An episode of Rogers State University Public TV’s “Green Country Perspectives with Sam Jones,” which provided a personal view of one family’s encounter with domestic violence, has been nominated for a Heartland Emmy Award.
Entitled “Not In My Family,” the episode takes a first-hand account of domestic abuse through the experience of Neile Jones-Batie, a television news anchor at KNWA in northwest Arkansas and daughter of the show’s host Sam Jones. As a veteran news anchor, Jones always operated under strict guidelines to keep personal feelings out of the story. But in this case, he became part of the story.
“If this is going to stop, if the abuse cycle is ever going to get better, people need to see that it happens in the lives of journalists, doctors, lawyers, accomplished business women,” Jones said.
Dale McKinney, who served as the show’s producer and director, said the program was especially powerful because, “At times it seemed like Sam was interviewing himself – his earlier self – at the same time trying to get answers as to how he wasn’t able to detect any problems with his daughter’s relationship.”
The episode premiered on June 3, 2011 as the final episode of the fifth season of “Green Country Perspectives with Sam Jones.” It has repeated twice and can be viewed on demand at http://vimeo.com/25365652.
The production crew nominated for the Heartland Emmy include McKinney; Jones; general manager Dan Schiedel, executive producer; Ernest Kara, engineer; and Kevin Hoffman, audio.
The winners of all the Heartland Emmy Awards will be announced on Saturday, July 22, 2012 at EMMY galas in Denver and Oklahoma City.
Founded in 1947, the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and the Emmy Award stand for the best in the television industry. The national academy is the only non-profit organization dedicated to recognizing outstanding achievement, raising industry standards, and improving the quality of television. Its dedication to excellence is pursued every day by members of its 19 chapters across the country.
The Heartland chapter was formed in 1986 to meet eligibility standards of the National Academy’s national board, and serves the television industry in these markets: Denver, Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Wichita-Hutchinson, Kan., Omaha, Neb., Colorado Springs-Pueblo, Colo., Lincoln-Hastings-Kearney, Neb., Topeka, Kan., Grand Junction-Montrose, Colo., and Cheyenne, Wyo.-Scottsbluff and North Platte, Neb.
As the only full-powered public television station licensed to a public univer sity in Oklahoma, RSU Public TV provides educational, cultural and general interest programming to an audience of 1.3 million viewers in northeastern Oklahoma, and the Tulsa metropolitan area. RSU Public TV broadcasts via DISH, DirectTV and UHF Channel 35 and is carried on 76 cable systems including Cox Cable Channel 109 (35.1) and 110 (35.2) in Tulsa and Claremore.
More information is available by visiting www.rsu.tv.