About Us

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Senior citizens in our community have much to contribute to the civic dialogue. However, many seniors lack the skills and opportunities necessary to use all the tools available to them to tell their stories. The BGTIME program was developed to help bridge this divide between senior citizens and digital media.

BGTIME is made possible through a grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and funding from Central Carolina Community Foundation. The program is coordinated in the University of South Carolina's IFRA Newsplex multimedia facility. There, students from the University of South Carolina and Benedict College are trained and then dispatched to senior centers and other community organizations to help produce stories for this online community forum.

The student mentors receive a weeklong training course in Newsplex similar to those given to the facility's professional clients. The students learn how to write for the Internet, create audio Podcasts as well as shoot and edit video. The students are then paired with seniors to train them not only to access information from the Internet, but also to contribute information.

The first students were trained over the summer and are working with the seniors to post their stories. Additional students and seniors began working in the fall semester. The training program is currently offered in a diverse senior community center and two retirement communities and will expand as the program evolves. For more information, visit Centers.

Our media partners will ensure these voices are heard across our broader community. The State Media Company is promoting the project through both its traditional resources and new media and ETV is recording the process via its documentary series "Carolina Stories." For more information about each partner and their role, go to Partners.

You may also download our BGTIME brochure

For additional information about BGTIME, visit the FAQ section of this Web site. If you have a question please Contact Us.