MacNeil Lehrer Productions, producer of the PBS NewsHour, is awarded a RAPID grant to cover the research that is ongoing as a result of the unanticipated and disastrous earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis in Japan. The team of experienced producers and correspondents will produce at least 8 segments for broadcast, along with extensive material for online. All the stories will revolve around scientists (geophysicists, oceanographers) and engineers (structural, seismic, civic, nuclear) as well as social scientists and the work they are doing in wake of the disaster.
The online material will include blogs and web-only video reports that will deliver content to augment broadcast coverage. The coverage will include not only what is being learned in Japan but how that knowledge will impact earthquake, tsunami and nuclear engineering and science, as well as social impact studies, in the United States. The NewsHour will encourage user engagement through regular posting of stories on social media outlets, including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, UStream and Discus. The online/on-air correspondent Hari Sreenivasan will conduct web-exclusive interviews with scientists on the forefront of the related research. The NewsHour Extra, the website that reaches 170,000 educators per month, will use the science coverage on its Daily Video Clip Tool to provide educators resources and lesson plans to help initiate discussions with students about the science, environmental and engineering issues raised by the on-going story.
The reach of the PBS NewsHour is significant. PBS NewsHour is seen five nights a week on more than 315 PBS stations across the country and is also available online, via public radio in select markets and via podcast. The national daily broadcast delivers an audience of approximately 1.1 million viewers and the Online NewsHour visitors reached 5.4+ million monthly page views in January 2011. The NewsHour public radio broadcasts reach an average of 63 thousand listeners daily across the U.S. Outside the U.S., the PBS NewsHour television broadcast is available on the American Forces Television to more than 800,000 U.S. military and State Department personnel around the world. In addition, audiences across Canada, Australia, Japan and Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America tune into the service via various channels and satellite services. The deliverables produced under this award will be consolidated on the NewsHour website where they will create a permanent record of these resources.
When a string of crises hit Japan – earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear meltdown –the public was in desperate need of answers: wrong information abounded, and panicked questions were commonplace. So when the PBS NewsHour received a Rapid Grant, we set out to clarify the impact of the disasters and to report on the research on recovery and prevention being done by scientists and engineers. We sent our experienced science correspondent Miles O’Brien to Japan twice to bring our U.S. audience news of the research that was ongoing, and the answers it was revealing. We also covered the work being done in this country. In all, 40 scientists and engineers appeared onair or online. All that we produced was made available to the general audience that watches us nightly, and to those who turn to our YouTube channel and mobile app. The segments were posted on our website, joined by interviews, infographics, and updates—all designed to give scientific grounding to our reporting. Our EXTRA website for students and educators helped bring the concepts we covered to a teenage level, complete with questions for discussion. We archived all our work onto one webpage - http://to.pbs.org/y85jaL - so that researchers and students could access the entire portfolio more easily. All the individual segments also still "live" online. The 9 tape pieces include: Earthquake Prediction: Could We Ever Forecast the Next Big One? (10/20/11) http://to.pbs.org/o4BRPz Predicting earthquakes turns out to be more difficult than people hoped. Safecast Draws on Power of the Crowd to Map Japan's Radiation (11/10/11) http://to.pbs.org/ukEujE : Citizen scientists use new technology and crowdsourcing to find radiation hotspots. How Do You Protect Against a Tsunami? (11/17/11) http://to.pbs.org/rZ31pX Innovative ways to limit catastrophic damage from tsunamis. . Guessing Game Over Long Term Risks – Japan (3/9/12) http://to.pbs.org/xcrznJ Miles O’Brien goes into the danger zone with scientists measuring the harm of the remaining radiation. Rice Farmers Forced off the Land in Japan (3/12/12) http://to.pbs.org/yxmKlR The challenges and possibilities of cleaning up cesium-laden land. Fallout and Food after Fukushima (3/13/12) http://to.pbs.org/A4c9jZ ATokyo store lists the cesium levels beside the price -- just one way life has changed a year later. Quake Survivor (3/9/12) http://to.pbs.org/zbtPDj The psychological fallout: a nuclear technician who rode out the quake at Fukushima deals with his anxieties a year later. Soil Liquefaction (4/12/12) http://to.pbs.org/HEtZYc A look at work being done in the Pacific Northwest to mitigate the damage caused by liquefaction. Are US Nuclear Plants Prepared for a Fukushima Meltdown? ( 5/25/12) http://to.pbs.org/K0jgZg What the problems bedeviling the Indian Point nuclear facility say about how the industry and its regulators have responded in the year since Fukushima. Online Exclusives, written or curated by experienced online science producer, Jenny Marder: Rare Quake Jolts East Coast (8/23/11) http://to.pbs.org/q5KLN5 Comparing the largest ever recorded quake in the Central Virginia Seismic Zone to Japan’s.. Earthquake Intensity: Check your Zip Code (8/23/11) http://to.pbs.org/oesotn A look at the impact of the eastern quake, with an explanation of the Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale. Earthquakes to the Core (8/30/11) http://to.pbs.org/o8OiWl Presented in collaboration with NSF Science Nation, this piece showed engineers drilling for rock samples in fault zones to better understand the mechanics of earthquakes. While Rebuilding After Tsunami, Japan Seeks to Prevent Future Disasters (10/20/11) http://to.pbs.org/q5woC6 Correspondent Hari Sreenivasan debriefed Miles O’Brien from Japan about what led to the nuclear meltdown. 'Hacker' Group Safecast Crowdsources Radiation Data in Japan (11/10/11) http://to.pbs.org/sqQc1i Sreenivasan and O’Brien discuss ‘Safecast’ efforts to find out true radiation levels, and what the government is doing about the fallout. What's the Fallout for Dogs Near Fukushima? (11/10/11) http://to.pbs.org/rr5ljW Interviews with scientists and vets about the fate of pets left behind. In Earthquakes, 'Liquefied' Ground Can Topple Buildings, Swallow Cars (2/2/12) http://to.pbs.org/rr5ljW USGS Geologist Ed Harp explains liquefaction, and what it is capable of causing. Animated Map Plots One Year of Quakes (2/13/12) http://to.pbs.org/AwCwhz A graphic representation of all the earthquakes happening in 2011 in the Pacific Ring of Fire, with an explanation. "I Want to Breathe Freely Again": Quake Survivor Talks (3/9/12) http://to.pbs.org/yfo8IV Nuclear technician talks about ways he has found to cope. Tracking Japan's Tsunami Debris (3/9/12) http://to.pbs.org/x2uJqO NOAA’s Ruth Yender explains NOAA tracking models, how they are made, and how they are used. Engineering for Quakes (3/29/12) http://to.pbs.org/H0chbA A slideshow of the do’s and don’ts of earthquake construction, along with a report on Build Change. Risky Business in the Pacific Northwest (4/12/12) http://to.pbs.org/Iztkmq A further look at the work being done by those in the Pacific Northwest trying to protect against tsunamis. Invaders Hitch Ride on Tsunami Debris (6/27/12) http://to.pbs.org/KMCpNN The power of the tsunami – and the dangers of the debris it drove to the Oregon coast (with slideshow).
