NET's 'Harvest Public Media' cultivates ag stories

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NET News is launching "Harvest Public Media," a series of radio, television and online reports to enhance coverage of agriculture, Nebraska's largest industry. Stories will include food, fuel and field issues, and will air every Monday morning at approximately 6:30 and 8:30 a.m. on NET Radio.

NET News reporter Clay Masters will produce "Harvest Public Media" reports in Nebraska on farming, ranching, agribusiness, agricultural research, and food and fuel production to air on NET Radio and on five Midwest partner stations in Kansas, Iowa and Missouri. Stories from the partner stations will be available for broadcast on NET Radio. Harvest Public Media reports and photographs will also appear online at http://netnebraska.org and http://www.harvestpublicmedia.org, and on NET Television, as well as in podcasts, blogs, and on social networking sites.

Harvest Public Media reports will cover the critical issues affecting agricultural producers today - energy and climate change, food safety, biofuels, animal production and welfare, human health, water quality, and local food systems. By examining these local, regional and national issues and their implications for our country, Harvest Public Media will create a multimedia resource devoted to food, fuel and field.

Several stories have already aired on NET Radio, including a report by Masters on biotech sugar beets, and stories produced by partner stations. One story featured an Iowa program aiming to keep family farms in family hands and another introduced Black farmers in Missouri who are part of a class-action government lawsuit over discrimination practices within the United States Department of Agriculture.

"NET News is committed to working with our Harvest Public Media partner stations in the Midwest to deliver in-depth reports examining issues facing agriculture today and in the future. These topics are important to all Nebraskans and we're looking forward to reporting on them on a consistent basis," said NET News director Dennis Kellogg.

In addition to his position with Harvest Public Media, Masters is a reporter/producer for NET Radio, covering agriculture, environment and energy issues. His stories have appeared on NPR's news magazines "Morning Edition" and "All Things Considered."

Funding for Harvest Public Media comes from a two-year grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The initiative is intended to combine resources and strengthen collaboration among the six Midwest public broadcasting stations. As part of the grant, NET will participate in a Midwest Local Journalism Center with partners KCUR-FM in Kansas City; Iowa Public Radio; KBIA-FM in Columbia, Mo.; High Plains Public Radio in Garden City, Kan.; and Kansas Public Radio in Lawrence.

- Kim Rogers, NET

More details at: http://netnebraska.org/