July 2010

Feature Story

Legally Speaking
By Dennis Riggs, Director of HEC-TV

We are a nation of laws, and arguably nothing touches each of us more directly everyday than our legal system. With HEC-TV’s strong mission to educate, and dedication to thought provoking important programming content, Legally Speaking is a broadcast that simply has to be done. After all, what could be more important than educating our citizens of all ages about their rights and responsibilities under the law and teaching them how to exercise those rights within the American legal system? HEC-TV broadcasts several innovative programs in partnership with the Missouri Bar Association. Our annual Constitution Day live interactive program with schools assists teachers who are mandated by “No Child Left Behind” to teach the Constitution but are given no resources or direction to do so. We connect students with Constitutional experts to learn directly from the most outstanding minds in the field of Constitutional
Law. The students’ insightful and engaged questions are rewarding to watch. The broadcasts, which are also webcast nationally and internationally, are so successful- the number of schools participating nearly doubles every year.
HEC-TV also telecasts A Mini Law School. This production with the Missouri Bar features a lecture by leading law professors and legal practitioners examining a legal topic in depth.
Legally Speaking is designed to take the best of both these highly effective programs and evolve it to the next level of public service and education. Host Don Wolff and we have been working for several years to design a format that will bring the Law to life, make it applicable to your current needs and interests. Legally Speaking both educates viewers on specific legal principles plus explores legal issues and topics that are currently in the news and affecting your life.    The point is to talk WITH you, not AT you.

We want to hear your questions on these topics and help you get the answers for which you’re looking. To achieve this goal, to make Legally Speaking truly interactive television, we will be using an innovative and ever changing combination of element; email, phone calls, twitter, facebook, uploaded video questions and a live on set audience. No local television station has gone to these lengths to ensure you have a voice. For the first time, you can talk back to your television and actually be heard!
Don Wolff brings decades of legal expertise and years of doing legal programs on radio, HEC-TV brings the most talented, dedicated and creative television crew in the Nation. Together, all this adds up to Legally Speaking which promises to be the most exciting, informative hour of television you will experience. We invite you to tune in and be part of television that “Makes You Think”.