NJTV selects four colleges for satellite bureaus

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Making sure coverage comes from every corner of the state, NJTV announced Friday four content bureaus located at universities and colleges across New Jersey.

Making sure coverage comes from every corner of the state, NJTV announced Friday four content bureaus located at universities and colleges across New Jersey.

Brookdale Community College, Rowan University, Richard Stockton College of New Jersey and William Paterson University will all host robotic cameras, provide student-created footage and interviews, and serve as a remote location for NJTV reporters for the station.

John Servidio, general manager of the station, said the bureaus serve as part of WNET CEO Neal Shapiro‘s goal to include mentoring and student involvement.

“The goal of NJTV, and specifically NJ Today, from the very beginning is to get the students in the state more involved in the production of our programming,” Servidio said.

Robotic, Web-controlled cameras are being placed at the bureaus to tape interviews with on-campus or regional experts.

“Mike Schneider can interview that professor, live or taped, that we can use that night,” Servidio said, referring to the NJ Today host.

Servidio said William Paterson has already provided content for the station, including on election night, and he expects the three other schools to have features and footage aired by the end of the year.

“Let’s say there’s a big snowstorm, and there needs to be all this coverage down here, NJTV will give us a call and say ‘Can you get one of your film students out to Salem City and go film some b-roll for us,'” said Joe Cardona, spokesman for Rowan University. “Students get the practical experience of needing to cover something in a timely fashion, in a professional way.”

By using the colleges’ infrastructure, field reporters around the state will be able to upload video to the station much faster. The goal for NJTV is to have 12 content bureaus around the state by February. Servidio said up to another five schools are currently reviewing the paperwork needed to get involved.

Servidio said he was unaware of other public television stations using college-based bureaus to provide workspace and content. The station announced in November that Montclair State University would be the studio home to NJ Today.