The Bully Project

With the ever-growing prevalence of deadly cases of school violence and the media’s extensive coverage of these events, The Bully Project stands out, because it takes us inside the world of everyday bullying – the kind that on many occasions has been a catalyst for some of the more widely-covered instances of extreme violence in our schools. Writer/reporter/executive producer Bob Segall’s investigation-turned-community-outreach-program started with a shocking incident of school violence captured on tape. The team’s efforts escalated from there. WITI teamed up with University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee to produce a school survey with over forty questions about bullying that revealed a significant lack of awareness of the problem by teachers and administrators. Leading from these findings came an extensive program that included a community forum, resource guide, public awareness, and a collection of bullying-related literature and educational films at the Milwaukee public library system. Local football hero, the Green Bay Packer’s Brett Farve has now become a spokesperson for the project. Segall’s team, consisting of co-executive producer/photojournalist Jim Wilson, producers Cary Docter and Michele Murray, editor/producer David Michuda, director Gordon Trantow, host Joyce Garbaciak, news director Bob Clinkingbeard, and community relations representative Kelly Skindzelewski, helped take this project from great investigative journalism to compassionate public service. For providing more than just “the news” to the community, a Peabody Awards goes to The Bully Project.