Every year, millions of people throughout the world are exposed to the products and services of Appalshop. This multidisciplinary arts and media center, located in Whitesburg, shares the history, culture, and issues of Eastern Kentucky and the Appalachian region through films, musical recordings, radio and television, and live events.

Appalshop is also an educational institution. Since 1988, groups of young people from Eastern Kentucky have spent their summers there as participants in the Appalachian Media Institute, learning how to produce video documentaries about their communities.

During the sessions, AMI and Appalshop filmmakers and producers provide the interns with hands-on workshops that develop their technical and media literacy skills while exploring the history and current issues of Appalachia. The students then share their work through local screenings, open to community members of all ages, and through exchanges with young media-makers from across the country.

Some examples can also be found in the KET instructional series Mountain Media, which airs periodically on KET3.

Program 725

2005-06 Kentucky Poet Laureate Sena Jeter Naslund, the Appalachian Media Institute in Whitesburg, and music by Paul K and the Weathermen. (#725)