WVIA Announces Addition to its Board of Directors WVIA, the PBS and NPR affiliate for northeastern and central Pennsylvania, has announced that Jonathan H. Weis will be joining its Board of Directors. Jonathan H. Weis is chairman, president, and chief executive officer of Weis Markets, a Mid-Atlantic food retailer with 198 locations in seven states: Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Virginia, and West Virginia. As president and chief executive officer, Mr. Weis oversees all aspects of Weis Markets’ operations and management. He is a member of the company’s executive committee and board of directors. “It is an honor to have Jonathan join the Board here at WVIA,” said Carla McCabe, WVIA president and CEO. “Jonathan’s experience and expertise will bring valuable insights to the board and the station as a whole.” “We’re pleased to welcome Jonathan as the newest Member of the WVIA Board. Along with the Weis family’s long-standing commitment to the community, he will add perspective through Weis Markets’ presence that is reflective of our diverse, 22-county, Public Media Service Area” said L. Peter Frieder, Chair of the WVIA Board of Directors. Mr. Weis joined the company full-time in 1989. Early in his career, he worked in produce merchandising, grocery procurement and store operations. Mr. Weis subsequently worked in Weis’ real estate department, and in 1996, he became the Company’s vice president of property management and development. In 2004, he became vice chairman and corporate secretary. A graduate of Shikellamy High School in Sunbury, Pa., Mr. Weis holds a B.A. from Yale University. He has served on various boards including Susquehanna University’s Board of Directors.
HNB Supports WVIA with EITC Donation The Honesdale National Bank was once again authorized to make approved contributions under the Commonwealth’s Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) Program. HNB designated $2,500 of their approved allotment to WVIA Public Media. The funds, donated by HNB, will support educational programming. HNB President & CEO, Thomas E. Sheridan Jr., stated, “The accessibility of public media will continue to be important to our communities.” He said, “We are glad that we are able to continue to serve our area by contributing funding for this program.” Kirsten Smith, Grants & Education Officer at WVIA stated, “Thanks to the HNB’s EITC contributions, WVIA will be visiting many children in our shared region with educational programs to benefit their literacy and STEM needs. I will be certain to inform you of that progress and punctuate how impactful your EITC donations always are in doing wonderful things for children and families in our region.” WVIA-FM is a non-commercial, public FM radio station licensed to serve Scranton, Pennsylvania and is the National Public Radio member station for Northeastern Pennsylvania. The station is owned by the Northeastern Pennsylvania Educational Television Association along with its sister television station, WVIA-TV.
WVIA Announces New Chief Financial Officer and General Counsel WVIA Announces Kristen Mackrell Clark as New Chief Financial Officer and General Counsel WVIA, the PBS and NPR affiliate for northeastern and central Pennsylvania, has announced Kristen Mackrell Clark Esq. as the organization’s new Chief Financial Officer and General Counsel. Kristen comes to WVIA from Myers, Brier, & Kelly, LLP where she served as an attorney representing educational institutions and non-profit organizations. While there she focused on helping clients with corporate governance, business planning, tax planning, and individual and corporate tax audits. Prior to working for Myers, Brier, & Kelly, LLP, Clark worked as a Certified Public Accountant specializing in individual and corporate taxation. Kristen has been honored by her peers every year since 2018 as a Pennsylvania Super Lawyers Rising Star and in 2015, she was recognized as a Top 20 Under 40 Business Professional by the Northeast Pennsylvania Business Journal. She attained her Juris Doctor from Temple University Beasley School of Law, Master of Accountancy from the George Washington University, and graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Business Administration from the Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame. “We are extremely fortunate to have a team member with such a unique combination of skills,” said Carla McCabe, WVIA President, and CEO, “Hiring Kristen in this critical leadership role demonstrates our ability to once again attract top talent at WVIA who want to be a part of our exciting future.” “I am thrilled to be joining the dynamic leadership team at WVIA,” Clark said. “I look forward to using my legal and accounting experience to serve in the dual role of Chief Financial Officer and General Counsel. Carla and her team are building something exciting at WVIA, and I jumped at the opportunity to be a part of strengthening this community treasure for our region.”
WVIA Receives Four Awards WVIA receives four 2022 Pennsylvania Association of Broadcasters Awards WVIA has received four 2022 Pennsylvania Association of Broadcasters (PAB) Awards for programs in three categories. WVIA received two PABs in the Outstanding Radio Feature Story/Report/Series 2022 category for WVIA Keystone Edition: Dushore Resident Marks 9/11 To Remember The Fallen and WVIA Keystone Edition: Kids Count. The Pennsylvania PBS program Battling Opioids: Part Eight, which was produced by WVIA won in the Outstanding Television Public Affairs Program/Program Series 2022 category. WVIA also received a PAB for its co-production with the Scranton Jazz Festival of The Swingin’ Jazz Nutcracker Suite in the Judges’ Merit-TV-2022 category. “WVIA is honored to be recognized for our efforts in both radio and television,” said Carla McCabe, WVIA President, and CEO. “The programs that received awards showcase our continued commitment to providing the highest quality arts, news, and information to the people of northeastern and central Pennsylvania.” “It is always an honor to be recognized by the Pennsylvania Association of Broadcasters for the work that we do,” said Ben Payavis II, Chief Content Officer at WVIA. “I am proud of the work our award-winning team continues to produce for our region.” Listeners can hear the award-winning pieces anytime on-demand at wvia.org. To learn more about the Pennsylvania Association of Broadcasters, please visit https://pab.org.
Julie Sidoni to Serve as Moderator on WVIA’s Call the Doctor WVIA News Director Julie Sidoni will serve as moderator of the upcoming 34th season of WVIA’s television series Call the Doctor. The season will feature an updated look and presentation when it premieres Wednesday, March 2nd at 7 p.m. on WVIA TV. The new season will feature 16 episodes that will premiere Wednesday nights at 7 p.m. on WVIA TV. “Call The Doctor is a program that viewers have come to rely on for more than 30 years,” said Sidoni. “The newly-formed WVIA News team is ready and excited to report on a number of health and medical topics, contributing to the show in a way that hasn’t been done before.” “We believe having the show premiere in consecutive weeks along with Julie’s experience reporting health issues in our region allows us to better serve our audience and address their medically related questions,” said Carla McCabe, WVIA President, and CEO. “We are excited to premiere a new look and style for this program this season while still presenting the information our viewers look for each week,” said Ben Payavis II, WVIA Chief Content Officer. The new season of Call the Doctor will kick off with “Missed Health Screenings Due to COVID-19” on March 2nd, followed by “Lung Cancer on the Rise: Types and Treatments” on March 9th, “All About Alzheimer’s Disease” on March 16th, and “The Future of Telehealth” on March 23rd. Show topics to be featured later in the season include obesity/bariatric surgery, prostate cancer, breast cancer, COVID-19 side effects, joint replacement, back injuries, arthritis, sleep disorders, and more. More information on the upcoming season can be found at wvia.org/ctd. Watch a preview for the first episode of the season here. Viewers can call in with their questions ahead of time to have them answered on-air by calling 1-833-408-9842.
WVIA Announces New Original Documentary Film This June marks the 50th anniversary of Hurricane Agnes’s devastation of Northeastern Pennsylvania. WVIA will commemorate the day with Agnes 50, a multiplatform initiative that will explore the events of June 23rd 1972, as well as the response in the years after. The initiative will include the original documentary film Agnes 50: Life After the Flood, focusing on different communities that were affected by the flood. Excerpts from the documentary will air on WVIA’s social channels in the weeks leading up to the broadcast premiere on Thursday, June 23rd at 9 p.m. Watch the trailer for Agnes 50: Life After the Flood here: wvia.org/agnes On the evening of June 23rd WVIA TV will present an evening of programming that will include a live hour-long episode of Keystone Edition with area experts discussing the impact of Hurricane Agnes on our region at 7 p.m., followed by a special broadcast of the 1997 historical documentary Remembering Agnes at 8 p.m. The WVIA original film, Agnes 50: Life After the Flood, premieres at 9 p.m., followed by the WSKG original production Agnes: The Flood of ’72. In addition, Memories of Agnes, a digital series, will launch in spring 2022. This series will provide those who lived through the Agnes disaster the opportunity to share their first-hand accounts of the flood through user-generated content and archival film and photos. WVIA News will feature a companion series of stories on WVIA Radio and at wvia.org/news throughout the coming months that will cover additional aspects of our region’s history with flooding. Learn more about WVIA’s Agnes 50 initiative at wvia.org/agnes About Agnes 50: Life After the Flood What have we learned in the years since Agnes? What actions have communities taken since that date? To properly explore the fallout from Agnes over the past five decades and to assess steps our region is taking or should be taking in order to prepare for the challenges of inevitable flooding in the future, WVIA will premiere a feature documentary directed by award-winning filmmaker Alexander Monelli that will cover key communities along the Susquehanna River, including Berwick, Bloomsburg, Danville, Forty Fort, Milton, West Pittston, Selinsgrove, Tunkhannock, Towanda, and Wilkes-Barre. Various officials, residents, and community leaders will share memories of Agnes, describe how their towns were affected, and discuss the work that has been done over the years to mitigate the adverse effects of future flooding. Interviewees include David DeCosmo (former WYOU news broadcaster), Andrew Stuhl (professor at Bucknell University), Lara Fowler (professor at Penn State University), Wilkes-Barre Fire Chief Jay Delaney, Jim Charles (Selinsgrove Flood Task Force), Chris Belleman (Executive Director, Luzerne County Flood Protection Authority), among others. “This documentary is really about the people of the Susquehanna watershed and how we’re all connected,” said the film’s director Alexander Monelli. “When I started this film, I never knew there were so many issues related to flooding, and they’ve been ongoing since 1972. What one town does to mitigate flooding may impact another town downstream. It raises questions about our responsibility to our own community, our neighbors downstream, and nature as a whole. I’ve met so many fascinating people while filming, and I can’t wait to share this documentary with everyone.” “As the region’s premier storytellers, we believe sharing the stories of Hurricane Agnes and the communities affected will help shine a light for future generations to learn from,” said Ben Payavis II, WVIA Chief Content Officer. “The topic and its ramifications are so large that we knew one program alone wouldn’t be enough to cover its scope. That is why we have created this multiplatform initiative and full evening of programming.” “Education is at the core of what we do at WVIA, and we believe that preserving and learning from our local history is essential to the growth and future of our communities,” said Carla McCabe, WVIA President, and CEO. “In addition to the creation of this new documentary, WVIA Education will be creating a curriculum plan based on WVIA’s Remembering Agnes and Agnes 50: Life After the Flood documentaries that will be made available to all area school districts.” WVIA June 23rd, 2022, Television Programming 7 p.m. – Keystone Edition Reports: Agnes 50 – Live Broadcast Fifty years ago, life in the Susquehanna Valley changed forever as Hurricane Agnes devastated the area, and the Susquehanna River inundated homes and streets, destroying everything it touched. Keystone Edition Reports takes a look back at the toll Agnes took, how the valley bounced back, and what the future holds. 8 p.m. – Remembering Agnes – Remastered A special presentation of the remastered 1997 historic documentary. Eyewitnesses reminisce about the hours just before, during, and after the worst natural disaster to devastate the east branch of the Susquehanna River Valley in the greater Wilkes-Barre/Scranton metropolitan area of Northeastern Pennsylvania. Hurricane Agnes and the resulting flood occurred in late June 1972 and affected thousands ever since. 9 p.m. – Agnes 50: Life After the Flood – Broadcast Premiere On Friday, June 23, 1972, Pennsylvania suffered the wrath of Hurricane Agnes, which at the time was the costliest hurricane to hit the United States and would claim the lives of 128 people in the storm’s path. Now, at the 50th anniversary, WVIA explores what we as a region have learned from the Agnes tragedy. Half a century later, how did this epic event permanently change our communities – economically, physically, and emotionally? What have local communities done over the past decades to address and mitigate potential flooding in the future? Have we done enough? Followed by Agnes: The Flood of ’72 On June 19th, 1972, the first hurricane of the season, Agnes, crossed over the Florida Panhandle and quickly headed back out to sea. With sustained winds of just over 75 miles per hour, Agnes was considered a low-level threat by most weather experts. They were wrong. By June 22nd the remnants of Agnes stalled over the northeastern United States, dumping up to 22 inches of rain in some areas, including the Elmira/Corning region of New York. The devastating flooding that followed would result in one of the worst natural disasters in the region’s history and change the landscape of the region forever. Produced by WSKG. This special block of programming will re-air on Saturday, June 25th beginning at 7 p.m. and on Sunday, June 26th beginning at noon.
Our Town Series on WVIA to Focus on Lewisburg The city of Lewisburg in Union County will be featured in WVIA’s “Our Town” series. “Our Town Lewisburg” will be a “day-in-the-life” one-hour video scrapbook focusing on the people, places, and happenings of Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, as seen through the eyes of its residents. Lewisburg residents are invited to attend the first “Our Town Lewisburg” community/volunteer meeting, Thursday, February 10th at 6:30 p.m. at Community Partnerships at 328 Market Street, Lewisburg PA, 17837. Residents will discuss which landmarks, events, and local stories the program should tell about their town. WVIA will answer questions about the project during the meeting and ask volunteers to brainstorm a list of subjects and events to videotape. On Thursday, February 17th at 6:30 p.m. WVIA will hold a second community/volunteer meeting at Community Partnerships. During this meeting volunteers will participate in a whiteboard session to determine the stories to be told in the program and which stories each volunteer will videotape to create “Our Town Lewisburg.” WVIA hopes to recruit 20 to 25 area residents with personal camcorders. If needed, the snow date for the meeting will be on Thursday, February 24th at 6:30 p.m. Following safety protocol, attendees will be required to wear masks at each meeting. Anyone interested in being a videographer and/or storyteller for the program should contact VIA “Our Town” producer, Lisa Mazzarella, at 570-602-1164 or by e-mailing lisamazzarella@wvia.org. “Our Town Lewisburg” will debut in June 2022 on WVIA TV. For more information on the “Our Town” series, visit http://www.wvia.org/television/documentaries/our-town-series/. As the public television station serving northeastern and central Pennsylvania, the “Our Town” project was initiated in an effort to involve the communities and their residents with WVIA. The “Our Town” series is intended to treat viewers to the many personalities, perspectives, and possibilities that local towns have to offer.
WVIA Now Live on Directv Stream WVIA announced today that it is now live streaming on DIRECTV STREAM. A dedicated live channel for WVIA is already available to all local DIRECTV STREAM customers, supplemented with additional PBS on-demand programming that will continue to expand PBS’s digital footprint and offer viewers additional ways to stream PBS content. “As viewer habits continue to evolve, PBS remains committed to making our award-winning, national and local content available to all Americans across as many platforms as possible. This partnership will allow PBS and our member stations to expand our digital footprint and reach more viewers with content that inspires, educates, and entertains,” said Ira Rubenstein, PBS Chief Digital and Marketing Officer. “Entertainment is personal and should serve every member of the household, which is why we’re partnering with PBS to deliver DIRECTV STREAM customers more choice, more control and a more convenient way to access the content they care about most,” said Rob Thun, Chief Content Officer for DIRECTV. Relationships like this one ensure that on-demand content from PBS favorites including AMERICAN EXPERIENCE, ANTIQUES ROADSHOW, FRONTLINE, GREAT PERFORMANCES, MASTERPIECE, NATURE are available to as many viewers as possible. In addition, PBS KIDS channel has recently joined both the DIRECTV STREAM and DIRECTV lineups, helping to extend the PBS mission of preparing young children for success in school and life through trusted, educational media, available anytime and anywhere. Now, even our youngest of viewers can access their favorite series, including DANIEL TIGER’S NEIGHBORHOOD, MOLLY OF DENALI, ODD SQUAD, PINKALICIOUS & PETERRIFIC and WILD KRATTS, among many others, via DIRECTV and its on-demand menu or using the same capabilities on DIRECTV STREAM. In addition to DIRECTV STREAM, WVIA content is available on all WVIA-branded PBS platforms, including PBS.org and PBSKIDS.org, as well as the PBS Video app and PBS KIDS Video app. WVIA members are also able to view an extended library of quality public television programming via Passport.
WVIA Announces News Director WVIA, the PBS and NPR affiliate for northeastern and central Pennsylvania, has announced that Julie Sidoni is the organization’s new News Director. Sidoni will start at WVIA on October 4, 2021. As WVIA’s news director, Sidoni will lead WVIA’s investment in local journalism and will oversee WVIA’s local coverage across all of the station’s television, radio, and digital platforms. “We are thrilled that Julie will be guiding WVIA’s journalism team. Our priority in the past year has been to increase local output across platforms and have deeper conversations that effect change,” said WVIA President and CEO Carla McCabe. “With Julie’s extensive career serving northeastern and central Pennsylvania and her knowledge of the issues that matter most to the people we serve, Julie is uniquely positioned to lead this public service for the WVIA community by adding a journalistic perspective.” “With over 20 years of covering stories in our region, we are very excited to have Julie come aboard,” said Ben Payavis II, WVIA Chief Content Officer. “We look forward to the contributions she and her team will bring to the radio programs Morning Edition and All Things Considered, as well as our public affairs television series, Keystone Edition.” Julie began her award-winning journalism career in public radio, at the NPR affiliate WDUQ-FM in Pittsburgh. She also spent time learning the business as a producer at WTAE-TV in Pittsburgh before graduating from Duquesne University, and soon landed her first on-air television reporting job at WJAC-TV in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. A year and a half later, she was hired as a reporter for WNEP-TV in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and spent nearly 20 years there as an anchor/reporter. Aside from her work in the news business, Julie is also a writer and has been awarded a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Wilkes University. She is also an adjunct professor in the School of Communications at Wilkes University, teaching undergraduate public speaking. The St. Marys, PA native now calls Kingston home. She lives there with her husband, Attorney Jeffrey Yelen, and her two sons, Charlie and Jack. “I have loved serving my community all these years through my work at WNEP. I’m now very much looking forward to putting those years of experience into practice here at WVIA,” Sidoni said. “I learned how to be a journalist from my colleagues in public television and radio, so in many ways, this feels like a homecoming.”
Award Winning Journalist Tracey Matisak to Host WVIA Mental Health Initiative Mind Over Matter Award winning journalist Tracey Matisak will host the WVIA and Geisinger presented mental health initiative Mind Over Matter. “We are excited to have Tracey guide conversations and increase awareness of mental illness prevention, treatment, and management in our area” said Ben Payavis II, WVIA’s Chief Content Officer. “Her extensive resume and inquisitive approach make her an ideal partner on this project to inform and engage the people of northeastern and central Pennsylvania.” “Mental health is a topic that, until recently, has not gotten the attention it deserves. While we have all been (rightly) focused on COVID-19, the anxiety and depression that have come along with it have created something of a secondary pandemic. I’m encouraged by those in the public eye who have courageously come forward to share their challenges and spark a national and long overdue conversation around mental health. It’s a topic that has touched my own life, and one that I’m looking forward to exploring with WVIA viewers through Mind Over Matter. My hope is that the series will encourage and challenge us all, and heighten our awareness and sensitivity to this important topic” said Matisak. With more than 30 years of major market television and radio experience, Tracey has anchored numerous special projects for WHYY-TV/PBS in Philadelphia; she also serves as a regular guest host on WHYY-FM’s Radio Times with Marty Moss-Coane. In addition, Tracey serves as moderator for the Philadelphia Speakers Series, where she has shared the stage with the likes of NBC’s Tom Brokaw, former British Prime Minister David Cameron, Equal Justice Initiative founder Bryan Stevenson and acclaimed filmmaker Ken Burns. Tracey is a frequent moderator for the Author Events series at the Free Library of Philadelphia, where she has interviewed former Defense Secretary Robert Gates, entertainer and civil rights activist Harry Belafonte, Huffington Post co-founder Arianna Huffington and Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles, among others. In addition, Tracey travels nationwide hosting live, interactive executive leadership webcasts for Skillsoft Corporation. In that capacity, she regularly interviews some of the most widely respected authors and speakers in the business world, including Daniel Pink, Seth Godin, John Maxwell and Angela Duckworth. Tracey is perhaps best known for her work in television news, having worked for 12 years at FOX 29, Philadelphia. There, she anchored the live morning show Good Day Philadelphia and served as an anchor and reporter for FOX 29’s Ten O’Clock News. She was also a contributor to the HGTV show Design Basics, and has served as a news anchor for a number of Philadelphia radio stations, including KYW Newsradio. A graduate of Temple University, Tracey taught for several years there as an adjunct instructor in the Klein College of Media and Communication. A winner of several local Emmy awards, Tracey was among the first to be inducted into Temple University’s School of Media and Communications Hall of Fame. She has also won the Sarah Award for Excellence in Broadcasting from the Association for Women in Communications and was named Communicator of the Year by the National Black MBA Association. Originally from Hazleton, PA, Tracey and her husband Daniel are the parents of three young adults; they live in suburban Philadelphia. Mind Over Matter is a yearlong initiative which includes programs and presentations created by WVIA. The series goal is to combat the stigma and increase awareness, prevention, treatment and management of a range of mental Illnesses. Like WVIA’s successful Battling Opioids series, this public health initiative aims to improve the mental and physical health of our community through a multi-platform approach that will include TV, radio, and digital content. Major funding for Mind Over Matter is provided by Geisinger. On Thursday, August 26th at 8pm the initiative will present Living with Alzheimer’s & Dementia, a program that explores the effects these diseases have on individuals, families and communities. To find more information and to learn more about Mind Over Matter visit wvia.org/mindovermatter.
