Home > Outreach Case Studies > Two Towns of Jasper

By Whitney Dow and Marco Williams

In this Case Study
Introduction
Promotion
Outreach
Website
Viewer Response

Outreach

STATION PARTNERSHIPS

Over 70 screening and discussion events were organized around the broadcast. Of these, Dow and Williams participated in screenings and community discussions with WNED Buffalo, N.Y., and UNC Raleigh-Durham. WHYY Philadelphia; WYES New Orleans; KLRU Austin; KLRN San Antonio; KUED Salt Lake City; KWBU Waco; WSKG Binghamton, NY; WPBS Watertown, N.Y.; KNPB Reno; and WPT Madison, Wisconsin produced a variety of events and educational material. WPBS-TV and KNPB produced follow-up on-air programs with panels of local experts discussing the issues raised in Two Towns of Jasper.

KNPB's Open Line local production program was broadcast throughout northern Nevada and northeastern California and invited members of the community to call in and ask questions of the panelists following the broadcast of Two Towns of Jasper, and explore how that might translate to issues in northern Nevada. Outreach Coordinator Sherri Dangberg wrote:

"OPEN LINE had more callers and questions than we were able to handle in one hour...The screenings and local call-in show, OPEN LINE, promoted greater understanding in our community of issues of race and diversity. We are only just beginning this dialogue among our partners. We don't feel we have inspired action yet among our partners, but we have started a thinking process, a feeling of trust and respect and desire to continue the dialogue. This would not have been possible without these programs to promote and screen and to initiate dialogue."

COMMUNITY-BASED PARTNERSHIPS

P.O.V. forged alliances with schools and organizations around the country, including the Columbia University School of Journalism, New School for Social Research and Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in New York, which held screenings and discussions with Dow and Williams; the American Library Association; Listen UP!; Network Education Program and Port of Harlem magazine in Washington, D.C.; the DuSable Museum of African American History in Chicago; Center for the Healing of Racism in Houston; Mennonite Central Committee in Akron, Pa., National Gay and Lesbian Task Force; and the Literacy Assistance Center and City-As-School High School in New York, which organized community screenings.

The Schomburg Center screening was open to the public and was presented as part of their Junior Scholars Program, which comprises 130 young between the ages of 11 and 17. The program aims to foster an understanding of the African American experience in history. Following the event, Program Director Carlyle Leach wrote:

"Thank you for creating the opportunity for the Junior Scholars to expand their understanding about the effects of race on individual people and on a community. Junior Scholars and the public attending the screening were deeply moved and challenged by Two Towns of Jasper."

Two Towns of Jasper FACILITATION GUIDE

P.O.V. and its sister organization Active Voice developed a discussion guide (see attached) for teachers and facilitators to use when viewing Two Towns of Jasper with their students or with a group. With input from issue-area experts, skilled facilitators, and communication consultants, the guide helps organizers carry out substantive discussions around the issue of race, while being cognizant of the sensitivities around challenging content and consequent diverse opinions, thoughts, and feelings. The guide contains advice on leading discussion, with suggestions for handling extreme views respectfully, cogently, and as a springboard for further discussion; background information to help in guiding discussion; and a listing of additional resources, among other elements.

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