By Natalie Ragus
Student Writer
USC Annenberg's award-wining television newsmagazine Impact is going global.
Distributor Global Broadcasting has picked up the series to run in several countries throughout Europe.
“It’s a wonderful notch on our students’ belts to say that they are part of something that is distributed
The series explores issues and stories in and around Los Angeles, and wherever students travel during their time at Annenberg. Recent episodes have included a diverse collection such as stories featuring L.A.'s architecture, bee keeping, street musicians and the Los Angeles Unified School District's music program. Dig a little deeper and find hard-hitting stories about the environment, a tragic story about an Iraqi war veteran, animals, and many other subjects that show the passions of the show's alumni.
This year's team of five senior producers are supervising producer Kim Daniels, second-year students Adrianna Weingold and Jennifer Aidoo, and first-year students Sam Osborn and Sharis Delgadillo — all graduate students in journalism. The senior producing team oversees the work of the producers who research, shoot, write and edit their long form stories.
Now in its 47th show, Impact has received several College Television awards in the documentary and newsmagazine categories from the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
“Journalism has changed,” Birman said, adding that while daily newscasts remain important, the trend toward the newsmagazine format to tell deeper stories is growing. “Annenberg students get to be a part of it.”
In addition to the new European broadcasts, Impact is carried by some 50 cable franchises in California and Nevada. And those associated with Impact say they are excited to see it through on its new journey to Europe.
“Impact is an important venue for students to take on in-depth reporting for television,” Birman said. “Some students will produce feature stories, some will produce stories with serious themes. What’s cool though is that it’s a television series that has been recognized as an important voice within Southern California-orientated programming.”
