The Hearst stations are trying something similar to their Democracy initiative -- sharing stories among stations to help viewers cope with the sluggish economy.
KMBC LAUNCHES NEWS SERIES ADDRESSING ECONOMIC ISSUES
(Kansas City, MO) January 21, 2009 - With a special news series to be launched this evening, KMBC will seek to establish a new template for local TV journalism on economic issues.
The ongoing series, "Project Economy" is appearing throughout KMBC's parent station group, Hearst-Argyle Television, Inc., during the course of 2009; content will appear on Hearst-Argyle Television's TV stations, and associated websites, stretching from Portland, Maine, to Honolulu.
The on-air/online series will address not only money-saving tips but will document job-seekers' paths to finding employment and report on local businesses' struggles to weather the recession. Local stories will be supported by national reporting provided by Hearst-Argyle's Washington, DC, bureau.
All of the Hearst-Argyle stations also will conduct job fairs, many in partnership with their respective state unemployment offices, in an effort to help their viewers and online users find jobs.
During the course of the project, KMBC and the other Hearst-Argyle stations will have the flexibility of creating online communities to help bolster their audiences' engagement with the latest economic news and trends. Interactive components -- which may include resume-writing advice, user-generated content, and the participation of guest bloggers -- will complement local economic headlines and aggregated content from the most poignant stories gathered by Hearst-Argyle stations.
"KMBC is committed to dedicating time and resources on what people need right now; information to empower them in tough economic times," says KMBC News Director, Sherrie Brown. "KMBC is the most trusted source of information in Kansas City and we have a responsibility to help make our community stronger."
"Project Economy" is Hearst-Argyle's second major group-wide ongoing public-interest series. Its bi-annual "Commitment" election-coverage series, also characterized by daily news reports and other features, has earned four consecutive national Walter Cronkite Awards for TV political journalism from the University of Southern California's Annenberg School.
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