WCNY created the TV Classroom Network in response to the educational needs of students, primarily the roughly 12,000 students in Central New York caught in the “digital divide” without access to broadband and therefore unable to participate in online learning offered by their schools. Beginning in March, 2020 WCNY produced and broadcast 45 hours per week of instructional television, preK-12 classroom lessons in key academic subject areas taught by local educators on a special set at WCNY. For those with Internet access the content was also livestreamed and available on-demand on the WCNY website.
Science Pub BING engages the community of the Southern Tier of New York and connects them with regional scientists and experts in a lectures series followed by lively Q&A sessions. These events are designed to offer the public a greater understanding of the science, technology and engineering happening at our local universities and area businesses, while these experts hone their science communication skills bringing complex topics to the general public.
The Million Minute Challenge was an initiative to get people of all ages and backgrounds in Lehigh Valley reading. We asked our community to come together to read 1,000,000 minutes in March 2020, Reading Awareness Month, and what resulted was a fun, engaging, exciting, audience-captivating event that surpassed its goals and put reading at the center.
School, Interrupted from WFDD’s Hive education program is the manifestation of what happens when we stop being afraid of what teenagers have to say and we start listening instead. Students in WFDD’s for-credit Radio 101 high school class delved into the issue of school violence through a series of stories that developed into a Town Hall exclusively for teens to discuss their fears, assumptions and experiences in today’s high schools.
By building strong, consistent relationships with tribal leaders and by representing Wisconsin’s First Nations authentically and accurately by using first-voice narration, PBS Wisconsin shares consistent programming that highlights tribal history, culture, and lore.
As Detroit emerged as an early epicenter of the COVID-19 crisis, Detroit Public Television (DPTV) became a key media partner in the COVID313 Coalition, a group of grassroots organizations that united to help Detroiters access critical information about services in the area. By producing a weekly town hall that was streamed on Facebook Live, as well as broadcasting segments on our weekly public affairs show One Detroit, DPTV and the COVID313 coalition filled a void in the emergency response system and connected our audience with life-saving services
“Friends & Neighbors” is a 30-minute television program exploring what it means to live and work in Northwest Indiana. The series celebrates the idea that behind the multitude of good things that happen in our region is a diverse group of interesting people. It is their stories we strive to share.
PBS Wisconsin shares the voices and talents of students of color involved in the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s First Wave Scholarship program in the documentary “Hip-Hop U: The First Wave Scholars.” By addressing local disparities in accessibility, representation, and education, we help Wisconsin educators be better prepared to implement culturally relevant pedagogy in their classrooms.
“The Learning Space” is an educational program created by Maine Public in partnership with the Maine Department of Education and Educate Maine. It is geared toward students in grades 3-5 and their teachers, and is intended to help bridge the gap for students without reliable internet access during COVID-19. It aired on Maine Public’s primary television channel and reached more than 180,000 people per episode, or roughly 90 classrooms.
The Playtime Pad Research Project investigates the effectiveness of tablet-based learning initiatives in early childhood math literacy, while providing access to the latest digital learning tools for students, teachers, and parents. Initiated by the College of Communication Arts and Sciences and WKAR Public Media at Michigan State University, the Playtime Pad Research Project is a unique partnership connecting PBS KIDS, the College of Education at MSU, and the Lansing School District.
A recent survey showed 22% of Millennials “haven’t heard or are not sure if they have heard of the Holocaust.” Fifty-eight percent of Americans believe “something like the Holocaust could happen again.” Working with the Holocaust Education Resource Center, WVIA filmed the stories and recorded the voices of Holocaust survivors to share their stories with children in Northeastern Pennsylvania in the hope that “Never Again” will be a life-long reality for all.
Ahead of Illinois’ April 2019 municipal elections WILL worked with three high school classrooms and 80 adult community members to develop local candidate questionnaires that met the specific needs of municipalities in our listening area. IIllinois Public Media (IPM) partnered with community organizations on events that facilitated civil discourse, increased media literacy, democratized editorial decision-making, inspired civic action, and educated young Illinoisans. This “Democracy Series” was designed to demonstrate that public media is uniquely equipped to facilitate dialog about local concerns.
A Parent’s Guide to Public Schools is a free magazine-style guide from Voice of San Diego that is distributed to 50,000 families annually. It aids parents in making decisions about their children’s education by providing an overview of every public school’s performance in easy-to-read charts and answering common questions about local public school options.
Using GroundSource text messaging technology, 100 Days in Appalachia conducted a poll of voting-age Appalachian high school students ahead of the 2018 midterm election, asking about their stances on some of the most hot-button political issues, including immigration, gun control, abortion, LGBTQ rights, etc. The results were shared openly with local, regional, and national media outlets to inform their reporting about the politics of this group in the region.
Each summer, the Young Voices Media Project teaches teens in the Salinas Valley the essentials of media literacy, critical thinking, journalism, writing and news reporting. Students pitch story ideas, conduct interviews, develop sources and write/produce their own news stories while they develop the confidence and skills for civic involvement. Young Voices is a project of Voices of Monterey Bay, a non-profit news magazine that publishes local stories for Monterey and Santa Cruz counties in California’s Central Coast.
The Georgia News Lab is an award-winning investigative reporting collaborative. It’s mission is to train the next generation of investigative reporters, make the vital work of watchdog journalism affordable for local news organizations and increase diversity in professional newsrooms. The News Lab is a partnership between the top college journalism programs in Georgia, including historically black colleges (HBCUs), along with the leading news outlets in the Southeast, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, WSB-TV and Georgia Public Broadcasting.
WBGO Media Fellows is a paid fellowship program that opens the door for a public broadcasting employment experience members of our local community. Each year, two students from Newark are given a “hands on” opportunity to be mentored by our station news team and our Jazz Night in America production team for 8 weeks during the summer. Fellows learn first hand everything from pro tools to podcasting, meeting etiquette to interviewing techniques. They have real time deliverables and are paid a realistic working wage.
Now in its 16th year, RadioActive is an award-winning youth journalism and radio storytelling workshop at KUOW. Last year, RadioActive served 900 teenagers at 25 schools and community organizations study journalism, sound recording, editing, interviewing, script writing and speaking on the air. The initiative actively recruit participants who are underserved by high quality arts programs, including incarcerated youth, refugees youth, youth in low-income housing.
“Phenology” is a program from KAXE/KBXE featuring local student reporting on natural phenomena and the changing seasons. The “Phenology” team works with 15 different schools around the state and both broadcasts and podcasts kids’ nature reports once a week.
Hive is WFDD’s multi-tiered education program that empowers people to learn, ask questions, think critically, and care about their community through storytelling. Though primarily youth-focused, Hive serves people ages 10 – 65+ through a variety of programs, including a summer student Radio Camp, Radio 101 classes in local schools and colleges, after-school intensives, and pocket edition workshops.
