Eyewitness News, 1977-2000
Scope and Contents
Daily off-air recordings of "Eyewitness News" broadcasts. Most likely these are airchecks, a recording that is received off-air using a separate receiver and recording machine as the program airs live. It's main purpose was legal proof that a program or content aired as scheduled. The series is missing several years' worth of broadcasts.
Dates
- 1977-2000
Language of Materials
Collection content is in English.
Conditions Governing Access
Local access is restricted due to the fragile nature of the materials and amount of staff available. Local research is available for a fee and must be scheduled far in advance. Access to digitized reproductions of materials is available for free online. Please contact avtech@marmia.org for more information.
Biographical / Historical
The first Eyewitness News format began in 1959 at a local television station in Cleveland (now WKYC-TV), which was a Group W owned station. It was the US’s first 90 min local newscast. It was first christened Eyewitness News in 1965, defining the role of the reporter as a “witness” to news events to anchors and viewers. Following its success, the other Group W stations adopted the format and name, including WJZ-TV.
Extent
7750 U-matic
Processing Information
The item descriptions in this series do not contain all of the content on each tape. Items digitized with funding provided by the Council of Library and Information Resources' "Digitizing Hidden Special Collections and Archives: Amplifying Unheard Voices" grant program were selected and minimally described with a focus on finding voices of Baltimore City’s Black community, the Lumbee Tribe, Asian Americans, immigrant populations, the LGBTQIA community fight for equal rights, among many others.
Repository Details
Part of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Moving Image Archive Repository