The Thanksgiving edition of “Democratic Visions” is all about Eden Prairie Local News (EPLN) in two chapters. The first is an inside look at Silent Struggles, EPLN’s eight-part series on teenage mental health issues and suicide ideation.
Project lead Jim Bayer and reporter Juliana Allen explain to Mike McIntee, the guest host of the access TV program, the reasons behind the launch of the EPLN series and what they learned from it.
The pair discuss the challenge for a small, upstart news organization to provide in-depth reporting of sensitive, complex issues. They praised, both on and off camera, their team partners — EPLN co-editor Stuart Sudak, former Eden Prairie News publisher/editor Mark Weber, and calendar editor Amy Nylander — as critical to the project.
At one point in the program, Allen tells McIntee, “As one of the therapists I spoke to for this article said, ‘Depression thrives in Isolation.’” Bayer recounts the tragedy faced by one of the families who shared their stories with EPLN: “The parents were called by a counselor one day out of the blue. They had no idea of the level of issues that their son was dealing with.”
In the second chapter of the program, former EP Mayor Nancy Tyra Lukens, Pastor Rod Anderson, EPLN Publisher/CEO Steve Schewe and Mark Weber, the former Eden Prairie News editor/publisher, tell the story of EPLN in a fast-moving, engaging seven-minute video.
Eden Prairie’s hometown online news source has begun its fourth year of publishing.
“Democratic Visions” can be viewed on SWTV Channels 799 (HD) and 15, airing Saturdays at 2 p.m., Sundays at 9 p.m., Mondays at 10 p.m., and Wednesdays at 5:30 p.m. “This is Eden Prairie Local News” is also available on YouTube.
SWTV (Southwest Community Television) serves Eden Prairie, Hopkins, Minnetonka, Edina and Richfield.
Writer Jeff Strate is also an EPLN board member and producer of “Democratic Visions,” a community access series produced through Southwest Community Television.
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