Talk about owning a story and making a difference. If WNCN keeps this up, people will start accusing them of giving local TV news a good name. The Media General-owned NBC affiliate in Raleigh, N.C., takes its #Brake4Buses message nationwide by creating a PSA that is being shown on TV stations within the Media General family […]
Talk about owning a story and making a difference.
If WNCN keeps this up, people will start accusing them of giving local TV news a good name.
The Media General-owned NBC affiliate in Raleigh, N.C., takes its #Brake4Buses message nationwide by creating a PSA that is being shown on TV stations within the Media General family and beyond.
(To see an article about how the station launched the campaign, click here.)
“Since we originally began our #Brake4Buses safety coverage back on Aug. 25,” says Robby Thomas, WNCN’s creative services director, “we’ve reached more than thirty million people through social media. The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction has vowed to create a classroom curriculum for this important issue, including our PSA into their plans. Two of the first stations who pledged to also carry this PSA were our sister stations within Media General, WBTW [Myrtle Beach, S.C.] and KRON [San Francisco] – literally helping the spot reach coast-to-coast. Since then, several more have stepped up to carry it – within Media General and beyond.”
“We hope this PSA resonates with drivers,” says Thomas. “We tried to create something that captures the viewers’ attention and prevents future tragedies.”
“The PSA highlights the responsibility of all parties involved,” adds Derek Graham, Transportation Services section chief for North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. “Certainly motorists need to pay attention and obey the law. Students also have a responsibility to keep an eye on approaching vehicles when standing near or stepping into the roadway. We hope parents will use this as an opportunity to have this important safety discussion with their children.”
The PSA is available for public distribution. For more information, contact Robby Thomas at [email protected].
According to WNCN, 3,000 drivers pass stopped school buses illegally every day, and since 1999, 13 students in the state have been killed trying to get on or off school buses.
WNCN continues to focus its news coverage on the issue by setting up a special section of their web site, WNCN.com, where viewers can go to see all the stories the station has aired about its #Brake4Buses message, including two stories from Oct. 2 and 3 of three students hit at bus stops.
WNCN also got support from the North Carolina governor and from NBC’s Today‘s Matt Lauer, Kathie Lee Giffford and Hoda Kotb, Tamron Hall, Natalie Morales and Al Roker.
And WNCN continues to own the story by investigating school bus traffic law violations and how they’re processed in court.
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