TVW Update: Focus on Interim

July 2022

Letter from the President
Welcome to summer (finally!). 

Here at TVW, we’ve been in full interim mode since March;
here’s just a very small glimpse into our work:

Launch of the Justice Gerry Alexander Endowment for TVW 

Although we founded the endowment a year ago, we have since named the fund (with special thanks to former Justice Gerry Alexander, a strong and early proponent of cameras in appellate courts) and formally launched at a lovely event hosted by our friends at Gordon Thomas Honeywell Law Firm, KMB Architects, and Korsmo Construction.  This fund represents a big step in our funding strategy to ensure TVW’s sustainability well into the future.  Learn more about the Justice Gerry Alexander Endowment.

It’s an election year!

With major statewide elections for U.S. Senate, Secretary of State, and several Supreme Court Justices, TVW is pleased to present, again this year, the highly acclaimed Video Voters’ Guide.  Hear directly from the candidates, the issues they care about, and why they made the decision to run for statewide office right here: VIDEO VOTER’S GUIDE

What we do in the summer months. 

And, finally, in addition to TVW’s coverage of executive, legislative, and judicial activities around the state, you’ll want to stay tuned for updates to our popular State Parks, My Favorite Places with Ralph Munro, Historic Washington, and Washington Road Trip series. These features represent some of our most popular programming options and we’re planning, shooting, and editing updates weekly, so stay tuned! 
If you’re not sure how to watch TVW on television in your area, check out our CHANNEL LOCATOR. And, of course, all content is always available on demand at TVW.ORG.  

 Thanks for your ongoing support and friendship.  It keeps us going all year long!

COVID Leads to Epidemic of TVW Court Coverage               

COVID, and the onset for virtual state government meetings, has resulted in vastly expanded coverage for TVW. Perhaps nowhere has that coverage explosion been more dramatic than in TVW’s coverage of Washington courts. 

In the spring, summer and fall of 2020, shortly after COVID began rampaging through Washington, TVW began covering all cases heard by the three Washington Courts of Appeals: District 1 in Seattle, District 2 in Tacoma, and District 3 in Spokane. To give an idea of the extent of this coverage: so far, in 2022, TVW has covered 280 cases argued before these three courts!

Needless to say, the WA Courts of Appeals are very active. In fact they’re known as the workhorse of the Washington appellate court system. If you haven’t seen TVW’s 2019 documentary released on the 50th anniversary of the creation of the state courts of appeals, it’s worth a watch: WASHINGTON’S COURT OF APPEALS: CELEBRATING 50 YEARS

When COVID hit, TVW for the first time began covering all oral arguments heard by the Washington State Supreme Court Commissioner’s Office, a little-known but influential entity that serves as a “gatekeeper” for the State Supreme Court.

Plus, a myriad of other court-related coverage, most of which TVW had not covered before, or only sporadically: 

• WA Supreme Court yearly meetings with groups including the State Bar Association, the Legal Foundation of Washington, and the Practice of Law Board
• Virtual hearings in local Superior Courts, for instance in cases challenging the capital gains tax and Gov. Inslee’s COVID policies and,

Many other court-related entities and meetings, including…

• The Board for Judicial Administration’s Court Recovery Task Force – formed to oversee the court system’s recovery from the pandemic
• The state’s Minority and Justice Commission
• A King County Law Library webinar on the constitutionality of the WWII executive order to intern Japanese Americans
• Court-sponsored events focused on legal financial obligations, and personal restraint petitions
•  American Bar Association meetings in which WA Supreme Court justices were involved

And of course, TVW continues its coverage of the WA State Supreme Court, whose oral arguments since the start of COVID have been conducted largely virtually. 
We’re not yet “court TV” – but we’re getting there!

Update from Teach with TVW                                 

Teach with TVW is a free online resource provided by TVW consisting of civics education programs, learning modules and documentaries. This past year over 600 students from across the state participated from 26 schools. Learn More about Teach with TVW from Program Director, Brett Hansen.

TVW Receives Northwest Regional Emmy Nominations      

Over the years TVW has won many Emmy ™ awards, most frequently in the Politics/Government category.
This year TVW was honored with nominations for excellent work in visual media, creative scripting and short-form storytelling. Viewer support makes these important programs and features possible.