Local News Program Premieres For Teens- About Teens- By Teens

(Salem) - A local news program is about to launch, but it's not your average news. This weekly news show is produced by teenagers, and is created completely for teens in Salem and the Mid-Willamette Valley.

Produced by the Rose City News team and correspondents throughout the Mid-Valley area, NWTN kicks off its Salem coverage Thursday night, updating viewers on the latest Valley area high school news, events, sports and information.

Airing every Thursday at 7:30 PM on KWVT channel 52 (UHF), "Your Northwest Teen News" (NWTN) is a unique idea, and will be the Northwest's first and only area High School newscast. KWVT station owner Ken Lewetag is excited to bring this to the mid-Willamette Valley. "This is an example of what good kids can do by working with all the schools in Marion, Polk and Yamhill counties," Lewetag said. "NWTN will allow teens to get stories out about their schools and find out about things that interest teens, which they do know best."

KWVT is Salem's only local tv station, and this type of programming is specifically what they're looking for. "Local producers can find a home with us, we want this television station to reflect the communities it serves, and to launch hopeful producers into the big time - who knows?"

Salem correspondents first to join the news team are Brandon Milletta and Sean King. Brandon is a student at West Salem High School, and has been an active and award-winning producer for some time. Sean King is in eighth grade at Leslie Middle School. "I've been into video for the last three years, and we produce our own news cast here at school," said King. "I've also gotten involved with CCTV and am producing a show with a friend of mine there, so this news show is a great chance to do more with what I'm learning, and it actually is on broadcast tv. Very cool." These kids do their own reporting, writing, and editing of their news stories, with minimal oversight.

"It's something that most adults would find challenging, and these kids are pulling it off. We're all really impressed," Lewetag adds.

Your Northwest Teen News can be watched by anyone that has an antenna between the Wilsonville, Newberg, Salem, McMinnville and Silverton areas, KWVT's broadcast range. For more information on KWVT, visit: www.nwtv.us. For "Your Northwest Teen News" information and updates go to: rcn-tv.com/html/nwtn.html