WNET Launches Local News & Culture Website

MetroFocus begins online, with broadcast and mobile application to follow

NEW YORK, July 11, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On Monday, July 11th, WNET New York Public Media launched the MetroFocus website (http://www.thirteen.org/metrofocus) marking the first phase of a multiplatform initiative to bring local news and culture coverage to the tri-state region. First announced by WNET in March 2011, MetroFocus is an online, broadcast and mobile magazine that covers local news, culture, and life in and around the New York City area.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110324/DC71112LOGO )

MetroFocus is a production of the Interactive Engagement Group in association with WNET New York Public Media, the parent company of THIRTEEN and WLIW21, New York's public television stations.  For nearly 50 years, WNET has been producing and broadcasting national and local documentaries and other programs to the New York community.

In addition to timely news stories, the inaugural content on the MetroFocus website will feature reporting from the investigative journalism nonprofit City Limits about poverty in New York on the 15-year anniversary of welfare reform.  MetroFocus contextualizes that story with an original photo gallery of New Yorkers at the grocery store struggling to make ends meet.

A sampling of other content at launch includes: a slide show of post-9/11 photography and an audio interview with the editor of the new book, "New York: A Photographer's City;" a video feature and text article on the Asian American Writers' Workshop oral history project about Chinatowns throughout the tri-state area; and a short op-ed by the president of the Times Square Alliance about why, even in the digital age, people still flock to Times Square when big news breaks.

In addition to thoughtful analysis and opinion, the MetroFocus website offers unique features including MetroLife, a multimedia section of voices from diverse communities and constituencies that explore our identity as New Yorkers and a Toolbox for tips and resources to help New Yorkers cope with life in the nation's biggest metropolis.

The foundation of MetroFocus is a staff of multimedia editors and strategic partnerships with a wide spectrum of media and nonprofit organizations.

Citing the Federal Communications Commission report several weeks ago, which found a shortage of local, professional, accountable reporting in our communities, WNET President and CEO Neal Shapiro said: "If we want to stay relevant to the communities where we operate, we need to serve them better.  That's why we're enhancing WNET's legacy of top-quality national programming with our commitment to coverage of the local issues, tensions and challenges facing people in the Tri-State region."  

"MetroFocus will examine the diverse ways in which we each live our lives here and our identity as New Yorkers," said MetroFocus Editor-in-Chief and Executive Producer Laura van Straaten. "We'll do that both with essays and opinion, but we also want the website and eventually the TV show to quantify that with reporting and comparative policy analysis.  What makes our lives here distinct?  How do we compare to other cities and to the rest of America?"

In late 2011, MetroFocus will evolve into a mobile application and a half-hour local television broadcast on both THIRTEEN and WLIW21 to be produced at the Tisch WNET Studios at Lincoln Center in New York City.

MetroFocus is made possible by James and Merryl Tisch, the Cheryl and Philip Milstein Family, Josh and Judy Weston, Jody and John Arnhold, The Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation and Jean and Ralph Baruch. Corporate funding is provided by Mutual of America.

About WNET New York Public Media

WNET is America's flagship public media outlet, bringing quality arts, education and public affairs programming to over 5 million viewers each week. The parent company of public television stations THIRTEEN and WLIW21 and operator of NJTV, WNET produces such acclaimed PBS series as Great Performances, American Masters, Nature, Need to Know, Charlie Rose, Tavis Smiley and a range of documentaries,  children's programs, and local news and cultural offerings available on air and online.  Pioneers in educational programming, WNET has created such groundbreaking series as Get the Math, Noah Comprende and Cyberchase and provides tools for educators that bring compelling content to life in the classroom and at home. WNET highlights the tri-state's unique culture and diverse communities through SundayArts, Reel 13, NJ Today and the new online local newsmagazine MetroFocus.

SOURCE WNET New York Public Media

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