BETHEL — Newry resident Brooks Morton was beginning to take Western Hills Access Television (W.H.A.T.) to the next level when the unexpected hit — a health scare. With the station’s driving force in recovery for months, progress quickly became stagnant.

Now back on his feet, Morton, who is executive director of W.H.A.T., is working three days a week (9-12 p.m., Monday, Wednesday and Friday) and is seeking more people to get involved with W.H.A.T. The studio is located in the lower section of Telstar Middle/High School.

His hope is for volunteers to learn the system, both from him and Tom Pierce, who trained Morton and helped install the system currently in the studio. Pierce is a professional producer with the company Tech Delivered and he will be doing training sessions for anyone interested in joining W.H.A.T.

One thing volunteers will learn is working with Final Cut Pro, a video editing software similar to iMovie.

The plan is to have these sessions begin by late February/early March.

Morton believes local public access stations are vital because news will be delivered “straight up,” without the sensationalism and bias often seen in newspapers and on television.

Bridging the gap between young and old generations is another thing he hopes can be accomplished with W.H.A.T. Students at Telstar have expressed interest in working with W.H.A.T. as part of an Audiovisual Club.

“Connecting older people with younger people is important,” he said. “I don’t think a lot of kids have that type of connection.”

His vision for W.H.A.T. is a station that’s centered around local culture and activities, and he hopes as more people join, they will continue to follow his vision and not be influenced by an outside agenda.

“I would like this station to be something that defines us as a unique area instead of just a carbon copy of everyday America,” Morton said.

The station is currently working on a shift to an internet station, which will allow people to contribute more material to W.H.A.T., from somewhere other than the studio.

“We’re converting to a digital format,” Morton said.

Once the website is up and running and the system has been converted to the internet, producers will be able to submit content online from wherever they are working. Morton referred to these places as “Satellite Stations,” and said they could be organizations like the Gem Theater, town office, historical society or even someone’s home.

Once producers submit content, the station manager would determine final publication dates and times. Morton said content produced by certain organizations would air at the same time every week.

All material will be stored in the archives also, so a viewer who misses the live airtime can go to the archives and watch.  Archived content will be available on the W.H.A.T. website.

People interested in volunteering and looking more info, can email Morton at brooksmorton@gmail.com or at westernhillstv11@gmail.com.

 

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