THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, January 14, 1997 TAG: 9701140207
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MIKE KNEPLER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 54 lines
The cable television stations operated by six of Hampton Roads' main cities are taking their own tentative steps toward regional cooperation this Wednesday.
The stations will co-produce an hour-long television show on regional planning that will be videotaped in front of a live audience at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. The stations in Chesapeake, Newport News, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Suffolk and Virginia Beach will each broadcast the show later.
The show will be about regional planning and have a panel of several regional leaders. Virginia Beach Mayor Meyera E. Oberndorf will moderate the discussion as part of her monthly ``City Dialogue'' show.
The discussion could help the public better understand how regional decisions are made, while the question-and-answer period could help regional leaders better understand the concerns of citizens, said Carol Pratt, manager for Portsmouth's WGOV-TV Channel 48.
The panel also will field questions from an audience made up of citizens and politicians from across Hampton Roads.
The city-run cable stations hope the show will help foster more communication across city lines, Pratt said. Municipal cable TV stations rarely do joint productions, and the shows broadcast in one city are not usually seen in neighboring cities unless there's a sharing agreement.
``This will be a test. We're going to see how it works,'' said Pratt, who is serving as spokeswoman for the group of station managers. ``We're doing it to share information of a regional nature that impacts citizens throughout Hampton Roads. That way, everybody will have the same answers.''
The panelists will be James Babcock, chairman of the Governor's Regional Economic Advisory Council 17; Barry DuVal, president of the Hampton Roads Partnership; Joe Frank, chairman of the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission; Hans Gant, president of Forward Hampton Roads, and John Hornbeck, president of the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce.
``This an opportunity to have some high-powered panelists together, and their time is real limited. So it's an opportunity to tap into their expertise all at once,'' Pratt said. ``I could not produce a show like this just for Portsmouth.''
The idea for a co-produced show on regional planning grew from the periodic meetings held by the station managers of the municipal television shows, Pratt said.
She noted that it's only the second venture in regional cooperation for the group. The stations used to have a joint program called ``Snapshots of Hampton Roads.''
Pratt hopes the regional planning show will lead to more co-productions, including other panel discussions on a quarterly basis and shared features.
``I expect we'll be sharing more of our resources. I really like this concept,'' she said. ``I've included it in my goals. I think there's a real potential there for lots of interesting things to come out.''
KEYWORDS: CABLE TELEVISION HAMPTON ROADS REGIONALISM