Oklahoma Horizon Moving, Evolving

The six-month-old television production, Oklahoma Horizon, is moving on the Oklahoma Educational Television Association (OETA) lineup.

Beginning June 5, Oklahoma Horizon, a weekly television show produced by the State Department of Career and Technology Education, will add a new time slot to its lineup, and two new segments to the show. The first weekly airing of the show will move from 7 a.m. Saturday to 3 p.m. Sunday on OETA.

“OETA is pleased with the quality of the show,” said Rob McClendon, executive producer and on-camera personality. “The station is pleased with the show’s content and technical aspects. By moving the show to the Sunday afternoon slot, Horizon will be in OETA ’s public affairs lineup, typically watched by more people.”

Improving Oklahoma. That is the focus of this new television show. From economic development to education, the show highlights the stories of Oklahomans from across the state. Because of that focus, two new features will also be added.

“Profiles” will feature individual Oklahomans. “Big Ideas” will focus on Oklahoma business people ranging from the new entrepreneurial start-up to well-established Oklahoma dynasties, McClendon said.

“Oklahoma is changing, and so are the communities that support it,” McClendon said. “Each week we strive to give our viewers context to the changes in our world. We go behind the headlines and try to offer intimate stories on people and places who illustrate the bigger picture.”

McClendon said Oklahoma Horizon tries to give a global perspective on stories with a local focus.

“Cattle and wheat are the big two agricultural receipts in Oklahoma, and we realize that growers and ranchers know their own operations well,” McClendon said. “What we want to do is show how their industry can be impacted by global events.”

Oklahoma Horizon has done several international stories.

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Rob McClendon interviews Scout Lee, about her experiences on the program "Survivor."

The staff followed Made in Oklahoma companies to Puerto Rico for an international food show and highlighted Oklahoma’s trade with countries such as Cuba and China in other programs. McClendon will travel this summer to report on the establishment of trade ties with Vietnam.

This summer Horizon will feature a series of stories from Israel.

“While we are now learning how to protect ourselves against bio-terrorism, that is a threat the country of Israel has had to deal with for decades,” McClendon said. “The Horizon video crew saw first-hand how Israeli agriculture producers have had to structure their operations to meet food safety measures, not only to protect their food supply, but to keep export markets open.”

“There’s so much out there, in Oklahoma, and people just don’t realize it,” said Alisa Hines, reporter and editor.

“Our world is changing so fast. It’s only human nature to be resistant to change,” McClendon said. “But what we do with each of our stories is show how people – and even entire towns – have embraced everything from new technology to new attitudes to improve their lives.”

Agri-tourism is on the rise in Oklahoma. Oklahoma Horizon will take a look at this industry and what it could mean economically for rural Oklahoma. According to the Center for Rural Studies, agri-tourism and related activities, such as hunting, now equal production agriculture in economic impact.

Oklahoma Horizon pushes to keep urban Oklahoma involved as well. Stories about the “agurbs” featured in Jack Schultz’s Boomtown U.S.A., the urban harvest, and Food 4 Kids programs sponsored by the Regional Food Bank in Oklahoma City.

Capitol Insight is a weekly segment. Rachel Hubbard gives an analysis of the week’s legislative session for the layperson.
McClendon said he recently read a book by noted economist Thomas Friedman where Friedman says parents need to treat children not wanting to study, the same as they would picky eaters.

“We grew up hearing we had better clean our plates, because there were hungry children in China. Today’s kids need to know that they had better finish their homework, because there are a billion children in China who will want their job.”

Oklahoma Horizon is a 30-minute weekly show, produced as a partnership between the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry and the Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education. It is developed in cooperation with OETA. The studio is located at CareerTech’s state department in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

To view stories from previous shows, or to give the Oklahoma Horizon staff a story idea, visit the web site at www.OkHorizon.com.

posted June1, 2005

Press Release