Local that Works is an annual contest that spotlights innovative and replicable content, engagement and revenue initiatives at public radio and TV stations, and nonprofit news organizations in the U.S.

Explore the LTW database of 350+ projects. Entries from the 2020 contest will be added to this database this fall.

Tips on using the database: If viewing this on a computer, all projects are listed in the left column. Click on a project name and its longer profile will appear in the right column. If viewing on mobile, clicking on a project name will load the full listing on your screen.

You can filter your results by selecting a tag or multiple tags in the categories drop down menu and clicking on search. If you want to change, broaden or narrow the results, make sure to uncheck categories for subsequent searches.

To see previous Local that Works contest winners, finalists and semi-finalists, click on green, purple or orange tags and our judges’ favorite projects will show up in the left column.

27 results found.

A Parent’s Guide to Public Schools (2019 Finalist)

Voice of San Diego

A Parent’s Guide to Public Schools is a free “consumer report” tool, distributed to 50,000 families to aid parents in making decisions about their childrens’ education. The Guide, produced in English and Spanish, provides an overview of every local public school’s performance in easy-to-read charts, with answers to basic questions about public school options. VOSD works UC San Diego to analyze the school performance data and with the San Diego Workforce Partnership to cover topics like vocational training. Read Current’s coverage of this project.

Deep Dive

WMEA Maine Public

Maine Public’s Deep Dive is a space for complex, in-depth, high impact reporting. The first edition focused on childcare issues in the state, and utilized the entire 18-member news team to create web, radio and TV stories. Maine Calling, the local talk show, broadcast two editions that opened and closed the series. The station developed a communications plan to inform the audience, politicians and other stakeholders. The capstone moment was a public event at Portland Public Library where reporters discussed their work and took questions from the public.

Homework Hotline

KEET

Homework Hotline is a live science and math program that helps students with homework questions, and showcases the projects that young scientists are working on. Teachers on Homework Hotline excel at explaining difficult math problems in real time to students, including those who may be too shy to ask questions in the classroom. Homework Hotline also trains local college and high school students in television production.

KIDS Clubhouse Adventures

Iowa Public Television

Launched in 2016, KIDS Clubhouse Adventures (KCA) is a multimedia learning experience that engages Iowa children ages three through nine and inspires them to go outside and play, use their imagination, read good books and eat healthy foods. KCA includes a series of locally-hosted 30-minute TV shows, a platform that allows viewers to tell their own stories, and a “Reading Road Trip,” a community outreach initiative that promotes summer reading and libraries year-round.

PBS39 Kids Summer Series/TeleBear’s Summer Jam

PBS39

The PBS39 Kids Summer Series featured free educational activities for children including music, stories and crafts at PBS39’s studios during June and July 2019. TeleBear’s Summer Jam, part of the longstanding annual, regional Musikfest, was an extension of the series and featured free performances with nationally-acclaimed ‘Kindie’ musicians (independent artists who perform for children).

Promise of Paradise: Back to the Land Oral Histories of Mendocino County

KZYX Mendocino County Public Broadcasting

“Promise of Paradise” is a sense of place interview series, launched in June 2018 at KZYX, with members of the “Back to the Earth” movement and their children about their lives and experiences of 20th century homesteaders who arrived in Mendocino County, California, as college-educated hippies were streaming away from the cities to rural areas to re-learn ancient homesteading skills and to reject the cultural norms of post-World War II America.

Special Needs Resource Library

Vegas PBS, KLVX

The Vegas PBS Special Needs Resource Library is a free-loan educational media library for Nevada citizens with special needs. Hearing- and visually-impaired residents can check out media with closed captions or descriptive voice-overs. Vegas PBS offers structured play groups for children with special needs ages two to four and their caregivers, conducted in an accessible children’s area within the library. The station provides educational games and activities that parents, teachers and other professionals find vital for teaching children with unique learning challenges.

Storytime in the Commons

KETC

Storytime in the Commons is Nine Network’s successful response to PBS’s national commitment to kindergarten readiness and the literacy needs expressed by the local community. The community educational experience has seen tremendous growth in diversity of attendees and funders. Activities at Storytime include reading stories (including one story in Spanish), photo ops with PBS KIDS® characters and the Delta Dental Tooth Fairy and Tooth Wizard, games that help children grow, like building blocks, visits from the St. Louis Fire Department, Republic Services recycling, and the St. Louis Children’s Hospital Healthy Kids Corner.

The Mister Rogers Challenge

KUHT/KUHF - Houston Public Media

Won’t You Be My Neighbor, the Mister Rogers documentary, was a national common carriage PBS program that aired in February 2019. The Mister Rogers Challenge was Houston Public Media’s local pledge effort that included targeted email promotion to 130,000 people, a major donor matching challenge, and local pledge break after the program.