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.

64 results found.

Amplifier

WFAE 90.7 FM (Charlotte's NPR News Source)

Amplifier is a podcast that shines a light on Charlotte’s local music scene. More than 500 musicians have submitted their songs and shared their experiences. Amplifier launched with 20 episodes in 20 days, and is now a biweekly podcast featuring award-winning jazz singers to emerging pop acts, DIY venue owners to established record producers and beyond. Amplifier was named Charlotte Magazine’s “Best Podcast”, and received a Webby Award for innovation in music/arts podcasting.

ART IS

Twin Cities PBS/KTCA

Twin Cities PBS (TPT)’s groundbreaking multi-platform arts program, ART IS, elevates renowned Minnesota artists of color who pick three up-and-coming artists – across any genre – and develop a series of media and public events. Over a 9-month period, TPT and artists co-create powerful short digital films that provide context and visibility for the artists’ work, enhanced by a series of public events in TPT’s studios that engage local audiences in new ways and help sustain and evolve our vibrant local artistic community.

Catalyst Radio

Grand Rapids Community Media Center

Catalyst Radio is a weekly public affairs program produced by Grand Rapids (MI) Community Media Center. CMC’s Catalyst Radio features interviews with organizations and people working on social change, community support, and media issues. This effort is a partnership between The Rapidian, an online platform for community journalism and WYCE, an independent, community radio station in Grand Rapids.

Classics for Kids

Cincinnati Public Radio

Classics for Kids, launched at WGUC in 1998, provides an educational and entertaining classical music experience for children. 23 stations now carry the Classics for Kids program; people all over the world use the website materials (570,000 uniques/ 5 million pvs in 2018). The Classics for Kids podcast is CPR’s most listened-to podcast (75,000+ downloads/mo). It provides education materials based on national and state standards, Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences and Critical Thinking skills based on Bloom’s Taxonomy.

Curiosity Club

KUOW FM

KUOW’s Curiosity Club is a nerdy supper club exploring the possibility that great food and compelling storytelling can turn a group of strangers into a community. Ten diverse community members, selected by an application process meet for a series of dinners. A month before each dinner, members are assigned five multimedia KUOW stories as “homework,” where the homework seeds the dinner conversations, which are both 1:1 and whole-group discussions. Afterwards, participants complete a survey, and some write thoughtful, surprising reflections posted to KUOW.org/curiosityclub.

Future Jobs: Growing Our Region’s Workforce

WQED

Future Jobs explores the employment careers/opportunities that are trending now and in the near future. Future Jobs helps job-seekers to discover new, promising career options as they start their job search, and raises awareness about the regional workforce development efforts already underway in the Pittsburgh region. Through documentaries, shareable digital shorts,, this multiplatform project delivers life-impacting information to the public—especially middle school students and teachers, targeting them at the right time of their lives.

Hive

88.5 WFDD - Public Radio for the Piedmont

Hive is WFDD’s multi-tiered education program that, through storytelling, empowers young people (and some grown-ups!) to ask questions, think critically, and care about their community. It provides both content and revenue for WFDD. Though primarily youth-focused, Hive serves people ages 10 – 65+, through a variety of programs, including a summer student Radio Camp and Radio 101 classes embedded in local schools and colleges during the school year.

Inclusion X Project

BenitoLink.com

BenitoLink is a hyperlocal nonprofit news organization launched by two young Latino staff members with support from a local United Way grant. In 2018, BenitoLink expanded coverage of the local Latino community with funds from the Monterey Peninsula Foundation AT&T Pebble Beach ProAm. In summer 2019, BenitoLink brought on five interns for graphic arts, copy writing, computer applications, and marketing. Our computer science intern was funded largely by the Emma Bowen Foundation.

Iowa Land and Sky

Iowa PBS

Iowa PBS’ Iowa Land and Sky project provides general and classroom audiences with a unique perspective of the state’s geology, biodiversity and environmental issues. Through short video stories, online experiences, classroom resources and social media conversations, this initiative has helped Iowans better appreciate the ecological and geological diversity of the state, and the impacts of climate change, by successfully creating high-quality resources and engaging general and educational audiences in this content.

Amplifier

Organization: WFAE 90.7 FM (Charlotte's NPR News Source)

Year Submitted: 2019

Type of Organization: Public Radio

Contact: Joni Deutsch
jdeutsch@wfae.org

Project Link: https://www.wfae.org/amplifier