Schatzlein Finishes Strong at PBS-39

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Fort Wayne (October 1, 2001) -- After a successful six-year run, Liz Schatzlein has resigned her post as producer/host of the Fort Wayne PBS affiliate's most popular locally-originated program, Healthline. Her "swan song" at WFWA was the September broadcast of Everybody Reads: the 20-Minute Miracle. This special program was an outgrowth of Liz's efforts to improve literacy in Allen County.

Healthline, which Liz produced, focused on a specific health issue each week. Sometimes opening with a videotaped vignette, the bulk of the program was devoted to live "call-ins", with Liz and viewers asking questions of on-camera experts. Liz was widely appreciated for her ability to help doctors feel "at ease, on air", lending a relaxed yet authoritative tone to her programs.

Liz had a long history with the local PBS affiliate, and many regarded her as the station's icon. She served on WFWA's Board of Directors from 1990-2000, and helped pioneer the origination of programming at the Fort Wayne station.

Schatzlein produced most of the critically-acclaimed "Understanding" series of health programs, syndicated nationally to PBS stations from PBS-39. Her credits include many other original productions at the station (see Liz's resume).

Prior to joining PBS-39, Liz was the evening news anchor at WANE-TV, the Fort Wayne CBS affiliate, where she consistently earned the highest "Q" (recognition plus favorable bias) rating in the market. She has journalism and communications degrees from Purdue University.

Working with WBGU-PBS, Bowling Green, Liz is currently finalizing Marcia Adams: Change of Heart, a documentary about women and heart disease that also covers the PBS celebrity's heart transplant. Schatzlein's production company, Pugger Productions, is co-producing the show, which will air early next year, with Adams.

Schatzlein is uniquely qualified to address both heart transplantation and the issue of women and heart disease. She covered the early transplants at Fort Wayne's Lutheran Heart Center in 1985, and produced Transplant 15 - a documentary about the experiences of Lutheran's 15th transplant recipient - in 1986, while working as the evening news anchor at Fort Wayne's CBS affiliate. Subsequently she has written, produced, and hosted a wide variety of programs about transplants and other medical matters, including two documentaries about women and heart disease, for distribution through PBS affiliates.

Liz appreciates the diversity of her current broadcast activities. "I'm really excited about working for both PBS and the commercial stations, and the tie-ins to print and the Internet are an added 'plus'", she said.