SoCal Connected announced an innovative partnership with the News21 team at USC Annenberg.
The Web-based, multimedia project, Dream Interrupted: California in Crisis, launches Thursday, Feb. 11. News21 journalists working in Los Angeles, Orange County, Riverside, Ventura County and the Antelope Valley will report on vital areas of concern, including the economy, education, transportation, housing and government.
“We look forward to joining forces with one of the most prestigious journalism programs in the country,” says Bret Marcus, Executive Producer of SoCal Connected and KCET Senior Vice President of Programming and Production. “With their help, we will be able to expand our multiplatform commitment to reporting the important issues in Southern California.”
“We are delighted to work with KCET, a visionary, community-focused public media institution that shares our commitment to developing leaders in the communication revolution. News21 embraces innovative multimedia reporting and our partnership with SoCal Connected is a tremendous opportunity to experiment with new forms of multiplatform storytelling,” says Marc Cooper, Annenberg Digital News Director, who co-coordinates the News21 team with Professor Patricia Dean.
Dream Interrupted: California in Crisis continues KCET’s longstanding relationship with USC’s Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism. KCET’s award-winning productions California Connected and Life & Times, which laid the foundation for SoCal Connected, both featured broadcast reports by USC News21 graduate students. KCET’s Web exclusive series, Departures, was among the finalists selected to present at USC Annenberg School’s first-of-its-kind National Summit on Arts Journalism. USC Journalism Professor Judy Muller, currently an award-winning correspondent for SoCal Connected, also reported for California Connected and served as anchor of California at War, a one-hour California Connected special that looked at how World War II changed California, and how California changed the war.
Previous USC News21 fellows have gone on to posts at BBC, Politico, Marketplace, the Orange County Register, and PBS NewsHour. KCET's Brian Frank, a SoCal Connected associate producer, is a former News21 Fellow and a key player in the Dream Interrupted project.
About News21
News21 is a nationwide partnership among twelve prominent universities including USC, the University of California at Berkley, Columbia University, Northwestern University and Harvard University, under the Carnegie-Knight Initiative on the Future of Journalism Education. News21 seeks to advance U.S. news media and to revitalize journalism and schools of journalism across the country. For more information about the News21 initiative, please visit www.news21.com.
About SoCal Connected
SoCal Connected, recent winner of six Emmys, eight Golden Mikes, including Best News Public Affairs Show, five LA Press Club awards for journalism, recipient of the regional Edward R. Murrow Award for Best News Documentary, and Los Angeles Magazine’s “Best New Local TV Program,” airs Thursdays (8:00 – 8:30 p.m.), Fridays (8:30 – 9:00 p.m.), Saturdays (6:00 – 6:30 p.m.), and Sundays (6:30 – 7:00 p.m.) exclusively on KCET. For more information, to view episodes online or to post comments, please visit www.kcet.org/socal.
SoCal Connected is made possible through the generous support of The Ahmanson Foundation, serving the Los Angeles community since 1952; Jim and Anne Rothenberg; Linda and Abbott Brown; The Elizabeth Hofert-Dailey Trust; The John Randolph Haynes & Dora Haynes Foundation; The City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, UCLA and U.S. Bank.
