Community Conversation on Mental Health

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WFDD hosts community conversations on topics that impact local residents. Using a Hearken-powered web module, listeners voted for mental health to be the focus of one such conversation. WFDD reporters covered relevant stories in the days leading up to the public event, during which listeners had round table discussions with one another. WFDD reporters solicited questions for follow-up coverage and connected interested listeners directly with the stories that came out.

Local Governance 101

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In the aftermath of the events in Charlottesville last August, many citizens asked us to hold educational programs that would inform citizens how local government works and how it might be structured differently in the future. Charlottesville Tomorrow and the League of Women Voters organized two panel discussions in February to start this conversation.

Aging Matters | NPT Reports

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Aging Matters is NPT’s landmark original series focused on exploring how an aging US demographic will impact life in our community and communities across the nation.

Mohammed Bakr

KUOW’s “Ask A…” Project

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KUOW’s “Ask A…” project is a community engagement initiative to promote empathy and understanding with groups that have been “othered” by media or politics. It features person-to-person conversation events where a group of “askers” have consecutive eight-minute conversations with a group of “answerers,” followed by a group discussion and a shared meal. Events have included Muslims, Trump supporters, transgender people, journalists, foster parents, immigrants, gun owners, and Special Olympics athletes.

Beyond the Ballot

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At its core, “Beyond the Ballot” (BTB) is a community engagement project.
With BTB, WPR is turning our traditional reporting process on its head. Instead of reporters and editors deciding what’s important to cover this election season, we’re asking hundreds of people what they think.

Public Works? … A Level Foundation

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Our in-depth engagement and reporting project, “Public Works? A Level Foundation” is a strong example of local public media at its most service-oriented, bringing together community sponsors and partners, public participation and a station-wide multimedia and multi-platform effort. Over six months we took a topic of rising national importance, affordable housing, eviction and gentrification, and localized it for our community by pulling back the curtain on the reputation of the “affordable Midwest.”

Human Voter Guide

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KPCC’s Human Voter Guide started in 2016 as a series of questions and answers on the radio and online. Its goal was to help Southern California residents navigate elections and voting through personalized research. Using the web-based engagement platform Hearken and the text-messaging engagement service GroundSource, KPCC is now able to track a larger volume of questions and offer election-related reminders via text message.

Be Well Health Network

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In order to expand the reach and impact  of its health content to low-income and underserved audiences, ideastream partnered with a Federally Qualified Health Center to distribute ideastream’s locally-produced three-hour healh video compilation throughout the Center’s five clinics. The initiative is called the Be Well Health Network.

Public Radio on Tap: Water Quality

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Iowa Public Radio began our Public Radio on Tap series in October 2017 to bring people together over a beer and facilitate honest conversation about tough topics. Water quality is a contentious issue in the state, increasingly so as urban populations grow and rural populations decrease.

The Fix: Examining Rhode Island’s Opioid Epidemic

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Rhode Island has one of the highest opioid overdose death rates in the country and over the last 18 – 24 months local thoughts leaders, experts in Opioid Use Disorder, as well as scientists, ED doctors, and politicians have formed a task force to address this issue. Due to the hard work of so many, R.I. has emerged as a leader in combating the epidemic. In a short period of time, R.I. went from having the 5th highest overdose rate in the country to the 10th. The Fix shines a light on the problem but also on the amazing work being done in R.I..

Measuring Pesticide Drift In Central Illinois

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The Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting used a sensor-journalism project to better connect with its audiences in small rural communities and help explore an issue of concern to these communities. Through a partnership with Illinois Humanities, our engagement fellow at the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting reached out to several agriculture communities in Central Illinois to help us measure and report on pesticide drift using passive air samplers during the 2018 growing season.

More to Say podcast

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“More to Say” is a conversation between a journalist and a host that elaborates on a local news story, enriched with previously unheard tape and music. “More to Say” asserts that local stories deserve the same attention as national news. 

Breaking Heroin’s Grip: Road to Recovery

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The continuing opioid crisis in Maryland prompted Maryland Public Television to develop an awareness and education initiative in early 2017. “Addiction & Recovery” is a multi-month project in which MPT and its partners sought to honestly portray the dark side of addiction, while also providing hope, encouragement, and information for those impacted by opioid use. The effort culminated in the broadcast of “Breaking Heroin’s Grip: Road to Recovery” in 2017.

To Foster Change

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To Foster Change is PBS SoCal’s initiative to raise awareness around the systemic and personal challenges Los Angeles foster youth face and overcome every day, while providing opportunities for youth to take control of their own stories. The station partners with over 30 social service organizations to support and encourage caregivers, share positive stories, create a space to brainstorm new approaches to supporting youth, and train young adults in media arts.

Ester Commack

Community in Unity (2018 Winner)

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Community in Unity is a solutions journalism project and event series from Alaska Public Media to begin critical and thoughtful dialogue between different people. APM works with community partners to invite people inside homeless shelters, community centers, prisons, and TV studios for recorded conversations about topics that are affecting them. Topics have ranged from race and identity to mental health, immigration, and incarceration.

Roseland Health/Salud

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Sonoma County’s KRCB radio and TV is working with bilingual radio station KBBF in Santa Rosa to ask residents of one neighborhood how their annexation into the city of Santa Rosa may affect their health. The project includes English and Spanish news features and call-in shows about issues like housing, immigration, infrastructure, and parks, as they relate to community wellbeing, and interviews with residents and stakeholders.

The Intersection (2018 Finalist)

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The Intersection is a series of hyper-local audio documentaries co-produced by David Boyer and KALW that look at the changing Bay Area of California through physical intersections — street corners — where different histories, motivations, policies, and people meet every day. The show pinpoints the different forces and factors at play there and, over the course of a piece or a season, connects the dots between the past, present, and future.

Side Effects Reporting: Opioids and Minorities in Indiana

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Side Effects is a public health journalism initiative of WFYI Public Media in Indianapolis, in partnership with the Indiana Minority Health Coalition, to explore the issue of the opioid epidemic being presented as a “white” problem and its implications, like disparities in access to treatment, criminal sentencing, and even the language used to describe the addicted. The project includes a documentary, a panel discussion, and more.

Community Conversations — a Facebook Live initiative

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To reach a new (and younger) audience, WNED | WBFO converted its radio pledge room into a small studio this year. It’s used to create “community conversations” — interactive events on Facebook Live and other social media. The stations are hosting discussions on a wide range of topics — from mental health and racial equity to local theater and summer reads. 

Houston After Harvey

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“Houston after Harvey” is a multi-platform content initiative from Houston Public Media that examines the impact of the Texas Gulf Coast’s most severe storms through personal stories, intimate video interviews, and in-depth news coverage. Content produced for the project included multiple podcasts, video series, and television and radio specials.