Inside Georgia Public Broadcasting

  Wednesday I was provided with the opportunity to tour Georgia Public Broadcasting (GPB). The Journalism Study Tour class I have been taking offered me such a wonderful opportunity. Early in the morning we rose to once again fight Atlanta traffic in an effort to visit the GPB building on 14th street that houses GPB and the Atlanta Fox News outlet. The building was built in the early 2000's and was funded through Georgia's Lottery Fund, housing both GPB and Fox News.

WHO ARE THEY?

  Georgia Public Broadcasting is a state affiliate network of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). Directed under the Georgia PublicTelecomunications Commission since 1971, they have operated with the mission: to create, produce and distribute high quality programs and services that educate, inform and entertain [their] audiences and enrich the quality of their lives.

HOW IT ALL BEGAN

  At 9:15 a.m. we met our tour guide, David Lewkowict, for Fox News. It was exciting, especially to meet all their dedicated journalists and have the opportunity to tour their very expensive news truck. We
spent a lot of time at Fox News because we were allowed to watch a live national broadcast with their senior correspondent, John Roberts.

Keocia Howard introducing us to GPB

  Immediately after finishing our tour with Fox we headed up to GPB and were able to see their entire operation from top to bottom. Keocia Howard, a producer for GPB, gave us a full tour looking at their radio production, news production, editing suites and studios.

Looking at the studios with Bill Nigut

WHO WE MET

  It was a real treat when Bill Nigut, Senior Producer of the show 'On The Story', joined us and then led us on a tour of the GPB studios. The broadcast center really was state of the art! Filming a multitude of shows such as 'On The Story,' 'Georgia Traveler,' 'Your Health Matters' and 'Chicken Soup for the Soul' made for TV, they broadcast 24 hours a day to the entire state of Georgia. Some of the studios even held sets for multiple television shows!

State of the art technology

RECAP

  All in all it was a fantastic trip. We were able to see a real television and news station research, create, edit and broadcast programming. We were able to speak with and ask questions of a man who spent 20 years as a political reporter for WSB-TV in Atlanta, covered five presidential elections and been a White House correspondent. Being able to get such an in depth look at GPB's studios, production offices and editing suites was, well to quote master card … Priceless.

Broadcast satellite dishes on the roof of the parking deck!