December 2011
62 posts
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Does West Virginia Coal Country Have Tourism... →
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Some of the bloodiest and most important moments in the American labor movement happened in the coalfields of southern West Virginia. But most who live beyond its rugged mountains, and even many who live in them, don’t know the stories.
Doug Estepp is trying to change that, one busload of tourists at a time.
Estepp grew up in a coal mining family in Mingo...
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Wishing for a break in the weather
I have to say I picked the two worst days (weather-wise) to shoot. It hasn’t stopped raining and looks like it’s going to continue and may turn into snow. I will try to make the most of my trip anyway, but I’m worried I won’t return to Boston with alot of outdoor shots of the towns in McDowell County. I guess I have all next summer! Today, I am interviewing Alan Johnston,...
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WatchMcDowell County native, Stacy Grubb, needs your help in recording her next album. Grubb is using Kickstarter to raise $15,000 in the next 59 days. She released her debut independent record, Hurricane, in April of 2009. Two singles from that project were officially released in Europe and Australia, both of which charted on several country charts and received good radio play.
“The recording...
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Coal country tour operator plans expansion -... →
A West Virginia native with an interest in coal mine history is getting ready for his second year offering tours to the state’s southern coal fields.
Doug Estepp started Coal Country Tours last year and took more than 75 people to southern West Virginia on two trips to see where coal mine history was made.
Estepp hopes bringing people to this region of the state will give them a better...
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WatchMSNBC: Morning Joe, “Low-performing schools in rural county get a new boost”
Gayle Manchin and AFT President Randi Weingarten talk about Reconnecting McDowell a 3-5 year partnership which focuses on instruction, recruitment and retention of teachers, as well as housing, transportation, job creation and social issues. She also talks about the partners of the program including unions,...
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National Park Service to consider new park in... →
“This would help put West Virginia on the map as a place to visit. It would be an economic engine for the highlands,” said Rodd.
Statement by U.S. Education Secretary Duncan on... →
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The Hillville: weekly online magazine of urban... →
A new online magazine has been launched to explore urban centers of Appalachia. “The Hillville” is a weekly magazine that provides news, features, columns, profiles of people and places that will appeal to and engage urban Appalachians. Instead of just focusing on the mountain culture of Appalachia, the publishers, Niki King and Beth Newberry, strive to “create a place where...
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Unemployment down in 38 out of the 55 W.Va.... →
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New Directions for Documentary: Interactive and... →
“…Making an interactive documentary is not as simple as placing chunks of linear content online, nor does it necessarily mean implementing game-like structure…”
If you’re interested in strategies to present and tell stories across platforms you should check out this article.
It focuses alot on Australia and Canada’s efforts in leading interactive documentary...
Mount View solar energy project first of its kind →
WELCH — Students at Mount View High School will be beginning a renewable energy project today aimed at learning more about solar energy and incorporating it into their local community, one of the first of its kind in the nation.
READ FULL STORY HERE
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The damning of rural America
“Mainstream America has no clue what it’s doing to our rural communities.” Read Opinion Piece Here
Essay puts spotlight on uneasy relationships... →
Stephen Bloom is not a popular man in Iowa these days.
The University of Iowa journalism professor’s article in The Atlantic, which drew widespread criticism for its sweeping generalizations about the state and its people. Bloom referred to rural Iowans as “an assortment of waste-toids and meth addicts.” In the same paragraph he mentioned lack of education, rotted teeth and pale skin.
The Bloom...
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WatchStunning Portrait: Released to coincide with the Fall 2011 issue of VQR, Maisie Crow’s original short film introduces us to the city of Slavutych and its residents—survivors of the Chernobyl disaster and the workers still dismantling the plant.
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APNewsBreak: Corp. America, unions, nonprofits... →
McDowell County schools continue to struggle despite a decade under state control, with West Virginia’s worst dropout rate and lagging behind all or most other counties in reading, science and math. The county also suffers from one of the lowest median incomes in the country, and ranks high for the percentage of residents living in poverty, according to the latest U.S. Census Bureau figures....
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Trace your McDowell County ancestors →
Interactive: Join Our Constitutional Convention! →
npr:
In “Reconstituting The Constitution: How To Rewrite It,” we invited readers to share their own thoughts on how we might change the founding document for the 21st century. We’ve gathered a sampling of proposed new amendments. Vote for or against each one and the next amendment will appear. (When you’re done, you can scroll through again to see how others voted.) We’ll share the results...
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Christmas comes early for McDowell County children... →
The view of McDowell County from Down Under... →
“Over the past couple of days, I have spoken to several residents of McDowell County — in person and over the telephone — who appear to be both hurt and angry over the news segment. I can’t blame them for their anger.” “Having grown up in McDowell County, getting slammed by the outside news media wasn’t anything new. We grew accustomed to out-of-town, and often out-of-state, news...
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"McDowell County has received another black eye" →
A recent column in the Bluefield Daily Telegraph discusses the Australian Broadcasting piece on McDowell County and lists topics the show failed to discuss. Read the full column here “Everything in the segment was 100 percent correct,” he said. “But it’s only one side of the story.” • Not shown is the new multi-million dollar, state-of-the-art River View High School constructed just a few miles...
Northwestern Wisconsin: The Bookend Phenomena →
LYONS, Neb. - In a large area of the northwest part of Wisconsin, young adults continue to move away, leaving what the Center for Rural Affairs calls “bookend generations:” Only the youngest and oldest residents remain. Center research director Jon Bailey has just written a report about this trend. It affects young adults in large areas of the Midwest and Great Plains, who stay home...
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WatchI bought the GoPro Hero2 a couple days ago and plan on using it to shoot night/day timelapses (among other shots) for Hollow. Tested it out this morning here in Boston.
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Welcome to Pine Point →
The interactive doc definitely has it’s own aesthetic/scrapbook feel. When I first experienced the piece I felt it was a bit overwhelming and lacked solid storytelling but my opinion was changed after a second viewing. I have now walked away with a huge appreciation for the amazing sound design in the project. Welcome to Pine Point combines photographs, sound and video clips, interviews,...
NFB and CBC win at Digi Awards →
The National Film Board of Canada’s Welcome to Pine Point continues to rack up kudos.
The interactive transmedia documentary, created by The Goggles’ Michael Simons and Paul Shoebridge and produced by the NFB, won Best in Web series at last night’s Digi Awards in Toronto. The series was also awarded two Webbys this year.
The awards wrapped up the 2011 nextMEDIA conference with winners named in...
Rural broadband access could be key to economic... →
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Cowbird explains humanity's sagas through... →
I haven’t had alot of time to fully check out this site but from what I can tell it is pretty visually interesting! Check it out. Looks like more of a visual diary than an interactive storytelling site.
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John Ellison returns to McDowell County
More Than Tweets: Redefining Interactive... →
drewvigal:
AIGA recently updated its Pivot website and made available a few of the “main stage” presentations as videos from their convention in Phoenix. I’d recommend watching a few of them, including Jonathan Hoefler & Valerie Casey. Accompany this with a recent interactive…
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"West Virginia's Bleak Outlook" →
A portrait of McDowell County, West Virginia (the same county Hollow will focus on). See the full story from Australian Broadcasting Company here.
I spoke to Jean Battlo (a resident featured in the segment) earlier today and she was quite disappointed about how negative the piece is.
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DER Supports "Hollow"
I am very happy to report that the McDowell County documentary has received fiscal sponsorship by Documentary Educational Resources in Watertown, Ma.
Documentary Educational Resources is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in 1968 for the purpose of producing and distributing cross-cultural documentary film for educational use. DER supports filmmakers who have long-term commitments to...
