2013 Local Content and Community Service Report
A community service of the Pennsylvania State University
Local Value
No matter the setting, WPSU is here to bring people together. We create those magic moments that expand minds, touch hearts and feed curiosity. WPSU is a noncommercial broadcasting station available to more than 517,000 households every day in the Johnstown-Altoona-State College and contiguous DMAs through cable, over-the-air and satellite delivery. WPSU-TV and FM is a university licensee of the Pennsylvania State University Board of Trustees. The WPSU community board of representatives acts as advisors on station activities and community outreach. We strive to create partnerships to fulfill our primary goal: extending the abundant resources of Penn State, PBS, and NPR to provide content and community engagement which reflects the interests and issues of central Pennsylvania residents. Integrating television, radio, online media and face-to-face events we create awareness of issues and provide opportunities for every day citizens to learn, share, and build community.
2013 KEY SERVICES WPSU engaged audiences through these key services: original television productions
educational family events
original radio productions
music performances
online content
PBS and NPR programming
community call-ins
Penn State student internships
community forums
Penn State productions
Community Engagement
Callers Ask the Experts on “Conversations LIVE”
WPSU’s original series, Conversations LIVE, gives audiences a chance to participate and shape the flow of each show through their questions and comments. The nine programs in 2013 addressed a range of issues and societal topics including mental health and the justice system, community water fluoridation and sports-related concussions. Content providers and guest panelists included Penn State Hershey College of Medicine, Centre Peace, Stairways Behavioral Health, Fluoride Action Network, Chemical Heritage Foundation, Mount Nittany Medical Group, Penn State Law, Citizens Alliance of Pennsylvania, Keystone Research Center, Penn State Extension, Penn State Human Development and Family Studies, Network on Child Protection and Well-Being, Children’s Advocacy Clinic, Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, Sports Neuropsychology Society and Penn State Sports Medicine.
Conversations LIVE episodes averaged a combined 26 telephone calls, emails, and posts and nearly 3,000 views on YouTube.
Community Discusses Social Justice Issues In April, 2013 WPSU was awarded a grant from WETA to hold an advance screening and panel discussion of The Central Park Five, a film about five African American and Latino teenagers from Harlem wrongly convicted of a rape in New York City in 1989. An estimated 120 students, faculty and local residents attended the screening followed by a panel discussion with representation from academia, law, and law enforcement. Event partners included Penn State Law, Penn State Academic Affairs, Africana Research Center, Harrisburg Police and New York City Assistant District Attorney.
“Our Town” Shows Off Central Pennsylvania Towns WPSU visited five Pennsylvania towns—Huntingdon, St. Marys, Williamsburg, Warren and Philipsburg— to complete the nineteenth season of the Our Town television series. Community volunteers document the people and places in their community and, along with interviews taped by WPSU, the stories are edited together to create a television special. Since WPSU began the series in 1996, Our Town has consistently contributed an average of 156 new member pledges for every program.
Volunteers helped WPSU answer pledge calls during the premiere of Our Town St .Marys
Community Engagement
Conversations from Penn State
Conversations from Penn State, hosted by Patty Satalia, offers thoughtful, in-depth conversations with a
broad range of remarkable people. In many cases, their trailblazing work has advanced their field, drawing national and worldwide attention. The 2013 season included a broad range of guests and topics including Tyrone Werts “After Life,” Kathy Mattea “Coal Journey,” and Chip Kidd “What the Story Looks Like.” Conversations from Penn State airs on WPSU on Thursday nights and is also available through Comcast On Demand and YouTube.
School Violence Prevention Examined Penn State World Campus, in collaboration with several local school districts, held a special event April 1 to explore how community advocates and researchers can work together to prevent tragedies in schools. Preventing School Violence: From Community Awareness to Evidence-Based Policies and Practices, was a free public event streamed live from the WPSU studio to World Campus students, and later broadcast on WPSU-TV. John Michael Keyes, the featured speaker, travels the country raising awareness about school violence. Keyes started the I Luv U Guys Foundation after his daughter was killed by a gunman at her high school. The event was supported by several University and community sponsors, including Penn State World Campus, Penn State Continuing Education, the Social Science Research Institute, the Network on Child Protection and Well-Being, and the school districts of Penns Valley, Bald Eagle, Bellefonte, State College and Philipsburg-Osceola. Online attendance from World Campus students reached nearly 200 people from nine states and as far away as Japan.
Community Engagement
Downton Abbey Fans get a Sneak Peek
More than 100 Downton Abbey fans filled the studio for a fabulous Downton Abbey Season 4 screening of the first hour of episode 1 on December 8. Fans first watched “Return to Downton,” then retired to the lobby for a tea reception catered by Hoag’s Catering at Celebration Hall. Whitney Chirdon and Lindsey Whissell hosted a special studio-only edition of WPSU’s original program, After Abbey, chatting with fans about what plot twists might emerge in season 4 and favorite moments and characters from the first three seasons. This event was made possible by support from The Village at Penn State.
Bringing the Holiday Spirit Alive with Music WPSU-FM and Penn State School of Music hosted Winterfest, 13: Our Gift in Song, our third annual music celebration. This year’s event, featuring Essence of Joy, directed by Dr. Anthony Leach, was broadcast live on WPSU-FM from the Pasquerilla Spiritual Center Worship Hall. Essence of Joy debuted two specially commissioned pieces for the concert: “The Essence of Christmas,” composed by Dr. Raymond Wise, and “Christmas Choral Medley,” arranged by Stan Spottswood. Six hundred tickets were sold for the concert as a benefit for WPSU.
A Taste of Italy and Fine Wines The fifth annual International Wine Festival was held at the Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel on September 29. A pre-event seminar, “A Taste of Italy: Wine and Food Pairing,” was presented by Steve Pollack, buyer for the Fine Wines & Good Spirits stores’ Chairman’s Selection program. The Grand Tasting event in the ballroom sold more that 500 tickets and featured 45 tables of 39 vintners pouring more than 200 wine varietals. As guests tasted wine and bid on wine baskets, gift certificates, art, and merchandise at the silent auction, they were treated to the sounds of jazz from Penn State School of Music students.
Kids and Family Events
2013 Family Events June WPSU Day at DelGrosso’s Amusement Park July Central Pa. Festival of the Arts August Altoona Curve Baseball Hollidaysburg Public Library Centre County Grange Fair November Eventapalooza December Dinosaur Train Winterfest ‘13
PBS Kids Make New Friends From “Let’s Go Out and Play” with Daniel Tiger at the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts to activities at the Dinosaur Train live stage show, WPSU was out and about in the community with seven events from spring through fall of 2013. Each event included a book giveaway, activities, and PBS character visits.
In June, Word Girl, the PBS Kids caped crusader and definition dynamo visited DelGrosso’s Amusement Park for a day of crime fighting fun, learning activities, door prizes and giveaways. The day at the park began with the evil villains mixing up the park by renaming all of the rides. Word Girl kids were given the task to restore order by completing the puzzles in a special edition Word Girl newspaper. In July, WPSU visited the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts, drawing more than 500 kids who stopped by to meet Daniel Tiger, hear a story, make a water sponge craft, and play hopscotch, jump rope and other summertime activities as part of the “Let’s Play Outside” theme. All kids took home a Dairy Queen coupon and PBS summer literacy materials. In August, Clifford the Big Red Dog visited the home of the Altoona Curve Baseball stadium to throw out the first pitch and give a Clifford book to the first 500 kids who stopped at the WPSU table. Kids also registered to receive a backpack loaded with back to school PBS school supplies.
Kids and Family Events
Dogs, Cats, and Dinosaurs, Oh My! Clifford the Big Red Dog visited the Centre County Grange Fair to make new friends and share his Ten Big Ideas: Share, Play Fair, Have Respect, Be Responsible, Be Truthful, Be Kind, Believe in Yourself, Be a Good Friend, and Help Others. Clifford also made a special appearance to meet his friends at the Hollidaysburg Public Library. Eventapalooza, our largest kids’ event, greeted more than 1,000 kids and adults who came out to the WPSU Studio to meet Daniel Tiger, Clifford and the Cat in the Hat. Kids visited activity stations from the Penn State Lion Tech Rocket Club, Graduate Women in Science, the Centre County 4-H Seeing Eye Puppy Club and other community exhibits. Kids also got to see themselves on TV through the magic of the green screen. Sponsored by Dairy Queen and State College Friends School, every child received a “doggie bag” filled with PBS Kids materials and a PBS book, a Dairy Queen coupon and Cat in the Hat crayons. All Aboard the Dinosaur Train! WPSU and the Penn State Center for the Performing Arts hosted a special Dinosaur Train reception to learn more about fossils before the Dinosaur Train live stage show. Children pretended to be paleontologists at the Dino Dig station, unearthing fossils to take home, made Dinosaur Train conductor hats, and read dinosaur books.
We’re so happy to be part of your neighborhood!
IMPACT 3,400 learning interactions
with kids 2,000 book giveaways at events 1,800 books provided to libraries 700 new subscribers to WPSU Connect email newsletter 15 community partners
Student Engagement
Students Get Real World Experiences Through Internships WPSU provides learning opportunities to help students graduate from Penn State with professional experiences on their resumes. During the fall 2012 and spring 2013 academic year, 47 undergraduate interns contributed 3,667 hours toward productions, radio broadcasts, television broadcasts, social media, marketing, web design, development, events, and public affairs and earned a combined 44 credit hours.
Spotlight Shines on Musical Theatre Students WPSU’s Music Theatre Spotlight is an annual spring production that provides the opportunity for students who are graduating from the Penn State Musical Theatre Program to showcase their talents in a television studio setting in front of a live audience. The bachelor of fine arts program in musical theatre is a challenging program that strengthens students’ singing, dancing and acting skills in order to make them viable candidates in the field of performing arts. Students’ participation in the production adds a unique component to their professional portfolios. Additionally, their performances posted online often attract the attention of casting agents.
Student Productions Shape On-Air Talent
WPSU airs two student productions as part of its regular lineup. Centre County Report is a live broadcast and news program produced and delivered each Friday by students from Penn State College of Communications. Twice each evening, Weather World, a service of Penn State College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, brings local forecasts and weather-related educational features to WPSU-TV viewers. Since the eighties, Penn State professors Paul Knight and Fred Gadomski have built a faithful audience who tune in to learn interesting meteorological facts. Through Weather World, Paul and Fred are helping to mentor the next generation of meteorologists from Penn State.
University Projects Student Engagement Productions Support Penn State World Campus Initiatives Penn State World Campus and Penn State Public Media continue collaborative works to recruit new students, engage current students and enhance the online learning experience. This year, Penn State Public Media: streamed three Distinguished Speaker Series events: Tim Gunn, John Legend and Mary Robinson
streamed the World Campus Town Halls in the fall and spring semesters produced a series of student focused commercials that ran on the Big Ten Network and on the jumbotron at Beaver Stadium created videos to enhance the World Campus website produced video profiles highlighting adult learners, including the first profile released in Spanish produced new student orientation videos and videos to promote the Video Learning Network developed courses in psychology and adult education in partnership with Learning Design
WPSU Scores with Penn State Sports Productions Penn State Athletics and Penn State Public Media continued their partnership in fall 2013 to produce Penn State Football 2013 - The Next Chapter Presented by Pepsi, a weekly preview show that chronicled the Nittany Lions' season with an intimate look inside the program. The Next Chapter is televised on WPSU-TV, across the Commonwealth and in numerous markets in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast. An enhanced game highlights package from each week’s game was also created for the Penn State AllAccess Channel on www.GoPSUsports.com
Penn State Basketball: In the Paint returned in 2013 for a new season following the Nittany Lions on and off the court with in-depth features, behind the scenes access and highlights from Penn State's battles on the hardwood. Produced for Penn State Intercollegiate Athletics, the shows are distributed throughout Pennsylvania and the Baltimore and Washington, D.C. metro markets. WPSU also produced nine episodes of Courtside with Coquese in 2013. The program provided viewers with an all-access tour of the Lady Lions program including road trips, locker room access, feature stories, game highlights and player interviews. Courtside air on WPSU, WPSU World and BTN2GO on demand and online.
Online Beekeeping Course Receives International Recognition Beekeeping 101 was named an official honoree in the 2013 Webby Awards. The course was one of 11 honorees in the Education category. This year's awards program received 11,000 entries from all 50 states and more than 60 countries worldwide. An interactive approach to online learning, the course was created by Penn State Public Media in collaboration with Tom Butzler, Penn State Extension horticulture educator, and Maryann Frazier, senior Extension associate in entomology. Since Beekeeping 101 launched in July, 2012, the course has enrolled more than 750 students in the U.S. and internationally.
PENN STATE PUBIC MEDIA BOARD OF REPRESENTATIVES Jo Lash, Chair Michael DelGrosso, Vice Chair Tim Asinger Ilona Ballreich Del Bright David Capperella Carolyn Donaldson William Franson Grace Hampton
Chad Herzog Linda Koch Barbara O. Korner Kevin Mead Peggy Morgan Nancy Silvis Jim Tunall
PENN STATE PUBLIC MEDIA Kate Domico, Executive Director
OUTREACH Craig Weidemann, Vice President for Outreach and Vice Provost for Online Education
THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY Rodney Erickson, President
238 Outreach Building University Park PA 16802 814-865-3333 www.wpsu.org