File Photo Above is Dustin Dumas, who took over as station manager of SOMAtv in 2018, on the set of her local access television show, ‘Dustin’s Kaleidoscope.’ SOMAtv airs Maplewood and South Orange meetings and information, as well as television shows pitched, produced and packaged entirely by SOMA residents.
Above is Dustin Dumas, who took over as station manager of SOMAtv in 2018, on the set of her local access television show, ‘Dustin’s Kaleidoscope.’ SOMAtv airs Maplewood and South Orange meetings and information, as well as television shows pitched, produced and packaged entirely by SOMA residents.
MAPLEWOOD / SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — SOMAtv was recently granted the Award of Excellence from the Jersey Access Group for its “Get Out The Vote” public service announcement series. The Award of Excellence, the highest honor in the JAG Awards annual competition, was won in the Public Service Announcements and Promo Series category and was presented to the station during a virtual ceremony at the 2021 Eastern Expo Conference. This is SOMAtv’s first award since the station went on the air in 1994.
The “Get Out The Vote” public service announcement series was conceived by Dustin Dumas, who became the SOMAtv station manager in October 2018 and is the host and producer of “Dustin’s Kaleidoscope.” Community members were asked to submit short video clips, which were edited to create public service announcements encouraging the community to vote in the 2020 presidential election. This series aired on SOMAtv and has been posted online, reaching people in the South Orange and Maplewood community, as well as throughout the country.
“I conceived the series of public service announcements as a way to engage our community during the pandemic when our studio was closed. I wanted to encourage our community to vote in the 2020 presidential election,” Dumas said. “I asked the community to submit videos to help get out the vote and the only requirements were that they had to be nonpartisan and not affiliated with any special interest group. We received many creative videos in Nepalese, French, English, American sign language and Spanish.”
The JAG Awards are annual awards that honor excellence in local and regional public, education and government programming.
“It is an honor to receive the Award of Excellence, knowing that this is our first award since the station’s inception in 1994,” Dumas said. “To receive it during a pandemic was especially rewarding, knowing that our community came together during these unprecedented times. I look forward to continuing to help our community, whether it is assisting our producers in creating original content or assisting our partners with outreach for their programs.”
In May, SOMAtv was named the Village Spotlight organization by the South Orange Village Community Relations Committee. In early July, the township of Maplewood presented Dumas with a resolution of recognition and appreciation, noting the JAG Award and the many strides forward the channel had taken under Dumas’ leadership. As station manager, Dumas began syndicating SOMAtv shows, bringing them from their original airing at a single New Jersey station to airing on 36 stations in 12 states, from California to New Hampshire.
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