It was a little more than a month ago that Lander University put its campus radio station on the air. On Tuesday, Nov. 17, the university's new television program, Lander Today, made its debut on Northland Cable's government access channel.
A group of students, faculty and staff, including President Daniel Ball, gathered in the university Dining Hall to watch the 30-minute production, which airs on Channel 9 at 8 a.m. and 7 p.m.
Dr. Robert Stevenson, chair of Lander's Department of Mass Communication and Theatre, said each program will consist of three segments focusing on various university programs and activities. The inaugural program included an interview with Ball and a segment on the new campus radio station.
Heath Smith, a senior mass communication major from Anderson, is the producer of the program, which is hosted by Lauren Rogers of Kershaw, a freshman who is also majoring in mass communication.
Stevenson said the benefit of the television broadcasts is that they will be available to the entire Greenwood area. "It is also a way for the Lander community to be informed of what other departments and students are doing." He described it as a great marketing tool for the university.
The production is open to all Lander students regardless of their majors. Stevenson said it would give them practical broadcasting experience.
The Lander radio station, 1610 AM-XLR, is a low-power station whose signal reaches the entire campus and a short distance into surrounding neighborhoods. It is also broadcast on the Internet using Live365, the largest international radio Web site, which makes its programming available to a wide audience.