Understanding that all public television stations are educational entities at their core, WNIT sought a way to underscore its role in regional education. While we remain a neutral party in other programming, we want people to know that WNIT “stands for education.”
Already producing 5 weekly programs, WNIT added a sixth in November, 2016, premiering “EducationCounts_Michiana.” With the majority of content residing on the web, the television program becomes a “best of” the weekly content gathered. 3 -4 segments are produced for each half-hour program. “Citizen hosts” introduce and navigate viewers through the program.
“EducationCounts_Michiana” is driven by an advisory group and steering committee made up of community members invested in education — school superintendents, early childhood professionals, business people, government representatives, elected officials, higher education executives, and more for the entire spectrum of lifelong learning.
The Advisory Group meets 2-3 times per year and the Steering Committee meets monthly to review programs, vet topics, and provide guidance. The production team is in attendance with these groups and then shapes the program based on feedback.
The primary role of the program is to find the regions best examples of outstanding learning practices. Our goal is to raise the overall bar for education thereby making our region more attractive to employers and our citizens more successful at every stage of life.