Case Study Historic UN Forum Addresses Anti-Terrorist Initiatives

Seeking to reassure a country still reeling from the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, UN Secretary- General Kofi Annan spoke to the American people in an unprecedented 11-city electronic Town Hall meeting one month after the attacks. The meetings were produced by News Broadcast Network (NBN) on behalf of the Better World Campaign, the League of Women Voters, the United Nations Association and the United Nations Foundation.

In one of the most complex multi-site satellite feeds ever conducted via digital technology, Secretary-General Annan and moderator Walter Cronkite spoke from the UN to participants in 11 selected cities, from New York on the east coast and Los Angeles on the west coast to major urban centers in America's heartland. Mr. Annan addressed the current international crisis and the UN's anti-terrorist initiatives. He also fielded questions posed by local business, clergy, political and academic leaders in each city.

Under the supervision of NBN Special Event Producer Rich Neuman, NBN established the local sites in each of the 11 cities for the two-way videoconference with satellite uplink trucks, camera crews, audio support, producers and directors. Video of the teleconference traveled by compressed digital satellite to the NBN mobile satellite control room truck parked outside our Park Avenue headquarters. It was linked with video from the UN studio to produce a switched video program that was sent to the 11 cities and made available to TV stations around the country.

The event was carried live on the Jumbotron in Times Square and by CNN and the Time Warner metro channel in New York City. NBN also distributed b-roll and a tape of the live feed.

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