MEDIA CONTACTS:
Della Cassia: Detroit Public TV
248-305-3770 or dcassia@dptv.org

Sarah Murphy: Detroit Historical Society
313-833-1262 or sarahm@detroithistorical.org

Detroit Public Television Announces Partnership with the Detroit Historical Museum to Expand Coverage of Detroit’s Stories

Press Conference Announcement: Thursday, January 21 at 9 a.m.
Roundtable Conversation featuring members
of the Detroit Journalism Cooperative at 10:00 a.m.
Detroit Historical Museum, 5401 Woodward Avenue

DETROIT – In its ongoing commitment to telling the important stories of Detroit and the issues that matter most to its citizens, Detroit Public Television (DPTV) has entered into a partnership with The Detroit Historical Society that will allow it to expand its already robust coverage of the city’s successes, struggles and re-emergence. DPTV’s One Detroit initiative will allow the station to promote a cohesive, collaborative approach to addressing the future of the Southeast Michigan region.

The recently-signed two-year trade agreement gives DPTV over 1,100 square feet of editorial office space at the Detroit Historical Museum, located at 5401 Woodward Avenue in Midtown, and the opportunity to construct up to four audio/video access points in exhibit spaces for the purpose of producing live and recorded programming. Five team members from DPTV will staff that office on a daily basis. This location will be in addition to the studio that DPTV operates inside the historic Maccabees Building in Midtown.

In exchange, the Society receives a promotional package to utilize DPTV’s available broadcast and online platforms to bring additional awareness to exhibits and programs at the Detroit Historical Museum and the Dossin Great Lakes Museum on Belle Isle. It will also serve to boost the Society’s large-scale community initiatives such as Detroit 1967: Looking Back to Move Forward. This multiyear project engages more than 100 community partners to explore Detroit’s historic summer of civil unrest in order to better define our future. Culminating in a major interactive and experiential exhibition in 2017, the project’s diverse voices are already evident in a growing oral and written history archive at Detroit1967.org.

“This is a mutually beneficial partnership,” said Bob Bury, executive director and CEO of the Detroit Historical Society. “We are excited about both the opportunity to interact with Detroit Public Television staff at the Detroit Historical Museum on a daily basis and enjoy the increased exposure that comes with originating local programming from our unique exhibit spaces that tell our region’s story.”  

“The Detroit office will allow DPTV to expand our growing number of production initiatives in Detroit,” said Rich Homberg, President and CEO of Detroit Public Television.  “We want to tell stories of the people of Detroit by assisting the Detroit Historical Society in collecting living memories of the city.   The offices will serve as a vital base for both organizations as we convene conversations with leaders and citizens about the revitalization of Detroit and visualizing the city’s future.”

The office location will allow Detroit Public Television to expand its role within the Detroit Journalism Cooperative (DJC). The DJC, which is made up of  Detroit Public Television, WDET Radio, Michigan Radio, The Center for Michigan’s Bridge Magazine, and five print publications serving ethnic audiences under the umbrella of New Michigan Media is also the latest addition to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) Regional Journalism program.  CPB has awarded the DJC a two-year grant to tell Detroit’s stories, supplementing previous grants from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, and the Renaissance Journalism Project of the Ford Foundation.

The DJC has developed an ambitious plan for coverage in 2016, emphasizing collaborative, people-focused storytelling about Detroit’s past, present and future.  The DJC will also capture the experience of people working on Detroit’s recovery as a case study for urban areas across the nation.

This all continues DPTV’s ongoing presence in Detroit, which has included:

• The continuation of a partnership with the Detroit Public Schools to operate WRCJ radio and bring classical and jazz music to the community from studios at the Detroit School For The Arts.
• Collaboration with the PBS NewsHour to produce balanced, long-form stories on the news in Detroit most of interest to the rest of the country, including bankruptcy, foreclosures, transportation and economic development.
• Production of a series of documentary shorts called Sustainable Detroit for the Need to Know PBS and PBS NewsHour program.
• Partnerships with the city’s cultural institutions like the DSO and DIA to expand their audiences and awareness for their work.
• The weekly program American Black Journal which regularly gives a voice to Detroit guests. The MiWeek program which often includes healthy debate and respectful discussion on the city’s biggest issues, as well as the Detroit Performs series which brings audiences an up-close look at the arts in the city.
• The station recently announced a partnership with Michigan State University to collaborate on 24/7 children’s programming, that it expects will help fulfill its commitment of accessible educational programming to the children of Detroit.

For more information or to attend the press conference, please contact Della Cassia at dcassia@dptv.org or 248-305-3770.

### 

About the Detroit Historical Society
Established in 1921, the Detroit Historical Society tells Detroit’s stories and why they matter. The Society operates the Detroit Historical Museum in Midtown and the Dossin Great Lakes Museum on Belle Isle while managing the city’s collection of more than 250,000 historic artifacts. For more information, please visit detroithistorical.org.

About Detroit Public Television
Detroit Public Television (DPTV) is the non-commercial, viewer-supported PBS-member station watched by more than 1.5 million people in Detroit and Southeast Michigan and another 1.2 million people throughout Canada. DPTV also manages WRCJ 90.9 FM, Detroit's classical and jazz radio station, in collaboration with the license-holder, the Detroit Public Schools. The radio station is located in the Detroit School of Arts. DPTV is licensed to the Detroit Educational Television Foundation and governed by a volunteer board of trustees from the local business, civic, and cultural communities.

###