“Kent Connects” is a television news magazine at Kent State, and it showcases work from the “Advanced Television News Producing” course in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication (JMC). The course is a “capstone” class for broadcast journalism seniors, and draws on their four-year academic experience to produce long-form reporting in a news magazine format. Led by John Butte, a professor in JMC, five teams of reporters and producers were responsible for reporting five stories: Ohio’s heroin epidemic, President Trump’s attack on the free press, sex trafficking in Ohio, Kent State diversity and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton.

“Kent Connects” was recorded at Kent State University in Franklin Hall on Saturday, May 6. The broadcast aired May 7 at 7 p.m. on TV2 News.