News

WPGA TV tells Air Force story through weekly broadcast called the Freedom Report

  • Published
  • By Holly Birchfield
  • 78th ABW/PA
Robins Air Force Base, GA --  Television station WPGA, also known as ABC Macon to its Middle Georgia viewers, is telling the Air Force story through a weekly newscast it calls "The Freedom Report."

The weekly report, which broadcasts on Channel 58 during the station's normal newscast each Monday at 7 and 11 p.m., began in early December 2007.

Dick Byrd, WPGA news director, said the report is the best way for the station to bring Georgia's largest employer to light.

"Robins Air Force Base is the largest employer in the state of Georgia," he said. "It's very important to the economy of Middle Georgia. A whole lot of our viewers work there or are somehow economically involved with the base being there, and we thought it should be an integral part of our newscast."

The news segment focuses on the different aspects of the bigger Air Force mission at Robins and tells the service's story through the words of military and civilian Airmen alike.

Mr. Byrd said the report will attempt to translate the acronym-based lingo used at the state's largest industrial complex and show the base's community involvement in the coming months.

Claire Simms, a WPGA reporter who brings the reports to viewers, said she has learned a lot about the base in the short time she has done the report.

"It's only been on the air for probably two months and I've already learned a great deal," she said. "I'm just very excited to be working with the Team Robins community."

Mr. Byrd said he hopes his TV station will be able to make past Freedom Reports available on its Web site in the near future.

The Freedom Report isn't just a means of news for WPGA. It's a way public affairs specialists like George Jozens, who works with local and media from around the nation every day to tell the Air Force story through Robins' point of view, can get the Air Force story told.

"The Freedom Report is one of the many ways the public affairs office gets the messages of what Robins does out to the public," he said. "It's my job as a media specialist working in the Media Division to make sure that we put out all the good, the bad and the ugly stories that may come out of the base. Most of them are good, and that's what the Freedom Report is concentrating on."

Mr. Jozens was quick to point out that he's merely on scene to facilitate interviews between the station and those who are subject matter experts, the military and civilian employees who serve the mission day-to-day.

Col. Carl Block, 5th Combat Communications Group commander, whose unit was recently highlighted on the Freedom Report, said the news report does a good job of putting the mission's unsung heroes in the spotlight.

"I think this series shows the local community is keenly interested in the military in Georgia," he said. "They're taking an in depth look beyond the aircraft to understand and learn about the professionals who enable the Air Force mission but do not fly."

Mr. Jozens said WPGA isn't the only station who has considered on-going news segments like this.

"Some of the other TV stations have had the idea of having a weekly report," he said. "It's something that if we offer it to one, we're going to offer it to all of them. So, if somebody else has an idea of something they want to do on a weekly basis, we'll work with those as well."