PIX11’s Jay Dow kicked off Black Historical past Month with a brand new episode of his newest present, “Group CloseUp,” highlighting town’s first Black Historical past Month celebration since NYC public colleges established a PK-12 Black research curriculum.
“I believe it’s going to resonate with lots of people as a result of Black Historical past Month is not only about Black individuals — it’s about this nation. It’s vital that everybody understands that Black historical past is American historical past — it’s U.S. historical past, and this curriculum brings everybody into the combo, involving mother and father and lecturers,” mentioned Dow. “It’s an exquisite factor that’s happening citywide.”
That is the fourth episode within the sequence hosted by Dow. It’s devoted to giving viewers a deeper take a look at people of their group by highlighting each day by day triumphs and struggles in ways in which audiences can relate to.
Associated: NAN holds buy-in protest at Costco towards Trump’s anti-DEI push
Dow mentioned the longer segments of the sequence lets him present vital context to viewers that he can not all the time discover throughout a common project story as a consequence of time constraints.
“If I’m given two minutes to inform a narrative, what typically will get misplaced within the shuffle is much-needed context,” he mentioned. “I attempt to add that as a lot as I can and as typically as I can each time I file a report, so I believe context is the massive advantage of focusing a present on community-related points.”
Since launching the sequence in November 2024, Dow’s crew has lined subjects from life-altering immigration insurance policies to considerations about toddler display time, shedding gentle on points that may have an effect on the on a regular basis New Yorker. Though the response to the present has been optimistic, he mentioned it comes with larger accountability as he now takes on the position of co-producer.
“There’s a little bit of added strain when it’s all resting on one present, versus, ‘I’m only a reporter with a single information report within the 5 o’clock newscast,’” he mentioned. “It’s a larger crew effort with your complete information crew. Now, being on the opposite facet of it and dealing with a producer to provide a complete present, each present has been a studying expertise for me and leveraging my very own expertise on the opposite facet of it.”
Dow praised the crew of reporters and producers who helped convey the present to fruition. With their collective effort, he mentioned, they proceed to embody the mission of WPIX: to provide high quality native journalism.
“The imaginative and prescient for the present — and we’re all on board — is compelling storytelling, nice analysis, and character-driven reporting,” he mentioned. “That’s what you’re going to see on a extremely constant foundation that units us other than loads of the reporting you’re going to see anyplace else on this market.”
The information correspondent and host mentioned he had been pitching a community-based present for years, having acknowledged a necessity to attach with viewers past the usual newscast at PIX11.
“We’re an area politics vacation spot,” Dow mentioned. “We’ve established that model for ourselves, however as a station, I all the time thought that this was a possibility, given how loyal Pix 11’s viewership is, to provide you with a program that brings them in and tells tales that they care about. It’s not simply all unhealthy information. We make it some extent to finish each present on a excessive or emotional observe — one thing that’s heartfelt. This isn’t a newscast the place it’s all crime. We’re speaking about points and community-related tales.”
Wanting forward, Dow hopes the present continues to develop and evolve meaningfully.
“We’ve gotten nice suggestions, and the scores have been nice, so, the momentum is there, and we’re very excited. We’re grateful for all the viewers who tune in, and we hope that extra individuals will proceed to take action as we roll out these exhibits.”
“Group CloseUp” airs on the primary Wednesday of each month at 5:30 p.m. Jap time on PIX11. For extra data, go to https://pix11.com/information/local-news/community-closeup/.
The publish WPIX’s Jay Dow kicks off Black Historical past Month with new “Group CloseUp” present appeared first on New York Amsterdam Information.
