With a new round of CPB funding for state government coverage, public media newsrooms in seven more states are hiring reporters and building collaborations to strengthen statehouse reporting.
Funding from the CPB journalism initiative has already made a big difference for KOSU in Stillwater, Okla., one of the recipients of the first batch of grants announced last year, said Executive Director Rachel Hubbard.
When a controversial immigration bill came before Oklahoma lawmakers earlier this year, KOSU reporter Lionel Ramos covered the legislation in a way that just wasn’t possible in the past.
“That reporting was … from a perspective that no other outlet in the state covered in such a way,” Hubbard said. “It was very centered in that community and the effects on the community.”
Ramos reported stories about a protest of the bill, which criminalized anyone in Oklahoma without legal immigration status, and how local law enforcement will enforce it.
Wyoming Public Media, another grantee from 2023, now has two journalists reporting from the statehouse, according to GM Christina Kuzmych, and the coverage is shared with Jackson Hole Community Radio. Previously, news coverage from Cheyenne was limited to two or three bills that were covered sporadically, she said.
CPB’s inaugural grant round in 2023 provided a total of $2.25 million to stations in seven states and NPR.
Now stations in states that include Colorado and Nevada are gearing up their plans for state government reporting with backing from CPB. In October, the corporation announced another $2.65 million for state government reporting, bringing CPB’s investment in this kind of work to $4.9 million.
‘Taking the statehouse to people’
The latest grant round includes $384,140 for KUNR in Reno, Nev. The station is adding a new state government reporter while also dedicating an existing staff political reporter to the state government beat, according to GM Brian Duggan.
KUNR will also hire an independent contractor to translate four stories per month into Spanish.
The coverage will be shared with KNPR in Las Vegas, nonprofit digital newsroom The Nevada Independent and any other outlets that want to pick it up.
The goal is to not just cover the workings of Nevada’s government, but to also report on people experiencing the effects of the state’s policies, Duggan said.
“I don’t think politics coverage really affects change when it’s just talking about the palace intrigue,” Duggan said. “True political coverage that actually influences policy outcomes is the kind of journalism that talks to people that are experiencing life.”
The new reporter is bilingual, Duggan said, which is essential for covering how policy affects real people. “The only way to do that is to have a reporter be able to speak the language and talk to actual Nevadans,” Duggan said.
Nearly a third of Nevada’s population is Hispanic or Latino, according to U.S. Census data.
Taking state government coverage outside of committee meetings has also been important at KOSU. A decade had gone by since the station had a staffer covering state government full time, Hubbard said.
While KOSU reporters covered state policies that were within their beats, the $250,000 in CPB funds helped fill a coverage gap for KOSU and five other public radio stations in the state who use the content.
Additionally, The Oklahoman newspaper and Spanish-language newspaper La Semana have picked up some of Ramos’ stories, Hubbard said.
“The richness of the reporting that we’ve been able to do over the last year has been bringing people inside the statehouse and taking the statehouse to people that previously have not had that kind of access,” Hubbard said. “I would encourage people to look around and say, ‘Where are the gaps? Who needs to know what’s happening in these meetings?’”
‘A new and exciting dimension’
Before CPB awarded $360,999 to Wyoming Public Media last year, the state network covered the legislative session only when its former news director could “tear himself away” from the newsroom, said Kuzmych. When weather permitted, Bob Beck, who retired as news director in 2022, would drive to Cheyenne to cover the legislative session. He would select two or three important bills to cover sporadically.
The CPB funds allow for WPM to have two staffers covering the statehouse full-time, Kuzmych said. This year, the coverage included reporting on a land management issue, as well as how the University of Wyoming reacted to state cuts affecting diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
The addition of new staffers has led to more coverage of state government by the rest of the staff, Kuzmych said in an email.
“With two reporters focusing on state government issues, the opportunity to bring their perspectives into newsroom meetings added a new and exciting dimension.”
Colorado ‘Alliance’
In Colorado, KUNC in Greeley will form a “Colorado Capitol News Alliance” with Colorado Public Radio, Rocky Mountain PBS, members of the Rocky Mountain Community Radio Coalition and the non-profit Colorado Sun. The partners will collaborate on reporting, planning and digital distribution, according to a CPB news release.
The $379,048 grant supports the costs of an editor/producer who will coordinate the alliance’s work, said Michael Arnold, chief audience and content officer at KUNC. CPB will fully fund the position in the first year and pay for half of it in the second year.
The grant also covers half the costs of a Capitol reporter for the first year, Arnold said.
The work of both journalists will be shared with the alliance, and KUNC will collaborate on coverage with the other members’ reporters, Arnold said.
CPB’s money also backs seven projects to be produced with Rocky Mountain PBS, such as coverage that could benefit from video storytelling, Arnold said. Ideas under discussion have included explainers that would help Colorado residents better understand state government.
“KUNC and Rocky Mountain PBS have collaborated on smaller projects in the past and have long wanted to expand our partnership,” Arnold said. “With this grant, we finally have the resources to make that possible.”
In addition, Colorado Public Radio’s podcast on state government, Purplish, will expand production from periodic seasons to weekly, according to Kevin Dale, executive editor at CPR News.
The podcast will hire a new producer and its episodes will be available to all the stations in the alliance. CPB will pay for half the costs of the new producer for two years.
“We hope that the sharing of content and resources among the partner organizations will extend our collective reach and impact,” Dale said in an email. “We are looking forward to collaborating with other organizations to strengthen the overall coverage of the State Legislature. The combination of reporters and editors will allow us to get to more urgent stories while also growing our enterprise reporting.”
For Arnold, it’s also significant that the alliance brings together longtime competitors. Two decades ago, Colorado Public Radio attempted to buy KUNC, then a friends group raised $2 million to acquire the license itself.
“It’s a great example of showing where public media needs to go,” Arnold said. “We need to stop fighting each other.”