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New Views, Good News



“Did you see it? Did you see it?”

It’s exciting to see something on national television about where you live or or people you know. Yesterday folks in Columbia got a big shout-out from Oprah Winfrey when she mentioned living on Windstream Drive during the years she worked in Baltimore television. And during Edward Norton’s recent appearance on “Finding Your Roots” his childhood in Columbia was mentioned briefly in biographical information about what inspired his career in acting. 

(I suspect that die-hard Columbians were hoping for more Rouse-centric content on the episode, but, that was not to  be.)

More excitement: CA announced last night that Columbia will be the focus of a video piece to be shown on PBS stations nationwide. 

The segment is the result of a collaboration between CA and the production team with Viewpoint with Dennis Quaid, a series aimed at educating viewers on current topics and trends impacting the world. 

CA is really excited to make this announcement, and with good reason. After being in the news for weeks and weeks over contentious disputes between the Board and the CA President, what could be better than a change of focus? Especially a positive one. 

How excited are they? Well, the press release announcing the collaboration with Viewpoint contains a whopping seven links to the video segment. 

That’s a lot of links.

I’ve watched about the first minute and a half or so and look forward to seeing the rest. 

Columbia Association: Built on Purpose, For a Purpose 

There’s also a shortened version if you’re in a hurry today. It will run - - like an advert? - - on various cable networks.

I did a quick search of Viewpoint with Dennis Quaid, expecting it to be a PBS Series. It isn’t. Or at least I think it isn’t. When you read the FAQ section on their website it comes across more like they are selling a product.

IS PBS (PUBLIC BROADCASTING SERVICE) ASSOCIATED WITH VIEWPOINT PROJECT AND DENNIS QUAID?

No, and this is a common misconception. Both PBS & APT provide television content to member Public Television stations. Additionally, Public Television stations receive content from organizations like NETA (National Educational Telecommunications Alliance), from locally produced material and from smaller organizations, such as “Viewpoint Project." Viewpoint Project with Dennis Quaid operates independently and provides content to Public Television partners by way of satellite uplink.

So, the Viewpoint Project is a content creator. They’re looking for good stories to tell and apparently both Columbia, Maryland and what the Columbia Association does is their kind of story. In addition, the Columbia Association is always on the lookout for different ways to get their story out. The Viewpoint Project appears to be in the business of helping communities and businesses amplify the good work they are doing. 

Honestly, the best part may be telling friends and family members across the country to keep an eye out for it as it begins to air nationwide. 

“Did you see it? Did you see it?”

It’s good to get a national shout-out every now and then. 

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