NEWSMAKERS, HIDDEN TREASURES PROFILED IN SEASON TWO OF DAILY DAKOTAN
The online video series, Daily Dakotan, returned for a second season Monday, December 10, 2012, on Youtube at www.youtube.com/DailyDakotan.
Daily Dakotan profiles North Dakota residents in two- to three-minute vignettes, with a new video posted each day. The first season of Daily Dakotan ran over several weeks in late 2011 and drew several thousand viewers and more than 2,000 social media fans, many from other parts of the country and world. Creator Matt Fern says with the new season, he wanted to expand his reach beyond the Bismarck-Mandan region. “I’m seeing a lot of national media attention focused on North Dakota over the past year, but little understanding of who we really are,” he says. “That’s one reason why I wanted to revive Daily Dakotan.”
One of the first Daily Dakotan episodes features Marilyn Hagerty whose unaffected review of the Olive Garden in the Grand Forks Herald garnered national attention. “But what did that mean to her?” asks Fern. “She’s a woman from a pre-Internet generation who didn’t even know what ‘going viral’ meant before her story took off.” The answer surprised Fern. “She handled it with such poise. To me, the story wasn’t about people riffing on a small-town newspaper columnist, but her grace and good humor in response to it all.”
The lineup for this year’s series also includes stories from a Fargo man whose spinal cord injury doesn’t stop his thrill-seeking lifestyle and more than a dozen other North Dakotans. “There are 15 episodes total,” says Fern. “Some of our subjects this year are high-profile newsmakers, while others are hidden treasures in the community. What they all have in common is that they make me proud to be from North Dakota in one way or another.”
A Facebook page and Twitter feed are available for anybody who wants to be notified when new episodes become available at facebook/dailydakotan. Matt Fern is owner of Bismarck-based video production and distribution company, The Creative Treatment. The Creative Treatment and Bank of North Dakota partially sponsored the series.
Submitted press release.
