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.
Ross Fest was organized by WNIN to celebrate painter and art instructor Robert Ross, the creator of The Joy of Painting. The station asked a certified Bob Ross landscape instructor to help create an experience that would give participants a certified Bob Ross painting to take home and enjoy forever. WNIN added a light wall to play a Joy of Painting episode, threw in some music, food trucks, a bar trailer and a Bob Ross costume contest… attracting hundreds of people to a made-for-social-media engagement event.
Every spring, Valley Public Radio partners with local youth orchestras and symphony to host a 12-week-long series featuring live performances from talented student musicians from throughout the San Joaquin Valley. The performances are largely classical music,with some exceptions. Host David Aus interviews students in between their performances, and also serves as program producer. KVPR serves a wide and diverse region covering two markets (Fresno and Bakersfield) and Young Artists Spotlight is an opportunity to bring together our communities and celebrate the unique platform that Valley Public Radio brings our region.
The Eva project started off as “Eva: A-7063,” a documentary by WFYI Public Media and Ted Green Films about Holocaust survivor turned global peace advocate, Eva Mozes Kor. Through extensive, community-based work and engagement, it expanded into the Eva Outreach and Education Program, which includes the Eva Educational Toolkit and the Eva Virtual Reality Traveling Exhibit, which have had national and international exposure.
¿Qué Pasa, Midwest? is a bilingual podcast that tells the stories of Latinx in the Midwest. Funded with support from CPB, the podcast facilitates difficult conversations and explores policy issues, such as immigration and the U.S. Census. WNIN reaches out to educational institutions to host listening parties share these stories with students. ¿Qué Pasa, Midwest? gives voice to the the region’s growing Latino community and fosters greater knowledge, connection and understanding.
Issues & Ale is Michigan Radio’s ongoing community event series designed to engage people in conversations about important issues facing the region in an informal atmosphere. The public is invited to learn more about a specific topic from a panel of experts and then join in with their questions and comments. Discussions are hosted by Michigan Radio on-air anchors or reporters and are held in brew pubs, sports bars, and taverns across Michigan.
Modeled after NPR’s Tiny Desk Concerts and KLRU/PBS’s Austin City Limits, Small Studio showcases some of the best bands in Indianapolis, giving local and regional talent a chance to shine. National and regional artists have also performed in WFYI’s Small Studio, with an emphasis on bands and musicians with a connection to public media and/or the Hoosier state. The series is WFYI’s inaugural digital-first program.
The Howl Story Slam is an ongoing, live storytelling competition developed by North Country Public Radio to connect the people and communities of New York State in and above the Adirondacks. Each event involves local businesses and community members. Individual storytellers of all ages compete in local events with the winners of local story slams advancing to a “Grand Slam” finale. Audio and video of the slams are posted on NCPR.org.
“Working Together” is an ongoing project to establish deep and meaningful connections with the Alaska Native community in Southeast Alaska. KTOO partners with the local Native communities to use television, radio, and engagement events to preserve Native languages, cultures, and identity.
Beneath the Surface is a 12-month series on WHQR’s locally produced program CoastLine focusing on civil discourse. Members of the community engage in a roundtable style conversation, one that is lively and respectful, and explores a range of topics. The program focuses on understanding how lived experiences shape people’s views and, hopefully helps participants become better listeners who are more comfortable spending time with people with different perspectives.
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.
Valley Sounds is an all-local show featuring original music from classical to rap to punk to country to gospel to electronica and everything in between, all performed in the Tennessee Valley. Artists are encouraged to submit their recordings to Valley Sounds online or at an in-person meet and greets. The meet and greets, held at local bars and music venues, act as a community producers meeting, where musicians and fans can share ideas about the show.
The Bay is a local KQED podcast about news and information relevant to the local community. The team has hosted several well-attended live events and has created spaces, both in person and digital, where community members can connect with one another and the podcast. It connects with younger audiences and fills a gap in KQED’s traditional television and radio programming lineup.
“Framed by WDET” is a multimedia series that integrates photography and audio storytelling to present the story of Detroit’s ethnic and cultural communities on the radio, online, in a photobook, and at pop-up exhibitions in more than 20 art spaces in the Detroit region and beyond. It explores the moments and spaces that Detroiters share with one another through the work of 18 Detroit-based photographers and audio producers.
Even though San Diego is full of festivals and street fairs, in 2011 Voice of San Diego decided to create a new festival about local politics. Politifest featured a dunk tank, a mayoral debate, a tug of war and an “idea tournament.” Now eight years old, Politifest includes debates, panels, and interviews with experts. It’s a platform for residents to raise their voices, ask tough questions, and get a crash course that provides insights on local issues and into how local government works.
KSFR partnered with the New Mexico Department of Veteran Services, Santa Fe Community College Veteran’s Resource Center, Santa Fe Vet Center, Horses for Heroes-Cowboy Up! and veterans groups to report on post 9-11 veterans’ re-entry into civilian life. The station helped organize a job fair for veterans that included screening the stories, speakers and entertainment for the veterans and their families. This project was supported with funds from CPB.
Next City is a nonprofit news organization, founded in 2003, that believes in the power of journalism to amplify solutions from one city to the next city. Next City hosts live seminars, free hour-long webinars in which we ask practitioners to share lessons from successful projects in a 30-minute presentation followed by 30 minutes of moderated questions. Access is “pay what you wish;” the highest response has been 539 registrants contributing $3,500.
From February through July 2019, WRTI invited residents of its North Philadelphia neighborhood to the station’s studios for Freestyle Friday – weekly performances, recording sessions with local rappers, training on music production software, and screenings of an Emmy-nominated documentary called “Quest,” a film that inspired this initiative These engagement events serve to bridge the community and the campus and heal a volatile relationship through the power of music.
Matter Mobile is a portable, pop-up studio taken to different community events to conduct high-quality audio and video interviews about thorny issues like urban development. The collapsible studio is constructed of wood, soundproofing foam and windows made out of acrylic sheets. This structure offers interviewees more privacy than recording vox pops openly in the field.
American Homefront is a national/local collaborative reporting project focused on improving coverage of military and veterans issues. WIth support from CPB, WUNC’s dedicated full-time reporter and full-time editor moderate a Slack channel and lead weekly calls with partner stations: KPCC (Los Angeles), Colorado Public Radio, Texas Public Radio (San Antonio) and WUSF (Tampa) WUNC’s listening area includes Fort Bragg and Camp Lejeune, two of the largest military installations. American Homefront has helped WUNC build relationships with those communities and host the station’s first two engagement events in Fayetteville/Fort Bragg.
