The Northwest Indiana region represents a wide range of communities and people from all walks of life. While we are on the outskirts of the nation’s third largest city, our communities are urban, suburban, and rural.
Every episode of “Friends & Neighbors” comprises several 3-5 minutes segments that cover a variety of topics and locations in our region. These features are also used as regular content on our social media platforms and are posted to YouTube.
Examples of segment topics include profiles of local volunteers, community organizations, unique small businesses, children doing exceptional things, the biodiversity of the region, and more.
Since we began, we have seen an increase in local pride in and awareness of our station, along with numbers of people interested in participating in the project or suggesting people or places to feature.
Additionally, we’ve had an incredible surge in our Facebook traffic and engagement since we launched the series. People are commenting on and sharing more of our posts. We often see comments from people who have moved away from the region but like to be reminded of it, as well as from people who have learned something new about the region because it was featured on the show. Those are the comments that reinforce for us that we are doing something right by our viewers.