GPB Civic Dinner Inclusive Series

GPB hosted a series of Civic Dinner events based on local submissions to PBS American Portrait. The conversations were designed to build a more inclusive culture within our greater community.

Tell Me the Story

“Tell Me The Story” is PBA’s award-winning, multi-platform digital campaign launched in support of PBS’s Henry Louis Gates documentary “The Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song.”

¿Qué Pasa, Midwest?

¿QPM? gives Midwestern Latinos a sense of identity and community that is vital to their well being. We do this by producing and distributing authentic, culturally competent bilingual content.

Recording Inclusivity Initiative

The Recording Inclusivity Initiative addresses the scarcity of classical music composers from historically excluded communities heard on the radio airwaves across the USA by producing new recordings.

Black Radio United for the Vote

Jazz 91.9 WCLK teamed up with more than 10 Atlanta’s Black Radio stations – commercial and community outlets – in partnership with the Urban League of Greater Atlanta with the common goals of voter registration, voter education and voter mobilization in advance of the November 2020 election. From July 2020 through September 2020, Jazz 91.9 WCLK and partner stations are dedicating a full day of on-air programming to voting and Census messaging via PSA and interviews and social media engagement.

Playtime Pad Research Project

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.

Ross Fest

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.

Veterans Coming Home: Finding What 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.

An American Homefront reporter working in Puerto Rico with troops from Fort Bragg

American Homefront

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.

Maryland Summer of Space

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.

PBS Charlotte 3-D Project: Dreamers, Doers, Destiny (2018 Finalist)

Via a four-year community engagement campaign that began in fall 2017, WTVI PBS Charlotte partnered with local workforce-related organizations to roll out a three-part media project (Dreamers, Doers, Destiny) designed to empower youth to capitalize on their dreams. The target goal is to engage with and help educate 600 local public high school students in career pathways and leadership training, leading to education completion and lasting success in the workforce.

The Soundtrack of the Vietnam War

Designed as a cross promotional tool for our sister television station KVCR’s broadcast of Ken Burns and Lynn Novack’s The Vietnam War, film KVCR Radio produced an eight-part series with veterans sharing their time in service during the Vietnam war. Our focus was the music of that time and the songs they remembered and reflect on when thinking about the Vietnam War.

WKAR/MSU PBS KID Playtime Pad Research Project

PBS KIDS Playtime Pad Research Project is a unique partnership connecting PBS and PBS KIDS content, researchers in the College of Education at MSU and teachers and families in the Lansing School District. The 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. 

Arizona and the Vietnam War

As part of a digital initiative that coincided with a documentary of the same name produced by Arizona Public Media, reporters asked community members to share stories about how they or their families were impacted by the Vietnam War. Stories were archived online to be watched or read, and some were broadcast by Arizona Public Media stations. Stories were written or taped at live screenings.

Splash N Bubbles Gilley Pool Event

Hosted a community pool party with a get in free with a book donation for children 12 and under. The theme was Splash N Bubbles PBS Kids Characters. The books were given back to the community library. Activities were provided, and we put on a movie for families wanting to get out of the sun.

Summer Learning Day

In July 2017 WCNY partnered with The Literacy Coalition of Onondaga County, and the Onondaga County Public Library to present the annual Summer Learning Day. The event focused on engaging the community to make summer a season of learning and had the theme “Dive into Summer with Splash & Bubbles,” a new PBS Kids show. Nearly 2000 people turned out for the event, 4X the 2016 attendance. Using PBS characters combined with many other activities was the key to success.

This I Believe

A locally produced community commentary series. “Tell us the personal philosophy and core values that guide your daily life, and hear stories from others.” This I Believe is based on the 1950s radio program of the same name and the media project (launched in 2005) from This I Believe, Inc. and Atlantic Public Media. WPSU-FM invites you, as a central Pennsylvania resident, whatever your background, to speak out.

Jackson Kayak Parental Engagement

WCTE launched a parental engagement program with a local company, Jackson Kayak, to reach at-risk families in the workplace. The parents who are employed by the company needed support and hands on training to improve their ability to parent their children to help them prepare for school and life. Twenty-five parents now attend monthly lunchtime sessions with each session centered around PBS KIDS programs, activities, and take-home projects to provide engagement moments with their kids.