MORGANTOWN — The Greater Morgantown Area is making news … in Barcelona, Spain.
Fabien Ortiz, the U.S. news producer for TV3, Barcelona’s largest news broadcaster, will be part of a three-person team coming to town on April 19.
Ortiz said the goal will be to produce two short news features to be aired in Spain.
“We are looking at doing a story on the first 100 days since Biden has taken office, which is fast approaching. We’re looking at the American Rescue Plan and the infrastructure plan,” Ortiz said, noting Morgantown stood out for a couple reasons.
One, he said, is the state’s shifting economy.
“We feel that Morgantown is emblematic in that it’s undergoing an energy transition, from fossil fuels and traditional coal industries to new green jobs,” he said.
Secondly, the city is politically interesting in that it’s one of a few liberally-leaning islands in an increasingly conservative state.
“We’re wondering if Biden is making inroads into some of the smaller cities, like Morgantown and maybe gaining more traction with blue-collar workers than, say, a Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama,” Ortiz said.
So far, Monongalia County Commissioners Sean Sikora and Tom Bloom have been interviewed for the features, as has Russ Rogerson, president and CEO of the Morgantown Area Partnership.
“We’re just very thrilled that they have chosen us,” Bloom said.
Ortiz and his team are based out of TV3’s U.S. office, located in Washington D.C.
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