Features

WFYI awarded CPB funding to continue America Amplified public media initiative

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$983K Grant Supports Community Engagement Journalism in Underserved AreasWASHINGTON, 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.

Press Releases

Indiana Among 1st to Close e-Learning Gap with Datacasting

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As pandemic forces school from home, 84K Hoosier Students don’t have Internet access

INDIANAPOLIS – NOVEMBER 16, 2020 – As Indiana schools prepare to continue e-learning in 2021 to protect against the spread of COVID-19, more than 84,000 Hoosier students still don’t have Internet access at home. Some schools and organizations are working to install temporary hotspots to close the learning gap, but the Indiana Public Broadcast Stations group (IPBS) is working on a cheaper and perhaps better alternative. IPBS stations currently beam television signals into nearly every Indiana household. Using those same signals, the stations can also “datacast” specific and targeted educational materials from teachers into homes.  It’s cheaper than installing Internet hotspots, won’t be stymied by large files and comes with the added bonus of PBS-level educational curriculum. Jennings County School Corporation will use the option in January, which will make Indiana only the second state in the union to teach via datacasting.

Press Releases

IPBS, Jennings County School Corp. expand access to remote learning through innovative datacasting solution

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INDIANAPOLIS – Jennings County School Corporation (JCSC) and Indiana Public Broadcasting Stations, Inc. (IPBS)have entered into a partnership that will provide datacasting technology to roughly 1,200 students in Jennings County who have little or no access to reliable broadband. Datacasting overcomes the unmet need for internet access by sending computer based files over a television broadcast signal.

Press Releases

WFYI, IPB News to expand statewide coverage with $1.7M in grants from Lilly Endowment Inc., CPB

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 29, 2019

MEDIA CONTACT: AndyKlotz (317) 614-0437 ofc., (317) 372-1277 cell, aklotz@wfyi.org

INDIANAPOLIS – WFYI and the eight other Indiana Public Broadcasting stations that make up IPB News will soon be expanding their statewide news coverage. More than $1.7 million in grant funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting will allow the independent, nonprofit newsroom to grow and sustain its coverage for years to come. With recently awarded grants of $1,373,607 from Lilly Endowment Inc. and $364,304 from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), IPB News, which includes six radio stations and three dual radio/TV licensees, will soon be able to expand its coverage in a variety of areas, including workforce development and immigration. “This is a tremendous endorsement of the power of public media,” WFYI President and CEO Lloyd Wright said. “We’ve come a long way since hiring our first joint Statehouse reporter more than a dozen years ago.

Press Releases

IPBS Announces At-Home Learning Initiative in Partnership with Indiana Department of Education

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 6, 2020

MEDIA CONTACT: Barbara Duke Sams, 317-506-8188, bsams@ipbs.org

INDIANAPOLIS—With schools across Indiana closed in response to the COVID-19 virus, IPBS member television stations and the Indiana Department of Education (DOE) have partnered to offer at-home learning experiences for students in grades K-12 that align with Indiana curriculum standards.