Middle Ground looks to Kickstarter to raise $92K to help launch show

Print More

Middle Ground, the forthcoming radio show centered on Middle America, has taken to Kickstarter.com to raise $92,500 to cover operating costs for its first six months.

The show is the brainchild of Celeste Headlee, former co-host of The Takeaway from PRI. Headlee has enlisted other pubradio veterans including Jacob Conrad, who worked with her on Day to Day, and Sue Goodwin and Ken Rudin, her colleagues on NPR’s Talk of the Nation, which went off the air in June.

The show’s Kickstarter premiums range from $5 to $10,000 and offer everything from thank-you notes and computer mouse pads to executive producer credits and dinner with Headlee and Rudin. Other premiums include hourlong webinars from Headlee and others covering topics like interviewing, investigative journalism and sound editing.

The program is due to premiere in December.

Update: According to the show’s Kickstarter campaign page, the campaign was cancelled effective Oct. 6. As of Monday morning, the campaign had 55 backers and had raised $4,850. Only successfully completed projects receive pledged funds. Headlee said in an email to Current that the government shutdown had impacted the project. She said that because Kicstarter does not allow campaigns to be paused, they made the decision to cancel it and relaunch after the shutdown is over.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *