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Mass Media Department
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508 Putnam St.

WTAP adding bureau in Marietta CollegeØs Mass Media building

August 30, 2004 -- Officials from both Marietta College and WTAP-TV are excited to announce that the two organizations are forming a partnership to help provide the Mid-Ohio Valley with expanded news coverage.

WTAP, which is owned by Gray Television Group, Inc., is putting a news bureau inside the McKinney Mass Media Center on the campus of Marietta College. It will be capable of handling live or taped interviews, live anchoring or co-anchoring of newscasts, and will also serve as the hub of operations for WTAPØs Marietta-based reporter/photographer — who should be in place by Jan. 1, 2005.

"This collaboration between WTAP and Marietta College benefits the Marietta community, WTAP, and the College," said Marietta College President Dr. Jean A. Scott. ²I am pleased that through its Marietta bureau, WTAP can expand its focus on the Marietta community. Our students will have opportunities to work with a professional newsroom here on campus, and to experience on a daily basis the excitement and complexity that television news entails. This is an outstanding example of the connection of a liberal arts education to the world of work, one of the core values of Marietta College.

The bureau is linked to WTAP via microwave and is an extension of the Peoples Bank Weathercam microwave system, put in place two years ago atop the Lafayette Hotel.

"WTAP is proud to be a part of this new partnership with Marietta College," said Roger Sheppard, WTAP's vice president and general manager. ²It is the mission of both organizations to serve the entire Mid-Ohio Valley. By expanding our news operation in this way, we believe we are helping to further these causes.

This isn't the first WTAP bureau in Marietta. WTAP had a Marietta bureau in the former Dime Bank Building at the corner of Second and Putnam streets in the early 1970s. But various financial considerations forced the bureau to close. With a large portion of its viewership coming from Ohio, bringing back a bureau was an obvious choice for WTAP.

"Nearly half of WTAPØs local viewing audience is in Ohio and this operation is WTAP's way of re-affirming its commitment to the people and businesses on the Ohio side of the Ohio River," Sheppard said. "This builds upon the relationship WTAP already has with the community of Marietta. For example, WMOA and ESPN100 radio stations, both carry simulcasts of WTAPØs weekday 6 p.m. newscasts."

The partnership benefits MC as WTAP will offer selected students the opportunity to work in the bureau, putting some of their classroom learning to work in a real-life situation."It is our hope that this relationship with an NBC affiliate, will help Marietta College attract even more broadcast students," Sheppard said. Mike McNamara, an assistant professor of mass media at MC, anchored the WTAP-TV news for six years, and he understands the value of this partnership.

"This is obviously a great situation for WTAP and its viewers, and Marietta College and its students," McNamara said. "It will afford mass media students an opportunity to see what goes on at a commercial station — how they produce stories and how they get on the air."

The College will continue to broadcast its 30-minute newscasts at 6:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday on Marietta cableØs Channel 15 (WCMO). But the agreement with WTAP includes opportunities for students through internships.

"I think this is really important," said senior Anna White, an Athens, Ohio, native who is majoring in radio/television."I worked in Huntington, W.Va., this summer, and just that experience and coming back to college is a total reality shock. This is going to help our students a great deal. It's tough to get internships, but with this experience a student will have a lot more opportunities."

The bureau will go active around Labor Day on a limited basis, going into full action with the placement of the Marietta reporter/photographer. The bureau will add a new dimension to WTAP's coverage.

"In the past, whenever we wanted to do an in-studio interview with someone in the Marietta area, we had to have them come to Parkersburg," Sheppard said. "Now we'll be able to conduct those interviews, live, from the Marietta bureau if we like."

Viewers of the Marietta segments will see a large aerial photograph of Marietta with Marietta College logos superimposed over it, as the backdrop behind the anchors or interviewees. This graphic incorporates many of the same design elements that were included in WTAP's newly remodeled main studio, which went on the air in February.

"I'd like to thank Dr. Jean Scott and everyone at Marietta College who has embraced this concept and worked to make it a reality," Sheppard said. "Our staff is very excited about the opportunities this opens up for us to do more efficient coverage of Marietta area news and to give our viewers a total picture of issues and events in the entire Mid-Ohio Valley."