National Center for Media Engagement September 2009 News Blast

		September 2009




	Repository Pick: KCET's Wildfire Response KCET launched a comprehensive response to address Southern Californians' needs during the current wildfires. Through its SoCal Connected on-air and online programming, KCET is providing information and support in a variety of media: downloadable video feeds, Twitter updates, Google maps, Flickr groups and blogs. Read the details.


	Webinar: Understanding Community Context Learn how your station can use Community Conversations to gain public knowledge. Rich Harwood will present key steps to help you be more relevant and significant to the community you serve in Stations Turning Outward: Understanding Community Context Webinar on Monday, September 21 from 2:30 - 3:30 p.m. ET. To register, click here. The Webinar is part of the Stations Turning Outward initiative from The Harwood Institute and CPB.


	My Source Highlights: KERA and KALW 91.7

	Davin Kimble of Fort Worth tells how KERA helped his family bounce back from job loss. Hear the spot. Read the story.

	Community members involved in the KALW 91.7 Economic Edge Street Team talk about feeling valued by the station. Hear the spot. Read the details.


	In This Issue
		Economic Response Efforts Resources for Your Flu Response Efforts Pipeline Picks Peer Events and Professional Development Opportunities Enhance your Station's Coverage of the Economy Repository Pick of the Month Sidebar Webinar: Turning Outward to Deepen Your Work Sidebar My Source Highlights: KERA and KALW 91.7 Sidebar
	Here are new resources to support CPB's Public Service Media Economic Response Initiative that helps stations serve their communities. As part of the Facing the Mortgage Crisis initiative, KERA television and radio pooled their resources to support North Texan families through job loss and potential foreclosure. Read the story. Ideas and Resources With the youth unemployment rate at its highest level since 1948, growing numbers of teens in your community are looking for things to do. Read the details and consider how you can engage them. For ideas about what to do with teens, see repository entries: IPB's Kickin' It at Kickapoo and KZMU-FM's Voices of Youth-Moab. KALW 91.7 uses the "power of the public" to gather stories in its initiative The Economic Edge — documenting the downturn. Volunteers in the San Francisco Bay Area choose a community meeting from an online list, attend the event and report back via detailed phone message. KALW shares the messages on the air and online so disparate segments of the community hear one another and better understand the scope of the crisis. Learn more or listen to Street Team members talk about their participation in a My Source spot.

	Resources for Your Flu Response Efforts
		Specifically designed to serve public media, CPB-funded fluportal.org provides multimedia tools, coverage suggestions and community-building strategies to help stations address H1N1 in local communities. The American Lung Association has created an online flu clinic locator as part of its High-risk Influenza Immunization Program. Share it with your community. September is National Preparedness Month (NPM). Involve your station and help lead your community in emergency preparedness. Don't forget to create your station's own action plan. Refer to this month's Pipeline Pick Do More than Cross Your Fingers to get started. Sesame Workshop joined with three federal agencies to teach flu prevention tips to American children. Four video PSAs featuring Elmo and Gordon have been distributed nationwide and are available to embed on your site from flu.gov. As flu cases multiply, emergency rooms are likely to be overwhelmed. You can ease the burden by helping people locate the nearest place for non-emergency care. Learn about New York City's "one-stop influenza Web portal."
	Pipeline Picks
		Remind your community members to honor a loved-one this Thanksgiving holiday. Join StoryCorps in celebrating the National Day of Listening on November 27, the day after Thanksgiving Day. Visit our Pipeline to learn how your station can get involved. What does it mean to be human in a digital world? FRONTLINE helps us answer this question in Digital Nation, an interactive project that explores how technology is changing all of us. The project includes a televised documentary to air winter 2010, user-generated video sharing and involvement with influential social networking sites. More information is available through the project's Pipeline page. Check out the American Red Cross' Do More than Cross Your Fingers campaign for ideas of how you can encourage community members to prepare themselves for emergencies. The initiative includes tips for the workplace, home and school. Visit our Pipeline page and click the preview link to see Jamie Lee Curtis discuss how to personalize a family emergency kit.
	Peer Events and Professional Development Opportunities
		Facebook: Finding Your Station's Voice Curious about how your station can use Facebook? This Webinar on Wednesday, Sept. 23 at 2 p.m. ET is for you. John Bell, director of membership and communications at Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) will explain what you need to know to create a presence for your station on this social networking phenomenon. Presented by NETA and NCME. Register now.
	Enhance your Station's Coverage of the Economy
		As part of our Peer Network Webinar series, NCME partners with CPB's Economic Collaboration to share stories and resources around the economy. The first Webinar of the collaboration takes place Wednesday, October 28 at 2 p.m. ET. We'll showcase free online tools to complement your station's local economic coverage, provide samples of how stations are effectively using these materials and give a tour of Knowledge Network, an online destination with resources from more than ten public media partners. Register today.

The National Center for Media Engagement's mission is to ensure public media as essential to building community connections across multiple platforms. We provide resources for stations and producers that engage and educate citizens, build sustainable community relationships and stimulate citizen participation.

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