The Corporation for Public Broadcasting has signed off on grant support of $2.65 million to increase and strengthen state government coverage provided by public media in seven U.S. states.
The coverage generated will be shared with public media stations as well as other media organizations across the states.
This gives noncommercial educational stations in Colorado, Florida, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, and North Carolina a needed financial boost to help expand and improve coverage in its respective communities.
“The growth of local journalism is essential to the civic health of our nation,” said CPB President/CEO Patricia Harrison. “Public radio and television stations, locally operated, are deeply connected to the communities they serve. Their primary mission is to provide trusted, fact-based reporting on issues of local concern so that people can make fully informed decisions. Public media’s journalism earns the trust of Americans every day as it encompasses the complexity and integrity necessary to serve our civil society amidst growing mis- and disinformation.”
Grant recipients were selected from 21 proposals submitted by public media organizations. The states, grant amounts, and lead stations are:
- Colorado — $379,048 – KUNC in Greeley will lead Colorado Public Radio, Rocky Mountain PBS, as well as partners at the Rocky Mountain Community Radio Coalition and the non-profit news organization Colorado Sun to establish the “Colorado Capitol News Alliance.” A newly hired journalist will cover full-time the Colorado state capitol and state government entities, with partners collaborating on news reporting, editorial planning, and digital distribution.
- Florida — $493,819 – WUSF in Tampa will partner with South Florida PBS, WFIT (Melbourne), WFSU (Tallahassee), WGCU (Fort Myers), WLRN (Miami), WMFE (Orlando), WMNF (Tampa), and WUWF (Pensacola) and digital news outlet The Florida Courier to launch “Your Florida,” a comprehensive reporting and audience engagement project designed to increase state government coverage, educate residents, and connect with audiences throughout the third-largest state in the country.
- Montana — $179,644 – Montana Public Radio will hire a new Rural State Policy Reporter, doubling the state government news team to fill a gap in coverage of issues affecting rural communities, including state-tribal relations, economic development, and environmental policy. Partners include Yellowstone Public Radio and the University of Montana School of Journalism, which operates a Community and Legislative News Service.
- Nevada — $384,140 – KUNR in Reno will have two year-round state government reporters funded by CPB, with one focused on producing audio content and one focused on digital-first content. Coverage will be shared with all Nevada media including project partners Nevada Public Radio, The Nevada Independent, and Noticiero Móvil of the Reynolds School of Journalism at the University of Nevada, Reno. Select coverage will be translated into Spanish, as nearly a third of Nevada residents identify as Hispanic or Latino.
- New Jersey — $328,426 – New Jersey PBS is partnering with the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair University and newsrooms across the state to develop a central destination for state government news coverage, which will be augmented by original reporting and a weekly video program produced by the NJ PBS broadcast news team and its digital newsroom, NJ Spotlight News.
- New York — $343,070 – WNYC in New York will lead the New York Public News Network, a collaboration of 12 public media stations that will hire a full-time reporter to cover how state government policies affect New Yorkers. Partners include WSLU (Canton/Watertown); WAMC (Albany); WBFO (Buffalo); WJFF (Sullivan County); WLIW (Nassau-Suffolk); WRVO (Oswego); WSHU (serving Nassau-Suffolk); WSKG (Binghamton); WXXI (Rochester); WAER (Syracuse); and WMHT (Albany-Schenectady-Troy).
- North Carolina — $542,041 – WUNC in Chapel Hill will add a dedicated reporter and editor to produce year-round state government coverage. Partner stations include Blue Ridge Public Radio (Asheville), WFAE (Charlotte), WFDD (Winston-Salem), and WHQR (Wilmington).
These grants, combined with the $2.25 million awarded in the first round of funding for state government coverage in FY 23, bring CPB’s total investments in this journalism coverage to $4.9 million. Stations in Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Wyoming, and Texas received support in round one.
