PBS SoCal will lead the pilot phase of CPB’s multimedia content and civic engagement initiative that launches next year.
Six public stations will join the Los Angeles PBS station in producing 35 multimedia stories on volunteerism and civic life. CPB announced the grant Monday during its 2024 Thought Leader Forum, held in conjunction with the National Educational Telecommunications Association conference in Pittsburgh.
Production and evaluation of programs produced during the pilot will inform the full launch of initiative next May. That launch will open the civics project to public stations across the country and lead into 2026, commemorating America’s 250th anniversary, according to CPB’s Sept. 16 press release.
The pilot stations include public radio and TV organizations that are yet to be announced. Each will produce and publish five pieces of content relating to civic engagement in early 2025, according to PBS SoCal CCO Tamara Gould.
“We’re sort of loosely describing this, also, as ‘telling America’s stories,’” Gould said.
The goal, she said, is to help the public understand how people contribute to communities in unique ways.
“I’m talking about . . . where people are doing all sorts of things that, if people knew about them, they would be really inspired and excited to do some of those things themselves,” Gould said. The stories could feature people who volunteer in their communities or help their neighbors, Gould said.
An external research organization will evaluate viewers’ responses to stories produced during the pilot, the formats and storytelling methods that stations use and how those stories fit into a larger media landscape, Gould said. PBS SoCal will then work with researchers to develop content guidelines for stations to follow for the national launch in May.
The research organization, like the pilot stations, will be announced soon, according to Gould.
For the pilot, Gould advises stations to focus on the media that works best for their community and to develop local partnerships that will enhance their stories.
“You’re going to find partners who really understand civic education and civic engagement, and they can help the content go further,” Gould said.
Pilot stations will have the flexibility to publish their stories in different mediums, from audio to video and social media platforms, Gould said. CPB’s goal is to create short-form content that will attract new audiences and “inspire younger generations” to engage in civic life, according to its request for proposals.
PBS SoCal will support the pilot stations in developing partnerships around content creation, but what that support will look like is to be determined, Gould said. That’s partly the point of the pilot program.
“Part of phase one testing is [answering] ‘What do stations need as far as station grants?’ and ‘What is the right level of support to be able to have the kind of results that we’re all hoping for?’” Gould said.
On the one hand:
Civic participation is important, and showing concrete examples of what people are volunteering to do in their communities, and the difference it makes, will be inspiring to others.
On the other hand:
When people tell me they wish public media could “teach” younger Americans civics, they have told me they mean also the other kind of Civics — how elections, checks and balances, and the legal system make (made?) America unique and strong, showing how everyday people put those values into action.
Is such content, geared to young people, being made available? I, too, hope this new project can make room to include that kind of Civics.