WASHINGTON, D.C. (December 6, 2021) — Seventy-five public media stations, including WFYI Public Media (Indianapolis) and WVPE-FM (Michiana, have been selected to participate in the Digital Transformation Program, a virtual program developed by the Poynter Institute to educate, assist, and coach public media senior leaders and their staff on the best strategies and tactics to transform their organization’s digital operations and culture. The training is funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB).
The program includes online coaching and training to the station CEOs, along with the leaders of the five National Multicultural Alliance organizations, and their staff members, to accelerate their digital transformation efforts.
“CPB’s commitment to advancing innovation and diversity continues to be reflected through our strategic investments helping system leaders advance a digital-first, audience-centric approach,” said Patricia Harrison, CPB president and CEO. “The program will provide coaching and resources to help stations become more agile and leverage digital content, platforms, and data to grow and engage new and existing public media audiences.”
In addition to one-on-one and peer group coaching sessions, the program will include a series of educational webinars, work exercises, and resource materials that span the program curriculum. The program will be delivered to four groups of up to 20 public media leaders and their station’s personnel at a time. The groups will have staggered start and end dates over the course of two years, with a new group starting every three months.
“The selected participants are some of the nation’s most trusted sources citizens turn to for local news and information,” said Poynter president Neil Brown. “Our partnership with CPB will help public media outlets build digital-first strategies that inspire an even greater — and more sustainable — connection to grow with their communities.”
The 75 stations selected to participate, from Alaska to Florida, Southern California to Maine, are:
- Alabama Public Radio
- Alaska Public Media, Anchorage
- Arizona PBS
- CapRadio, Sacramento
- Classical KING FM, Seattle
- CoastAlaska (radio), Southeast Alaska
- Colorado Public Radio
- GBH News, Boston
- Idaho Public Television (IdahoPTV)
- Illinois Public Media
- Interlochen Public Radio, Michigan
- Iowa PBS
- KAWC/KOFA, Colorado River Public Media/Border Radio
- KAXE/KBXE, Northern Community Radio, Northern Minnesota
- KCUR FM, Kansas City, MO
- KGNU FM-AM, Boulder/Denver, CO
- KJZZ FM and KBAQ FM, Phoenix
- KLCC-FM, Eugene, OR
- KNBA FM, Koahnic Broadcast Corporation, Anchorage
- KOSU-FM, Stillwater. OK
- KPBS TV-FM, San Diego
- KPCC FM, Southern California Public Radio
- KTSU 90.9FM, Houston
- KUER-FM, Salt Lake City, UT
- KUNC FM and The Colorado Sound, Greeley, CO
- KVIE TV, Sacramento
- Maine Public
- Marfa Public Radio, Texas
- Mountain Lake PBS (WCFE), Plattsburgh, NY
- Nashville Public Radio
- Nine PBS, St. Louis
- NJ PBS
- Northern California Public Media (KRCB/KPJK)
- NPR Illinois
- Oklahoma Educational Television Authority (OETA)
- PBS Fort Wayne
- Pioneer PBS, Granite Falls, MN
- Pittsburgh Community Broadcasting (WESA-FM and WYEP-FM)
- Radio Milwaukee
- St. Louis Public Radio
- Twin Cities PBS (TPT)
- USC Radio Group: KUSC, Los Angeles, and KDFC, San Francisco
- Vegas PBS
- WAMU FM, Washington, DC
- WDSE TV-FM, Duluth, MN
- WCNY TV, Syracuse, NY
- WERU Community Radio, Blue Hill, Maine
- WFYI Public Media, Indianapolis
- WGLT FM, Bloomington-Normal, IL, and WCBU FM, Peoria, IL
- WGVU Public Media, Grand Rapids, MI
- WHUT-TV, Washington, DC
- WITF Public Media, Harrisburg, PA
- WKAR Public Media, East Lansing,. MI
- WKMS FM, Murray, KY
- WLIW TV, Garden City, NY
- WMHT Educational Telecommunications, Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY
- WNET/Thirteen, New York, NY
- WNIJ FM, DeKalb, IL
- WPSU TV-FM, State College, PA
- WQLN PBS/NPR, Erie, PA
- WRTI FM, Philadelphia
- WSHU Public Radio, Westport, CT
- WTCI-TV, Chattanooga, TN
- WUNC FM, Chapel Hill, NC
- WUSF Public Media, Tampa, FL
- WUWF Public Media, Pensacola, FL
- WUWM FM, Milwaukee
- WVIK Quad Cities NPR, Iowa/Illinois
- WVPE FM, Michiana
- WVTF FM (Radio IQ), Roanoke, VA
- WXPR Public Radio, Northern Wisconsin and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula
- WXXI Public Media, Rochester, NY
- WYES TV, New Orleans
- WYPR FM, Baltimore
- Yellowstone Public Radio, Montana
The stations selected include 40 public radio stations, 16 public television stations and 19 joint licensees. They will join the five National Multicultural Alliance Organizations – Black Public Media, the Center for Asian American Media, Latino Public Broadcasting, Pacific Islanders in Communications, and Vision Maker Media – to form four cohorts of 20 public media leaders, who will participate in the nine-month program. The first cohort will begin training in January.