Retirees' Weekly Television News Show in Silver Spring, MD, Relies on Teamwork, Tenacity and a Lot of Production Moxie

SILVER SPRING, MD (May 24, 2011) – Broadcast news is thriving in Silver Spring, MD, at Riderwood, the nation’s largest continuing care retirement community, where a group of staff and residents work relentlessly to write scripts, shoot video footage, edit tapes and go on-the-air with breaking news and features packages. Their closed circuit TV news show relies on teamwork, tenacity and a lot of production moxie.

“The Riderwood Reporter Television News” is a weekly half-hour newscast that airs live Thursdays at 10 a.m. Taped re-broadcasts air Saturdays and Sundays at various times. The news show, which just ended its sixth month of production, has never missed a deadline as it delivers substantive programming to Riderwood’s nearly 3,000 residents.

The news show’s content ranges from reports about Riderwood administration’s action items to campus facility renovations. It ranges from Riderwood Board of Directors’ decisions to human interest stories about residents and staff – their life accomplishments, interests and aspirations. Other content has included reports by members of the Resident Advisory Council on how they work with the various administration departments. An extensive report aired this month on the proposed relocation of Washington Adventist Hospital to a site near Riderwood.

Resident Bill Boyd, a travel expert, presents a brief “Savvy Traveler” feature. Resident Herb Striner, a noted economist and former Dean of American University’s Kogod School of Business Administration, recently presented a commentary on what is happening with the U. S. Economy. Riderwood’s Fishing Tournament to raise money for Meals-on-Wheels in Prince George’s and Montgomery Counties received extensive coverage.

“The Riderwood Reporter Television News” was originated by Jim Feldman, a retired Foreign Service Officer and former newsman with newspaper and television experience, who felt there was a need to provide Riderwood residents with a timely report of how the community is being run and events of interest to them.

Feldman said “The Riderwood Reporter Television News” is a good complement to the campus’ monthly newspaper, The Riderwood Reporter, a co-activity of residents and administration, which provides a good deal of information about the community and activities of residents. “But as a monthly publication, it can’t really be timely very often,” said Feldman, who supervises scripts and content for the news show. “Until this news show was established, there was no regularly scheduled way to present information other than by break-in announcements on TV and in the form of interviews conducted by residents. We think this news show was long overdue.”

Production of “The Riderwood Reporter Television News” is a study in persistency and a commitment to the ageless principles of journalism: accuracy, timeliness and credibility. Feldman sends a script to the Riderwood Television staff, which arranges and edits photographs or video that are appropriate for the broadcast. The show is produced with resident volunteers David Rogers, Gloria Peacock, Nancy Weil, and Jeannemarie Holterman running the audio board, and switcher. A staff member directs the show and another co-anchors the news desk with Feldman, or occasionally with resident Pat Davis.

The staff shoots and edits content outside and inside the studio, but primarily uses a live studio setup with three cameras, switcher, graphics computer, audio board, microphones and playback decks.

“Residents have said that they count on the show to present timely and authentic information about people and events at Riderwood,” said Feldman. “Many interesting folks are shy about being on TV. However, we always get enough participation to carry on.”

The cooperation between residents and the Riderwood television production staff has been suburb and enthusiastic from the beginning, according to Jason Boyle, the station manager at Riderwood. “Each show is co-anchored by a resident and a staff member carrying out the premise of the news show as a co-activity of Riderwood administration and residents,” he said. “In this way, each entity supports and promotes the other. We get tips on stories from interviews carried on our TV station and the Riderwood Reporter. The news show, in turn, provides some news stories for the newspaper.

“It is most rewarding when people say that they heard important community news from us first,” said Boyle. “I ran into a resident who said she made money from us by watching something we aired about a local study being done where they would interview childless older women, and pay them for participating. I said, ‘See, it pays to watch!’”

In addition to ‘Riderwood Reporter Television News” the television station’s regular programming is often department-specific, such as the Dining Services show, or the programming is specific to other resident run groups, events, or activities. For example, the station produces a show about the Garden Club, where it goes out to the garden and gets gardening tips from residents. In another show, someone from the resident-run www.Riderwoodlife.org website comes on to talk about interesting elements of the website. The programming possibilities, according to Boyle, are seemingly endless.

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About Riderwood:
Riderwood is the nation's largest continuing care retirement community with nearly 3,000 residents. It is managed by Erickson Living and sits on 120 acres that stretch across Montgomery and Prince George's Counties, MD.

Mel Tansill
Public Affairs Manager
Riderwood
3140 Gracefield Road
Silver Spring, MD 21094
Cell: 410-241-7614
Email: Mel.Tansill@Erickson.com

This release was published on openPR.