Monday, November 3, 2008

GPB Partners with Georgia Crisis & Access Line for Special Programming November 9

Georgia Public Broadcasting will present a special afternoon of programming in partnership with the Georgia Crisis & Access Line that focuses on depressive disorders and mental health issues on Sunday, November 9 beginning at 4 PM with Depression: Out of the Shadows. Following the broadcast of Depression: Out of the Shadows, veteran journalist Jane Pauley, who wrote about having a bipolar disorder in her autobiography Skywriting: Out of the Blue, will host a panel discussion with mental health experts to discuss the issues raised in the film. At 6 PM, GPB will air the one-hour documentary Men Get Depression.

GPB is also partnering with the Georgia Crisis & Access Line (GCAL) for the second time to create program outreach around Depression: Out of the Shadows. GPB first worked with GCAL in May of this year to present the programming during Mental Health Month. During the broadcast of the program, GCAL received over 400 phone calls from viewers seeking mental health resources as a result of tuning into GPB for the program.

During the November 9 broadcast, GPB will post the GCAL phone number on the screen throughout the programming so that viewers can call in with questions. GCAL is operated by the Georgia Department of Human Resources Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disability and Addictive Diseases and Behavioral Health Link to provide toll-free access to service location and appointment scheduling, crisis counseling with licensed clinicians, and deployment of emergency services.

"With the stigma that goes with mental illness and depression in our society, even today, it is hard to make that first step to pick up the '400-pound' phone. The Georgia Crisis & Access Line works to make accessibility of care as easy as possible." David Covington, CEO, Behavioral Health Link (Georgia Crisis & Access Line).

Depression:Out of the Shadows tells the dramatic stories of people of different ages, from diverse backgrounds, who live with various forms of clinical depression — and explores its causes and treatments. The film also features several of the nation’s leading mental health experts, who explain current theories about the causes of depression and pharmaceutical and counseling treatments that have proved successful.

Men Get Depression is a one-hour documentary that explores the corrosive effect of depression on the self, relationships and careers through the intimate profiles of real men, including a former NFL quarterback, a Fortune 500 CEO, and Iraq War veteran, a university professor, a pastor and others.

GPB Provides Election Coverage November 4 Via TV, Radio & The Web

Georgia Public Broadcasting is continuing its reputation of providing in-depth, quality news and public affairs programming for Georgians by offering national and statewide local Election Night coverage across multiple content platforms - GPB Radio, http://www.gpb.org/, GPB Television, and its new digital television channel GPB Knowledge.

From 9 PM – Midnight, GPB Television will carry special PBS Election Night coverage from The NewsHour with anchor Jim Lehrer and senior correspondents Judy Woodruff, Gwen Ifill, Ray Suarez, Jeffrey Brown and Margaret Warner and correspondent Kwame Holman, including live reports from the election night headquarters of presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama. During the NewsHour election coverage from 9 PM – Midnight on GPB Television, GPB will provide local updates during each hour of broadcast.

GPB’s new digital channel, GPB Knowledge, will broadcast Georgia Votes 2008 from 9 PM to Midnight. GPB Television’s David Zelski will anchor the program and be joined in the studio by GPB Radio News Director Susanna Capelouto to provide in-depth coverage and analysis with political experts.

Confirmed guests for Georgia Votes 2008 include Chuck Clay, former state senate republican leader, co-founder of the Internet news site Insider Advantage and partner with the law firm Brock, Clay, Calhoun & Rogers; former democratic congressman Buddy Darden, now serving with the law firm McKenna, Long& Aldridge; Arnold Fleischmann, Ph.D, of The University of Georgia’s political science department; Desiree Pedescleaux, Ph.D, of Spelman College’s political science department; and Stephanie Ramage, news editor with The Sunday Paper, an Atlanta publication.

GPB Radio will broadcast election coverage from 7 PM to Midnight in partnership with Atlanta’s WABE 90.1 FM and NPR. GPB Radio’s Rickey Bevington will be joined in the studio by WABE’s Charles Edwards to provide the most up-to-date local coverage. GPB -Radio will have reporters in Macon, Savannah, Augusta, Athens and throughout metro Atlanta to bring viewers and listeners updates on local races. In addition, Bevington and Edwards will provide content for Georgia Votes 2008, and the program will be streamed live on GPB’s website at www.gpb.org/election.