When you listen to the news every morning, you never imagine that you’ll get to meet the people you see on television or hear on the radio.

However, WTIU/WFIU News gave Bloomington residents the opportunity to finally put a name to a face.

The local news outlet hosts an open house every year in the Radio-TV Building on Indiana University-Bloomington’s campus, where they allowed guests to get a glimpse of the public broadcasting realm.

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WTIU is owned by PBS television station, which also produces a children’s show, The Friday Zone, inside the Radio-TV Building as well.

The news station’s produces local, regional, and national news coverage for nearly 600 thousand Indiana households in central and southern Indiana.

WFIU is a public radio station and one of the original NPR charter members serving over 20 counties in Indiana.

IU senior Emma Atkinson shared her enthusiasm during one of the tours facilitated by WTIU/WFIU staff.

“I thought wow what a great way to get to know all the people who make public media in Bloomington. I listen to WFIU and I watch WTIU. It’s the best way to get news in Bloomington,” says Atkinson.

During the tour of the news stations facilities, attendees got a look inside of the WTIU newsroom, where reporters have daily pitch meetings. They also were able to explore to the WFIU news library.

Many seemed to be a fan of the green screen in studio 4. Green screens are used to display graphics such as weather maps or traffic updates.

Guests enjoyed refreshments catered by Terry’s Banquet’s and Catering and drinks from Bloomington’s very own Oliver Winery while mingling among different news personalities in Studio 6, where most production occurs.

WTIU/WFIU Events Coordinator, Joan Padawan said the open house takes an extensive amount of planning but it is one of her favorite events to put on for the community.

“It gives us a chance to say thank you to not just the people   that donate to public broadcasting, both radio and tv. But also, just the people who are viewers or listeners to our product,” Joan said.

WTIU Public Television and WFIU Public Radio stations fall under the umbrella of Indiana Public Media, which is home to different public broadcasting programs.

WTIU/WFIU News has been serving Hoosiers for nearly 60 years, starting in the 1950s. To see more about Indiana’s very own public broadcasting, visit their website at IndianaPublicMedia.org.

Check out the video below to see how Emma and Joan felt about the station’s 2018 open house: