WUFT created a first-time event for North Florida fans of Downton Abbey. This in-person event included a costume contest, admission to a movie screening and an opportunity for the community to interact with other local PBS supporters to discuss their one of their favorite shows. Two events took place in one day, and participants were able to give back to WUFT monetarily with a donation for admission to the event.
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.
St. Louis Public Radio’s livestream on Twitch has transformed the way our journalists connect with our audience and gives both the space and support to examine challenging news thoughtfully.
KPCC/LAist gave 12 Southern California parents cameras and asked them to document their lives. Over the course of a year, the “Parenting, Unfiltered” project captured the challenges and joys of raising young children during a pandemic, shaped our reporting and supported community members in telling their own stories.
Concert halls and theatres closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and people are mostly staying at home, which has changed the way we enjoy music performances. WXXI’s HomeStage is a virtual concert experience, with local musicians of all genres performing in their homes for all to enjoy in our homes.
The Faces of Hunger project was a yearlong journalism and community dialogue initiative from Carolina Public Press that focused on issues of hunger and food insecurity in rural North Carolina. Through in-depth multimedia reporting, resource sharing and free community events, and news and community partnerships that highlighted dialogue and potential solutions, Carolina Public Press shined the spotlight on the issues and systems contributing to hunger and food hardship in the state.
You Know the Place (YKTP) is a podcast that examines the small local businesses most of us never enter or even notice. YKTP gos to the stores overlooked by any form of media to ask: What do you sell or make? Who’s your customer? How long have you been in business? How do you compete with Walmart and Amazon? Hosted by two local writers, YKTP will enter its fourth season with 18,000 loyal users and more than 33,000 regular downloads.
KMUW’s Engage ICT events are free, monthly panel discussions with local experts that focus on topics that touch Wichita citizens’ daily lives, giving them a chance to directly ask questions and spark civic engagement. Previous topics have included climate change, Medicaid expansion, and education funding.
To celebrate the 65th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, PBS in Topeka created this two-hour community conversation with students and teachers from the segregation era. Shot in a modern-day Cinema Verite’ style on a single day in 2019, students and teachers from the four segregated Black schools in Topeka talked about their lives prior to and after integration. The five-part series included: Growing up in Topeka’s Black Community; Family, Friends, Neighbors; School and You (Segregation); School and You (Integration); and After-effects (outcomes, impact).
On the fourth Monday night of each month, KASU presents “Bluegrass Monday,” a concert series in its 17th year, bringing professional bluegrass musicians to Paragould, Arkansas, for affordable, family-friendly concerts. Admission is always free. KASU feels presenting these concerts not only promotes its radio broadcasts of bluegrass music, but the concerts also help to promote the culture of the region that includes the nearby Ozark Mountains. All concerts are recorded for broadcast on KASU at a later date.
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).
WXXI’s “Classical 91.5 Presents” is an annual film series that exemplifies the power of music to enhance a story’s narrative. Each year Classical 91.5 presents a series of four films that are related to classical music in some way. Each film session includes film-related live music in The Little Theatre Café in Rochester and a lively panel discussion with WXXI hosts, as they explore the significance and unique use of music in each film.
Today, WERS stands alone as Boston’s home for music discovery. A small but mighty staff of students and professionals carry the torch on the only radio station dedicated to featuring local artists. This is done on a daily basis through conscientious programming, but also through special features like “Wicked Local Wednesday.” In 2018, WERS launched its first (and totally free) Wicked Good Festival on Boston Common featuring a national touring act as well as local favorites.
MPT’s Digital Studios partnered with the local NASA Goddard campus to create four digital shorts about Maryland’s contributions to space research, as part of the PBS Summer of Space programming, MPT held a public screening at the Old Greenbelt Theatre. The station’s digital team worked at Goddard’s social media staff to orchestrate cross-posting; NASA promoted the series to their 1.2 million on Facebook fans, and 543 thousand on Twitter contacts, resulting in 13,000 Facebook video plays.
In the summer of 2019, Arizona Public Media published “Finding Home,” a radio news series focused on housing and issues of access, affordability, discrimination, cultural identity, and the changing neighborhoods of Tucson. Content included multiple episodes of our half-hour radio programs, a slate of feature radio news stories, a dedicated web page, and a live community conversation. At a public event, held a month after the series aired, the show host moderated a discussion between panelists representing development, fair housing, and neighborhood associations.
Another Round is a community engagement series that allows Boise Public Radio to get outside of the metro region and into areas of southern and central Idaho and eastern Oregon. Three out of four quarterly events take place outside of Boise. In each, the station learns about topics listeners would like to hear covered more on air. Boise Public Radio partners with a local brewery/restaurant/coffee shop and charge $5. Participants get a stainless steel NPR/BSPR logo’s tumbler with a ticket redeemable for one free beer.
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.
In May 2018, Houston Public Media launched the Young Leaders Council with one overarching goal in mind: creating lifelong public media ambassadors. A nominating committee selected an inaugural class of 16 members following interviews with candidates. Ultimately, 30-35 young professionals will represent a cross section of the many communities Houston Public Media now serves and actively encourage others to engage with the station’s content.
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.