CPB-funded journalism collaborations provide coordinated state, regional and local COVID-19 reporting to public media audiences. Working together, participating stations large and small, including those in rural areas, deliver trusted and critical news and information on the pandemic relevant to the local communities they serve.
The America Amplified journalism collaborative uses crowd-sourcing, virtual town halls, polls and social media to gather the concerns of communities across the country through public media stations. One of these tools, the Coronavirus: You Asked, Public Media is Answering sharing platform is also offered in Spanish. A live, two-hour weekly talk show series "America Amplified: Life, Community, and COVID-19," explored local community perspectives and solutions to some of the most important issues related to coronavirus.
The Illinois Newsroom's Coronavirus Information Center provided updates on state coronavirus data, including a list of testing locations in Central Illinois. Their daily call-in show The 21st Show has featured "Therapy Thursday" segments that helped the community navigate mental health stresses associated with the pandemic. They aired daily, one-minute updates and responded to audience questions through its Ask the Newsroom platform.
Indiana Public Media News, the statewide journalism collaboration with WFYI Indianapolis, WTIU and WFIU in Bloomington, WBUT and WVUB in Vincennes, WNIN in Evansville, WBAA in Lafayette, WLPR in Lakeshore-Merrillville, WVPE in South Bend, WBOI in Fort Wayne, and IPR in Muncie has produced more than 100 stories covering all aspects of the coronavirus in Indiana. They provided a live, daily statewide feed of COVID-19 updates from the governor and state officials to every public radio and TV station in the state. The statewide talk show All In informs and connects communities. FAQs are available in English and Spanish online.
The Kansas News Service, a collaboration between KCUR Kansas City, KMUW Wichita, KPR Lawrence, and HPPR Garden City provided up-to-the-minute updates on the impact of COVID-19.
Mountain West News Bureau, led by Boise State Public Radio, has a regional team of journalists across Colorado (KRCC; KUNC), Montana (O'Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West), Nevada (KUNR), Wyoming (Wyoming Public Media), Utah (KUER), and New Mexico (KUNM). To support the local journalism ecosystem during the COVID-19 pandemic, the bureau provided their reporting, at no cost, to all 30 stations across their coverage area, many of them especially small and rural stations, in addition to answering listener questions.
The New England News Collaborative with WBUR, Maine Public, New Hampshire Public Radio, Connecticut Public Radio, Vermont Public Radio, New England Public Radio, The Public's Radio, and WSHU launched a series of live regional call-in shows about the pandemic. Programs focused on a range of topics, including the impact of school closures on family lives, health care workers on the front lines, and the local economic impact of the pandemic.
Ohio Valley ReSource, a collaboration among stations in Kentucky (WKU Public Radio, WEKU, WFPL, WKMS, WMMT), Ohio (WOUB Radio), and West Virginia (WV Public Broadcasting) led by Louisville Public Media, provided updated reporting on how colleges and universities in the region are responding to the coronavirus. The collaborative partnered with KQED, Capital Public Radio, and Louisville Public Radio to develop local dashboards tracking COVID-19 cases by county and data on underlying risk factors.
What Kansas Might Do To Reopen After The Coronavirus Shut It Down
By Erica Hunzinger Alex Smith
Published April 28, 2020 at 4:02 PM CDT
Kansas News Service
Side Effects Public Media, a health journalism collaboration of KBIA, Illinois Public Media, WOSU, WNIN, WSIU, WFPL, and Iowa Public Radio, led by WFYI Indianapolis, provided regular updates on its Coronavirus: What You Need To Know site and answered audience questions.
Texas Newsroom reporters and editors from the state's four largest public radio stations — KUT in Austin, KERA in Dallas, Texas Public Radio in San Antonio, and Houston Public Media — produce six statewide newscasts each weekday with content from public radio stations across the state. Their reporting provides content for the statewide magazine Texas Standard, national NPR newscasts, and for all stations across Texas.
FRONTLINE worked with partner newsrooms across the country, including public media stations New Mexico PBS, Milwaukee PBS and Rocky Mountain PBS, to support local coronavirus coverage through the CPB-funded Local Journalism Initiative.