POTSDAM -- North Country Matters aired on WCKN at 7:30 p.m. on Monday Feb. 2, features Tom Graser talking about small town newspaper challenges and changes with NCM host Donna Seymour, AAUW-St. Lawrence County, and Dan Dullea, who teaches civic journalism and directs the Communications & Media Dept. at Clarkson University.

Tom Graser is the editor of the St. Lawrence County newspapers. He discusses the challenges and changes in local media he has seen in his media career over the last 30 years, which began in Plattsburg at WEAV Radio in 1985. The YouTube link for this show is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uppotyHtoo.

The second show, which airs at 8 pm, is a continuation of a conversation begun last semester about food insecurity in St. Lawrence County with Heather Sullivan-Catlin and Daisy Cox. You can see part 1 on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkJSAzXiuQI.

Heather Sullivan-Catlin, the author of the St. Lawrence County Community Food Security Assessment, and Daisy Cox, the Director of the Potsdam Neighborhood Center, talk about hunger and food insecurity in St. Lawrence County and how these critical needs are being met.

They look at the communities of Star Lake and Potsdam as two cases in point and the patchwork quilt of services, agencies and volunteer groups that respond to families in need. They also take a look at the long-term problems that create immediate needs and how they could be addressed on a wider basis. The YouTube link for this show is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHOlvXgPiu4.

The NCM civic partners working to educate North Country residents about critical public policy issues facing our region include AAUW-St. Lawrence County, the League of Women Voters of St. Lawrence County, and Clarkson Media and Mass Communication students, who provide the technical expertise for the productions. The shows are filmed at the WCKN studio on the Clarkson campus.

In addition to local broadcasts, the shows are also available on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/danieledullea. Check the websites for AAUW-St. Lawrence County (http://www.northnet.org/stlawrenceaauw/index.html) and the League of Women Voters of St. Lawrence County (http://slc-leaguewv.org/) for specific program links as they become available.