The Good 5 Cent Cigar

Issue date: 11/27/07 Section: News

Media Credit: Meghan Vendettoli URI's TV studio has received a grant to improve the technology used in production.

11/27/07 - Students enrolled in broadcast journalism classes at the University of Rhode Island will be able to produce statewide live broadcasts in the future, assistant journalism professor Barbara Meagher said. The enhanced capabilities will be made possible through $119,800 in grant money from the Champlin Foundations, which provides capital to tax-exempt organizations.

Meagher said professors submit grant ideas to their respective deans, who review the submissions and forward them to Champlin. The university submitted the TV studio grant with five other requests, all of which were approved.

She said the money will not be actually received until an official letter comes from Champlin, which is expected in the coming months.

Meagher offered clear goals for the program's grant money.

"We want to make a result that's greater than a lot of what we can see on TV some days," Meagher said.

The money will be used to buy three new cameras and other modern equipment, including a fiber-optic transmission cable.

Tim Tierney, the assistant director for audio-visual production services at URI, said each new camera will cost $12,000 and described the need for modern equipment.

"I wrote the grant for this [TV preview monitor] in 1974," he said, adding that the newest piece of equipment was 15 years old. Tierney has been involved with TV production since he was a student at URI in the 1970s.

Meagher said some of the old TV equipment distorted the faces of students in the broadcast, and in one circumstance, a student's teeth appeared black on the screen.

Tierney said the TV program will be a joint effort between students and faculty and the grant will provide much needed revival.

"Maybe this [grant] can bring it back to life," he said.

Tierney said the fiber-optic cable will enable state wide live broadcasts. The old cable allowed one-way transmission to the university campus from the providing company. Broadcasting required delivering the tapes to a public access broadcast facility.

Tierney said the fiber-optic cable will receive a signal from the cable company and transmit simultaneously.

Tierney said the fiber-optic cable may have been a determining factor in the Champlin Foundations' funding decision.

"Champlin wants to help all of Rhode Island," Tierney said. "They're looking for the largest reach [for their money]." He said the university has a lot to offer Rhode Island, which meets the Champlin Foundations' criteria.

Meagher already sees the result the funds will produce. She said enrollment in her broadcast journalism classes has increased.

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