The Arizona Broadcasters Association, the official trade association for more than 200 radio and TV stations in Arizona, is moving into the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.
The association said the move, which will begin immediately, will allow the organization to invest less in office space and more in helping local stations and the industry.
“The ABA is putting substantial new resources behind growing the next generation of Arizona broadcasters,” said Chris Kline, the association’s president and CEO. “This move will make that effort all the easier, helping to create a natural incubator of ideas with some of our smartest up-and-coming broadcasters.”
Cronkite Dean Christopher Callahan said the move strengthens the connection between students and stations, another example of an effort to bring the industry inside the Cronkite School walls.
“We’re preparing students for the industry, but we’re also bringing the industry to the students,” Callahan said. “We work every day on ways to innovate stations and newsrooms, and so does the Arizona Broadcasters Association. This move is a natural fit.”
In 2015, more than 1 million people watched a statewide simulcast created by the Cronkite School in conjunction with the ABA. “Hooked: Tracking Heroin’s Hold on Arizona” focused on the growing perils of heroin and opioid use in Arizona. It aired on all 33 broadcast television stations and 93 radio stations in the state. Recovery counselors answered 438 calls through a call center in the Cronkite School for assistance on heroin and opioid addiction; they spent nearly 40 hours on the phone. “Hooked” received numerous awards, including an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia Award, the first time a student project won the award.
And in 2017, “Hooked Rx: From Prescription to Addiction” built on the 2015 effort by investigating the alarming rise in prescription opioid abuse in Arizona. Students crisscrossed the state to produce a multimedia look into Arizona’s dependence on prescription pain medication and the toll addiction takes on families and patients. The project included a 30-minute investigative documentary aired by every Arizona television station and most of the state’s radio outlets, and more than two dozen stories, graphics and videos.
The Cronkite School already is home to the new West bureau of “PBS NewsHour” and to the national offices and newsroom of Indian Country Today. Also housed inside Cronkite is Arizona PBS, one of the most-watched public television stations in the nation, reaching nearly 2 million Arizona homes through four broadcast channels and digital platforms.
Cronkite is a hub for broadcast media innovation. The school is one of two universities in the nation to receive funding through Google News Initiative’s first North America Innovation Challenge. Cronkite is developing an Interactive Story Wall that will be used by Cronkite News broadcasters as a tool to better engage audiences and tell data-driven stories through visualizations.
The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation has awarded a $225,000 grant to the Cronkite School to help foster innovation in television newsrooms across the country. The grant will support Cronkite’s Knight TV News Innovation Initiative by matching creators of cutting-edge tools with newsrooms willing to test them.
The ABA’s new address, effective immediately is 555 N. Central Ave., Suite 302, Phoenix, AZ 85004. The organization’s phone number and email address remain the same.
About the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication
The Cronkite School at Arizona State University is widely recognized as one of the nation’s premier professional journalism programs. The school’s 2,500 students regularly lead the country in national journalism competitions. They are guided by faculty comprised of award-winning professional journalists and world-class media scholars. Cronkite’s 15 full-immersion professional programs give students opportunities to practice what they’ve learned in real-world settings under the guidance of professionals.
About the Arizona Broadcasters Association
The Arizona Broadcasters Association is the official trade association for more than 200 over-the-air radio and TV stations in Arizona, helping stations to build their current businesses stronger, investing in projects to futureproof Arizona broadcasting, and partnering with government agencies and non-profit groups to build our overall communities stronger.