story, and also not intruding into the story as a journalist--the people in this show tell the story of Phoenix themselves--I'm just there to ask questions and connect the dots." ----Soledad
Thirteen/WNET Press Release
356 West 58th Street
New York NY 10019
IMAGING AMERICA, PRIMETIME NATIONAL NEWS MAGAZINE, TO PREMIERE
APRIL 1997 ON PBS
IMAGING AMERICA, a new program offering a unique approach to the news magazine format, will premiere on Tuesdays, April 1, 8, and 15 at 10 p.m. (ET), on PBS (check local listings). The series is produced by PBS flagship station Thirteen/WNET in New York.
Each program takes us to one city which serves as a microcosm of issues that resonate across America. Through eclectic feature segments, all shot on location, the programs connect the dots between stories to create a revealing portrait of America as it moves toward the next millennium. The series' production style encompasses segments of varying lengths, joined by bridges and interstitial material, in a seamless storytelling process.
"IMAGING AMERICA will look at news as a process rather than a series of events," says executive producer George Rivera, whose past work for the networks, cable and public television has garnered five Emmy Awards. "Our grassroots approach will emphasize the experiences and insights of ordinary -- and extraordinary -- people in one city or town to discover how the major news issues and events of the day affect us all."
Cities selected for the April programs are Portland, Oregon; Phoenix, Arizona; and Salisbury, Maryland. A roster of network correspondents and local television reporters will contribute to the series. To date, senior contributing correspondents for IMAGING AMERICA include Randall Pinkston of CBS News; Soledad O'Brien of MSNBC's The Site, and Jed Duvall of Fox News.
The series will utilize DVCs (digital video cameras) for most of its pieces. "With the latest broadcast-quality digital technology, our producers can effectively be one-man bands. shooting and editing their own stories," says Tamara E. Robinson, Vice President and Director of Programming for Thirteen/WNET. "This approach is cost-effective, and allows us to get up close and personal with people and their stories."
Portland, Oregon is the focus of the first program. Once a bustling lumber port, Portland has now become a booming silicon forest where high tech industries outperform national counterparts in revenue by 300%. Segments take a look at Mariah Taylor and the "Clinic of Last Resort," a valued community center providing free or low-cost health care to children; the influx of foreigners into the Portland area and the growing numbers of skinhead gangs; a homeless female welfare recipient who beat the odds; an unusual relationship between Laotian Hmong immigrants and the community; and a one-of-a-kind "graffiti eraser" on a mission, among others.
The second program goes to Phoenix, Arizona, a city known for reinventing itself. IMAGING AMERICA introduces some of the people responsible for creating this desert oasis and talks to others who question its rapid expansion. Segments include Proposition 102 and the issue of trying teens accused of crimes as adults. Sun City West, an innovative -- and isolated -retirement community; and the Buffalo Soldiers, a group of African-American soldiers in the U.S. Army who fought to protect Native Americans in the 1860's; "Narcocorridos," Mexico's answer to "gangsta rap," now taking the Southwest by storm; and the American Dream via Jerry Colangelo, the poor kid from Chicago who now manages or owns every major sports franchise in the city.
The third program visits Salisbury, a town in Maryland at the head of the Wicomico River.
Segments include the story of a corporate executive turned clock maker; an eighty-year-old nundevoted to aiding the poor; two sons who grew up on a three-hundred-year-old family dairy farm; and a behind-the-scenes look at the local chicken processing plant.
IMAGING AMERICA is funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Pending additional financial support, the series will return next fall. Executive in Charge is Fred Noriega.
My thanks for the Imaging America pages to Sue Luskin and Daryl Crowley.
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