Four little paragraphs buried inside today’s daily newspaper announced what for us is a sad passage – the the end of two UNC-TV public affairs shows. We’re geeks about this stuff and we know it. But “North Carolina Now” and “Legislative Week in Review” were both comprehensive little shows that spotlighted some of the inner-workings of the state that you can’t find anyplace else.
“Legislative Week in Review” was our favorite. We love politics, and we think that keeping tabs on our elected officials is extremely important. But tracking the doings in Raleigh is difficult if you don’t live there. Leg Week would run down the political shake-and-bakes, bring us video from the state House or Senate floor, and provide feature stories on hot topics. There was even a newspaper reporter roundtable every week, where the print geeks would talk about what happened. Never flashy or filled with hype, it was simply C-SPAN for us Tar Heels.
“North Carolina Now” was more of a news magazine type show. It wasn’t scintillating, but once again, it provided a state-wide view of some of the big things happening in our state. Nobody else is offering that perspective through a television program.
Leg Week will end when the current session of the General Assembly ends. North Carolina Now will end its 12-year-run Sept. 29. UNC-TV blamed a lack of money. If you’ve never financially supported UNC-TV, you should think about it. Without the money, we lose solid programming.
2 Comments
I used to work at UNC-TV. There’s plenty of money in their budget . . . they’ve just established other priorities. For example, they looooove running British sitcoms for some reason. Go figure.
That’s a shame. Although I rarely watch those shows (and even more rarely contribute to UNC-TV), it was nice to know they were out there keeping a watch on our legislature.
And, to keep this truly on-topic for Ashvegas, former WLOS producer Claire Monroe is one of the UNC-TV reporters whose reports air on NC Now (and other programs).