THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 8, 1995 TAG: 9501060225
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 07 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ERIC FEBER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 72 lines
A Chesapeake television news program has been recognized as one of the best in the nation.
``This Week in the General Assembly,'' produced by WCTV-23, the city's cable television channel, won first place in City Hall Digest magazine's Public Information Awards competition. City Hall Digest, which annually sponsors the international public information contest, is a newsletter for municipal governments.
The program won in the category for cities of populations over 50,000, which included such locales as Phoenix, Ariz.; Santa Ana, Calif.; and Winston-Salem, N.C. The only other Virginia city of comparable size to win any recognition was Hampton, which won an Award of Merit plaque for its ``What's Hot In Hampton'' program.
The award-winning ``This Week in the General Assembly'' follows the Chesapeake delegation to the Virginia General Assembly during its regular business session. It features stories concerning legislation pertinent to the city, along with reports from the delegates and state senators who represent Chesapeake, said Meyer Davis, station coordinator for WCTV-23.
``We started the program last year,'' Davis said. ``When we began, we wanted to make it a combination of everything one would find in a news information program. Of course we look at the workings of the entire Virginia General Assembly, but we focus on the Chesapeake delegation and the Chesapeake legislative agenda during the regular session.''
Davis said the program, which airs weekly on WCTV-23 during the General Assembly's session, includes interviews with the city's representatives and gives updates on the status on legislation important to Chesapeake.
``We like to follow a bill, where it goes, what happens to it in committee, if there are any hearings and then its final outcome,'' Davis said.
Davis said the program began with the program's host, Mark S. Cox, director of public affairs for Chesapeake.
``He is also the liaison for the Chesapeake delegation in Richmond and travels up there with them,'' Davis said. ``Since he is there anyway, he was asked by the City Council to keep the citizens informed about what's going on in Richmond. So it made sense to tie in video production with his presence at the state Capitol.''
Davis said the program consistently scored high marks in video production. It was judged on its overall concept and production, technical quality of photography and sound, editorial quality of script and achievement of communications goals.
Contest judges also said Chesapeake's entry showed ``excellence in handling enormous amount of sometimes complex material.''
``Apparently we met all of the judges' criteria,'' Davis said. ``I think we did do a good job communicating to the public about what goes on in Richmond. We also did special animation, opening and closing the show, and did as much location shooting as possible, so the program wasn't just all talking heads. Simply put, we just wanted to educate people on the goings-on in Richmond.''
But members of the program's staff will have no time to bask in the glory of its award. They all traveled to Richmond this week to begin the second year of ``This Week in the General Assembly.'' The new shows will be aired this month.
A plaque designating the award will be presented to the Public Information Department production staff at an upcoming meeting of the Chesapeake City Council.
``It will be kind of hard to top this award,'' Davis said. ``But we'll do the same things we did last year that helped us win. When we started this program, our main goal was when someone is flipping through cable stations and happens to see our program and what we've done, they won't be turned off. We've tried to build a professional quality to the show, and I think it shows.'' by CNB