While TV stations around the country were prepping for Friday's inauguration, KPHO, Meredith’s CBS affiliate in Phoenix, devoted 24 hours to exploring the impact a Trump presidency could have on Arizona and its relationship with Mexico.
“He, more than any other president in recent history, has proposed policies that could affect the people, businesses and governments of our border areas and border states,” said Morgan Loew, who, along with fellow reporter Dennis Welch, was behind the project, “24 Hours on the Border.” The project focused on how those policies could affect immigration, crime, jobs and in Arizona.
The series went live on the web at 12:01 a.m. Thursday and continued rolling out on multiple platforms over the next 24 hours. During that time, Loew and Welch reported live from locations along the border during every newscast, which start with a 6 a.m. morning show and close with latenight news at 10 p.m. Their travels were documented online with an interactive map.
Throughout the day, the reporters also released material using Facebook Live, as well as through Facebook, Instagram and Twitter posts. “We posted our last posts just before midnight – although we're still following up and answering questions today,” Loew said Friday afternoon.
“24 Hours on the Border” was also the station’s first project shot, in part, using a drone, which Loew said proved to be a powerful newsgathering tool. “It was vital to our story and where the current border fence is, and isn’t,” he said.
