Sociologist John Skrentny, an expert on affirmative action and the rights of minority and majority groups, is interviewed in the USCD Experts-on-Demand studio.

Experts on Demand Program
Launched with Opening of Television Studio

By Barry Jagoda October 18, 2004

UCSD inaugurated a new television interview studio last week, along with related media outreach efforts, to make faculty members readily available for interviews with national and international news outlets via satellite from a convenient location in the heart of the campus.

Getting the university name out to millions of viewers, finding wider audiences for the special expertise of UCSD scholars, and helping to enhance the quality of television news are the main the goals of the effort, called Experts On Demand. The project is being undertaken by the University Communications Office in conjunction with USCD-TV.

Chancellor Marye Anne Fox was the first to be interviewed in the facility, which was transmitted via satellite to a CBS affiliate in Raleigh, North Carolina. The television studio is located in the Visual Arts Building.

UCSD faculty members are often asked to provide perspective for the television media, but to date it has often been inconvenient, or logistically impossible, to meet program deadlines when a trip to a remote television station is required. Having a broadcast-quality studio that allows television networks and stations to interview faculty experts via satellite located in the center of campus will make it much more convenient for experts to be interviewed, and should encourage broadcast and cable networks to turn more readily to UCSD for help in explaining topics in the news.

UCSD-TV Producer Shannon Bradley, left, and Experts-on-Demand Production Manager Bee Bornheimer work from the studio control room at UCSD-TV.

The Experts on Demand Web site also provides links to the new UCSD Faculty Experts Web site, a searchable database that provides handy access to UCSD scholarly expertise aimed for use by the news media. Information is provided about each scholar, focusing on his or her academic interests and publications. The Web site is searchable by a keyword index, leading to specialists on many topics. Currently, several hundred UCSD scholars are listed from all areas of the university.

Scholars who are willing to share their expertise with television audiences may request to receive on-camera media training prior to giving a live or taped interview. Some faculty members also will be asked to tape short summaries of their research interests, with a segment of the resulting videotape being available on the Web for viewing by television producers and reporters. For more information on the Experts on Demand program or to request to be included in the UCSD Faculty Experts database, please contact the University Communications Office at 43120, or e-mail univcomm@ucsd.edu.