How does a small public TV station provide its state with complete coverage of a statewide series of disasters?
Iowa is truly a disaster state right now - not only has it record floods but also tornadoes.
IPTV, Iowa Public TV, has asked the public for help and it is getting it. Here is its video page where you can see not only a selection of Videos from the public and the station but also its process of attracting them into the station. This is a thumbnail so click to see more.
Here is is Flickr Feed. Click to see more.
Ironically, the minimal resources that Public TV has is making its adoption of social media more widespread and the result is of course that the stations that have gone down this route are getting more attached to their members.
With the fire in San Diego, the Bridge collapse in Minneapolis and now the Floods in Iowa, we are seeing Public TV starting to find a new definition for the term "Public Broadcaster".
At KETC in St Louis we begin a new chapter in covering disasters and in engaging the public. For normally when we think "Disaster" we think of a flood or a fire. But what about the great and complex social problems that we all face. What about education? What about health care? Are these not "Disasters".
Unlike a flood, they are persistent and they are pervasive. They also seem insoluble - maybe until now? For their causes are surely systemic and we are very poor at even seeing systemic issues, let alone coping with them. We tend to line up along special interest lines. There is not enough trust in play to break through.
There has also been no Trusted Place for the real conversation to be held.
Next week we will start to see if we can help the people of St Louis cope with the mortgage crisis. What could be more complex than that? What could be more dangerous that large segments of any city losing hope that they can be part of society? Our hope is that Public TV can offer the Trust that can connect the unconnected and hence mobilize the Trust that is surely the essential element of how a community can come together and confront these dangerous systemic social "disasters" that are eroding our society.
I will be posting the story of how we do this as it unfolds. I hope to share with you in real time our thoughts and our struggles to take this next step in media.
