FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 18, 2009
CONTACT: Meg Fullwood
214-740-9377
mfullwood@kera.org
CONTACT: Deanna Collingwood
214-740-9281
dcollingwood@kera.org
The Dixon Water Foundation Funds Living With the Trinity on KERA with $55,000 Grant
DALLAS/FORT WORTH - The Dixon Water Foundation has awarded $55,000 to KERA in support of the multimedia initiative, Living with the Trinity. The grant funding will go toward developing Web and educational content for this comprehensive story of the Trinity River.
“The Dixon Water Foundation Board supports KERA’s efforts to educate people in North Texas about the importance of the Trinity River,” says Robert Potts, Dixon Water Foundation’s president and CEO.
Living with the Trinity is a multimedia initiative from KERA that explores the geographic, environmental and social history of the Trinity River. The Web site will feature fascinating stories, state-of-the-art maps, rare archival film footage, photographs and educational materials for classroom use. The Web site will launch in April 2009 and will be accompanied by a series of radio reports on KERA-FM looking into recent developments in the politics and economics of water management in Texas. Additional radio reports will follow later in the year. The project will conclude with the broadcast of a one-hour television documentary in the fall. Living with the Trinity is part of KERA’s ongoing commitment to provide the public with content that helps foster a better understanding of the North Texas community and its environment.
“KERA is excited to launch this multimedia initiative that will serve to inform and educate our local communities and millions of other Texans about the history and environmental impact of the Trinity River system,” says Mary Anne Alhadeff, KERA’s president and CEO. “With this generous gift from the Dixon Water Foundation, KERA will provide online educational content via the Web site, which will serve as a community and state resource for years to come.”
Rob Tranchin, executive producer with KERA, is project director of Living with the Trinity. Advisors to the project include Andy Sansom, executive director of the Rivers System Institute, Texas State University, San Marcos, and John Graves, author of the literary classic Goodbye to a River and many other books, articles and essays related to the Texas environment. Sylvia Komatsu, KERA’s executive vice president of content, will oversee production of the project.
About the Dixon Water Foundation
The Dixon Water Foundation’s mission is to promote healthy watersheds through good land management. The Foundation, which has been in operation since 2005, supports education, outreach and research on water issues with a particular focus on ecologically and financially sustainable land management that will enhance water retention and minimize erosion in watersheds. The Foundation demonstrates its ongoing commitment to healthy watersheds by operating four ranches in north and west Texas and through its grant making program.
About KERA
KERA is a not-for-profit public broadcasting organization that is independently owned and operated in North Texas. The station’s services include original television and radio productions, national public television and radio programs, online information and resources at www.kera.org and an educational resource center that develops outreach programs for children, families and educators.
KERA productions have earned the highest accolades bestowed by the broadcasting industry, including Peabody, duPont, Emmy, Clarion (Association of Women in Communications), Gold Camera Award (the U.S. International Film and Video Festival), Texas Gavel (State Bar of Texas), Anson Jones for In-Depth Television (Texas Medical Association), International Health and Medical Award for Community Health, Chicago International Film Festival's Silver Plaque, Lone Star Emmy, INTERCOM Competition’s Gold Plaque, American Association of Museums’ Gold Muse Award, National Telecommunications and Education Association, and many more.
