A commercial-free, 90-minute documentary, Our Wisconsin: Equity & Justice For All?, aired July 22 on WKOW, Quincy Media’s ABC affiliate in Madison, Wis. The special also aired on WAOW, WXOW and WQOW, the ABC affiliates in Wausau, La Crosse and Eau Claire, respectively, all owned by Quincy Media. As part of the program’s description on […]
A commercial-free, 90-minute documentary, Our Wisconsin: Equity & Justice For All?, aired July 22 on WKOW, Quincy Media’s ABC affiliate in Madison, Wis. The special also aired on WAOW, WXOW and WQOW, the ABC affiliates in Wausau, La Crosse and Eau Claire, respectively, all owned by Quincy Media.
As part of the program’s description on the station’s website, “the difference between how people of different races are treated, are extreme and widespread in Wisconsin. The state has the nation’s biggest disparities between white and black people in everything from infant mortality, to student performance and graduation rates, to unemployment and poverty, to arrest and incarceration rates.”
Greg Jeschke, a news anchor and documentary producer at WKOW, alerted me to the show, and sent along some comments from viewers.
Jeschke said that the station produced the special because of the state’s racial disparities, as a way to find a solution.
“Because our audience is predominantly white, we decided to make our documentary the ‘black voice’ that many Wisconsinites never hear. We then brought in both white and African American community leaders to screen the program and held a town hall discussion afterwards.”
“The result was a full station effort that provided our viewers with information and perspective, along with ideas on what they can do.”
Jeschke said the station started promoting the special on-air 10 days before it aired and with social media the week of airing.
“We’ve had a pretty big response. As far as the content of the comments, it’s been about 70-30 positive.”
Good job, Greg, on that documentary!! Very educational that will open many eyes and hopefully open many hearts!!!!
Diana It was actually really interesting. I hope you take the time to watch it. I learned lots and it gave me food for thought.
Kathryn: Mr. Jeschke, you hit a home run with Equity and Justice For All! I believe that many people will have both their eyes and hearts opened to doing more to have a fair and equitable city of Madison.
Sue: Excellent! Not only was this thought provoking but also, moves one toward action and that’s the point, right? Why watch something if it doesn’t spark us to action? Well done Greg Jeschke; this is award worthy work! Thank you to everyone involved.
Laura: Thank you for taking the time to put together and air this piece. Definitely thought provoking.
Annetta: Thank you for taking the time to start a hard and long overdue discussion. One step at a time, Madison.
Barb: Thanks for beginning these courageous conversations that are long overdue.
Kelsey: Thank you so much for taking on this difficult issue. I’m a Masters of Public Policy student at UW and am looking forward to passing this on. Well done.
Faye: This was excellent. Great work & thank you.
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