San Francisco, April 8, 2011—KQED, the public media station serving Northern California, and the Center for Investigative Reporting’s California Watch announce a radio series and television special that examines seismic safety concerns in California’s public schools. More than a year in the making, the series will air on KQED 88.5FM and on stations statewide via KQED’s The California Report beginning Friday, April 8 (full schedule below). An original television special, On Shaky Ground, will air on KQED 9 on Friday, April 15th at 7:30pm. The program is being made available to all other public television stations in California.
After the recent events in Haiti, Chile, and Japan, seismic safety has become an ever larger concern. While many cities and towns have been making preparations for an emergency, their attention has not been on some of the buildings for which they hold ultimate responsibility. Experts, educators, and parents have been left wondering whether schools–and the children who attend them–are as safe as they should be.
In addition to the radio reports and television special, an interactive component, located at KQEDnews.org, will provide the collected radio reports (available in audio and text format), the television program, a glossary of terms, a map of historical quakes in California, searchable databases and interactive maps showing potentially problematic schools and districts, information and resources, and other original content.
Statewide distribution will allow for the largest possible audience. KQED Public Radio’s The California Report is distributed to more than 70 stations across the state. In addition, On Shaky Ground will be distributed to various public television stations in California, including KCET/Los Angeles, KVIE/Sacramento, and KPBS/San Diego. Other stations are expected to confirm shortly.
“The recent international earthquake catastrophes have again reminded us of California’s vulnerability and the importance of anticipating and preventing a major catastrophe here. And it is hard to imagine anything more urgent than protecting the children in our schools,” said John L. Boland, president and chief executive officer of KQED. “We are very pleased to partner with the Center for Investigative Reporting and California Watch to bring this critical information to public radio, television, and online audiences statewide.”