New Producers to Cover Mental Health and Scientific/Medical Advances Join Arizona Public Media
Arizona Public Media announced this week that two new producers will be joining the station’s signature program, Arizona Illustrated.
Cáit NíSíomón, a respected local producer/videographer/editor and artist will take over the AZPM Mental Health Reporting Desk, producing stories in the genre of health/mental health. Over the past few years, Ms. NíSíomón has produced videos for Southwest Folklife Alliance, Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), and The Arts Foundation for Tucson and Southern Arizona among others. She earned a BFA in Film, Video and New Media from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and studied Fine Art: Painting and Sculpture at Galway/Mayo Institute of Technology, Galway, Ireland. Ms. NíSíomón will start on March 2.
The AZPM Mental Health Reporting Desk was established in 2011. With the support of The David and Lura Lovell Foundation, AZPM has created a nationally unique model in mental-health reporting, raising awareness and reducing stigma about mental illness. In the years since its inception, AZPM has carved out a critical and unique niche within PBS and NPR, and the deeply authentic, personal, and revealing work has been transformative for viewers and listeners. AZPM’s mental health coverage has directly served the people of Arizona by creating personal and accessible stories that reveal mental health challenges and disparities within often-ignored populations, such as Native American, African American, Latinx, LGBTQI+, youth, rural, veteran, and law enforcement communities. The segments and stories are often used by treatment centers, educators, training programs, and collaborations to explain the realities of mental illness and the potential for recovery.
Bryan Nelson will produce stories focusing on advances and discoveries in science, technology, medicine, and more in Southern Arizona. This is a new position and beat at AZPM. For more than a decade, Mr. Nelson has worked as a freelance journalist, writer, and recently as a filmmaker for various online magazines and entities including Mother Nature Network, Hakai Magazine, NWDocumentary, National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO), Intercultural Center for the Study of Deserts and Oceans (CEDO), and Kitt Peak National Observatory. He has experience in education outreach with The Fund for Public Interest and more recently Biosphere 2. Mr. Nelson earned an MA Philosophy (Certificate: Cognitive Science) from the University of Houston and a BA in Philosophy and in Anthropology from S.U.N.Y. at Oswego in Oswego, New York. Mr. Nelson will start on April 6.
Through stunning photography and powerful storytelling, Arizona Illustrated introduces viewers to the people that make Arizona such a unique and vibrant place to live. Hosted by Tom McNamara, Arizona Illustrated is a flagship program of Arizona Public Media and one of PBS 6's most well-known local programs. Covering a wide variety of topics including history, science and nature, the arts, and local public affairs, each half-hour episode of Arizona Illustrated is presented in a newsmagazine format and includes mini-documentaries that are shot on location throughout southern Arizona and the region.
Arizona Illustrated has been showcasing the stories that make southern Arizona unique for more than three decades. New episodes air every Sunday at 6:30 p.m. with encores the following Saturday at 6:30 p.m. and at various times throughout the week. For a complete broadcast schedule or to watch episodes and segments online, visit azpm.org/arizonaillustrated.
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Arizona Public Media (AZPM) is an editorially independent, nonprofit public service of the University of Arizona (UA) and provides three television program services (PBS 6, PBS 6 Plus, and PBS Kids), four radio services (NPR 89.1, Classical 90.5, Jazz 89.1 HD2 and the BBC World Service) and a variety of online program offerings at azpm.org. AZPM is funded through the generous support of annual and sustaining members, the business community through program underwriting, fee-for-service production activities, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and direct and in-kind support from UA. Arizona Public Media® and AZPM® are registered trademarks of the Arizona Board of Regents, which holds the FCC broadcast licenses for all AZPM stations, for the benefit of the University of Arizona. More information about AZPM, including program schedules and Video-on-Demand offerings, can be found online at azpm.org.