Bethlehem, PA. – May 21, 2019 – PBS39 will debut a new digital literacy segment titled Tech Takeover on Wednesday May 22, 2019. Tech Takeover will air weekly during PBS39 News Tonight at 6:30 and 11 p.m. This new series is designed to empower viewers to use and understand emerging digital platforms.
“Digital innovation brings enormous potential for good, but it also can lead to a number of new issues,” Tim Fallon, Chief Executive Officer at PBS39. “Tech Takeover aims to create strong digital citizens and offer solutions to problems we face on a daily basis in the Lehigh Valley and around the world.”
Digital literacy is the ability to evaluate and use information from the internet, smartphones, video games and other non-traditional sources. In this segment, PBS39’s Megan Frank will help viewers navigate the digital world and encourage viewers to practice digital ethics when they share and use content online. The premiere segment will answer the question: Is your smartphone listening to you? Later features will include a meeting with ‘Marty,’ a grocery store robot, solutions to stop robocalls and ways to plan a “digital will” for online profiles.
“With new technologies emerging constantly, how do we navigate the new digital frontier? That’s where PBS39’s Tech Takeover comes in,” Frank said. “Whether you’re watching a video on YouTube or reading an article on Facebook, children and adults alike need to know how to critically examine the quality and credibility of that media.”
Watch Tech Takeover Wednesdays during PBS39 News Tonight. Visit PBS39’s program guide to find the correct channel number for your over the air, cable or satellite provider. All segments will also be posted on PBS39.org/TechTakeover. Follow Megan Frank on Twitter and like her page on Facebook to keep up with her work.
About Megan Frank
Megan Frank is the Northampton County reporter for PBS39 News Tonight. Frank grew up in Philadelphia and graduated from Temple University. She is the 2010 recipient of The Legacy Award for excellence in reporting on diverse communities, given by Temple’s Klein College of Media and Communication. Frank comes to PBS39 from Harrisburg, where she reported for stations serving the Pennsylvania State Capitol region. Prior to her work in television, she was a public radio reporter at WHYY in Philadelphia, reporting for the station’s flagship radio program NewsWorks Tonight and acted as an investigative research aide for NPR’s Marcellus Shale reporting project StateImpact Pennsylvania. Her print work has been featured by Philly.com’s My Community Trend and Temple University’s Fox Focus magazine.
About PBS39
PBS39 acts as the catalyst to promote civic engagement, and to fulfill the regional needs of the Greater Lehigh Valley through its dynamic communication platforms and resources. PBS39 Reporter Corps journalists are embedded in the ten counties that make up the Greater Lehigh Valley. The Reporter Corps creates community-focused content for PBS39 News Tonight and for the PBS39 digital platform. PBS39 and the United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley are partnering to fund and fulfill the regional literacy initiative Lehigh Valley Reads. This campaign is working to ensure all Lehigh Valley students read on grade level by the end of third grade by 2025. PBS39, part of Greater Lehigh Valley Public Media, is a community-owned public media station serving eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey. PBS39 is licensed in Allentown to the Lehigh Valley Public Telecommunications Corporation. For more information, visit PBS39.org.
Information provided to TVL by:
Nicole Harrell
Public Relations/Promotions Manager, PBS39
