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$983K Grant Supports Community Engagement Journalism in Underserved Areas
WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 19, 2021) – Indianapolis-based WFYI will lead America Amplified 2.0, a public media initiative designed to instill journalism practices that meaningfully address local information needs through active listening and engagement. WFYI will establish a central team to lead and develop community engagement journalism practices at 20 public media stations, especially in parts of the country traditionally underserved by media, including rural areas. The initiative is funded through a $983,451 grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
The initiative builds on the success of America Amplified, a CPB-supported partnership of public media collaborations focused on community listening and engagement. Initially launched in 2019 to strengthen public media’s ability to incorporate community and citizen perspectives into election coverage, the collaboration also helped shape public media coverage of the coronavirus pandemic to include perspectives from communities across the country, including weekly call-in radio shows co-hosted by public radio stations in different parts of the country.
“At WFYI, we believe engagement is the key to expanding audiences and deepening impact through all our public media platforms,” said WFYI President and CEO Greg Petrowich. “We’re pleased to have this opportunity to work with our colleagues at other stations to strengthen the role public media plays in their communities and learn from our shared experiences.”
“America Amplified demonstrated that community engagement is vital to public media journalism and a key to the trust that people place in their local public media stations,” said Kathy Merritt, CPB senior vice president, journalism, radio and community service grant services. “CPB is proud to support this initiative, which will extend engaged journalism across the system, enable stations to be more responsive to their audiences, and foster public trust.”
Under the 18-month grant, the four-person team hosted by WFYI will work with participating public media stations to develop and implement community engagement journalism strategies. Stations will be grouped in peer learning groups by shared interests and receive subgrants to fund their engagement initiatives. WFYI will seek to increase impact through partnerships, which in the past have included organizations such as Local Voices Network and Hidden Common Ground.
For more information about America Amplified and the station application, go to americaamplified.org.
About CPB
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), a private, nonprofit corporation created by Congress in 1967, is the steward of the federal government’s investment in public broadcasting. It helps support the operations of more than 1,500 locally owned and operated public television and radio stations nationwide. CPB is also the largest single source of funding for research, technology, and program development for public radio, television, and related online services. For more information, visit www.cpb.org and follow them on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and subscribe for other updates.
About WFYI Public Media
Since 1970, WFYI has served Central Indiana as a trusted friend. Its nonprofit public radio and TV stations, digital engagement and community engagement activities inform, entertain and educate Hoosiers of all ages and walks of life. WFYI broadcasts original content as well as programming from PBS and NPR. Learn more at wfyi.org.
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