When Arizona State University junior Peyton Gallovich began her journalism career at the Walter Cronkite School, she dreamed of combining her two passions for American Sign Language and broadcast journalism.
The result of that dream is the Deaf and Hearing Network, the first news broadcast to combine speaking, signing and captions. The videos are produced and taped by volunteers and students in a studio at the Cronkite School.
Gallovich said she came up with the idea for DHN because she wanted to take ASL as a second language toward her journalism degree and realized how complex the language and culture around ASL is.
“DHN is a great resource for becoming aware of deaf issues,” Gallovich said. “We often take deaf issues and give them a hearing perspective and vice versa.”
Gallovich said she assembled a team of about 12 volunteers in October 2013, and continued to work through the summer until the beginning of production for DHN in January 2014.
The network’s YouTube channel has garnered over 1,500 subscribers and 140,000 video views. It includes over 140 videos of content about the deaf community, world news and local events. DHN has been publishing short story videos in place of the longer broadcasts typical of earlier episodes.
“Our viewers have jumped from 3,000 an episode to 7,000 since we changed our delivery type,” Gallovich said.
Gallovich said DHN’s Facebook page is approaching 4,500 likes and averaging 500 new likes per month.
She said keeping both hearing and deaf audiences informed helps the two communities better understand each other, and she hopes the program will increase support between the communities as well.
DHN covered the issues surrounding Ferguson, Missouri, by featuring a representative from the National Deaf Black Advocates on the show. The representative signed and spoke while captions were shown on screen. He discussed the racial issues in Ferguson and the impact the developments had on the deaf community.
Gallovich said the network has also been used as a learning tool for deaf students, and local teachers show episodes of DHN in class.
“TV news or written news can be hard for students to understand because they are still learning English as a second language,” Gallovich said. “By giving them news in ASL they can be aware of their world in their language.”
Melissa Huber, a DHN anchor and counselor at the Phoenix Day School for the Deaf, said showing DHN episodes in classrooms allows students to have easy access to the news.
ASU’s American Sign Language club president Ted Horton said there are six deaf or hard-of-hearing students who attend his club. He estimates there are about 30 deaf and hard-of-hearing students in total at ASU.
Huber said the best way for the public to get involved is to attend ASL classes, learn sign language and learn how to communicate with the deaf community.
“DHN has done a great job of educating … hearing people about deaf people,” Horton said. “Hearing people should be open-minded and learn more about deaf awareness.”
Gallovich said DHN’s main priority is funding as the network looks to become a business.
“We are now working on sponsorships and partnerships with people to have special segments and earn money,” Gallovich said.
She said she hopes the network will cover four cities in Arizona and eventually span across multiple states.
Broadcasts of DHN can be seen at WatchDHN.com. Arizona locals can also watch broadcasts on channels 99 and 11 in Glendale, Phoenix, Chandler and Prescott.
Contact the reporter at cassidy.trowbridge@asu.edu
