Collaboration with The Poynter Institute with support from the Google News Initiative

BOSTON (July 9, 2020) – In the lead-up to the 2020 Presidential Election, WGBH News is launching Internet Expert, a social TV game show designed to engage Generation Z voters in the democratic process. Student journalist Malick Mercier will host the series and new ten-minute-episodes are available on YouTube and IGTV every other Wednesday starting on July 8 and running until the November election. The project is part of The Poynter Institute’s VidSpark program, a video storytelling lab for local newsrooms funded by the Google News Initiative.

Internet Expert contestants compete in a series of head-to-head challenges, designed to empower young voters with the knowledge and tools they need to vote with confidence in November. Throughout the series, contestants and viewers learn about topics such as the voting process, campaign finance, and how to spot misinformation or deception in political ads.

“With the launch of Internet Expert, WGBH News will engage with young people who are just beginning to take part in the democratic process,” said Kate Zachry, news director of WGBH News. “We’re excited to work with The Poynter Institute and the Google News Initiative in the creation of content that will help inform and inspire this audience, empowering them to participate in the national civic dialogue.”

According to Pew Research Center, one-in-ten eligible voters in the 2020 electorate is part of Generation Z. Twenty-four million members of this generation will have the opportunity to cast a ballot in November.

Internet Expert is part of the VidSpark initiative, a yearlong program designed by The Poynter Institute and the Google News Initiative to help local newsrooms reach young audiences through shareable social video storytelling. The project culminates in a playbook that local newsrooms across the country can use to engage their own young audiences.

About WGBH News
WGBH News is among the fastest-growing local news providers in greater Boston and draws on the talent of a multi-platform newsroom that includes 89.7 WGBH, Boston’s Local NPR, television and digital reporting. The WGBH newsroom continues to invest in substantive local coverage and has established dedicated desks for higher education, politics, innovation, and investigations as well as unique partnerships to expand on that commitment, including with WNYC’s The Takeaway, The World from PRX and The GroundTruth Project. WGBH News partners with WCAI, the Cape, Coast and Islands NPR station and New England Public Media in Western, Massachusetts to connect the Commonwealth with trusted journalism. WGBH News also maintains bureaus at the Massachusetts State House and in Dorchester, Boston’s largest neighborhood. A Worcester bureau will open in 2020.

About WGBH
WGBH Boston is America’s preeminent public broadcaster and the largest producer of PBS content for TV and the Web, including Masterpiece, Antiques Roadshow, Frontline, Nova, American Experience, Arthur, Molly of Denali and more than a dozen other primetime, lifestyle and children’s series. WGBH’s television channels include WGBH 2, WGBX 44, World and Create. WGBH TV productions focusing on the region’s diverse community include Greater Boston, Basic Black and High School Quiz Show®. WGBH Radio serves listeners across New England with 89.7 WGBH, Boston’s Local NPR®; 99.5 WCRB Classical Radio Boston; and WCAI, the Cape and Islands NPR® Station. WGBH also is a major source of digital content and programs for public radio through PRX, including The World and Innovation Hub, a leader in educational multimedia with PBS LearningMedia™, providing the nation’s educators with free, curriculum-based digital content, and a pioneer in services that make media accessible to deaf, hard of hearing, blind and visually impaired audiences. WGBH has been recognized with hundreds of honors: Emmys, Peabodys, duPont-Columbia Awards and Oscars. Find more information at wgbh.org.
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