An Internet-based platform for digital distribution and licensing will receive $1.5 million. NPR’s “Tavis Smiley Show” will get $750,000. A series about Jewish contributions to American culture will receive $200,000.
Those are among the radio-related grants announced this week by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Fifteen projects out of 60 were chosen to receive a total of $7.5 million through CPB’s Public Radio Public Service Competitive Funds program.
Details, as announced by CPB:
CAPITOL HILL BUREAU, Pundit Productions, Inc. (Washington, DC) $930,000. To support the expansion of centrally-produced congressional coverage customized for local stations. Funding also is intended to ensure development of a strong non-profit established on a market-supported business model. This new approach, led by journalist Melinda Wittstock, makes congressional coverage affordable to local stations, and offers a hometown viewpoint that helps make national and international policies more relevant to local audiences.
CROSSING EAST: FIRST ASIANS IN AMERICA, MediaRites (Portland, OR) $250,000. These eight one-hour documentaries will examine Asian immigration from the 1500s to the present.
EARTHSONGS, Koahnic Broadcast Corporation (Anchorage, AK) $125,000. An additional year of support for this music and interview program featuring modern music from Native America and its companion website.
HEARTLAND CHRONICLES, Long Haul Productions (Chicago IL) $213,000. A 10- part series of radio documentaries set in and around Chicago will explore the shared elements of the American experience and emphasize stories from minority/underserved communities.
KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS IN NET REVENUE, Development Exchange, Inc. (Minneapolis, MN) $156,300. Through a three-month planning process, this project will begin to identify and define key performance metrics to help stations develop and measure individual and aggregate models of net-revenue health.
LINEA ABIERTA SPECIAL SERIES, Radio Bilingue (Fresno, CA) $382,500. Through this project, Radio Bilingue will expand production of its nationally- distributed call-in show, Linea Abierta, to include regional news and information content for Texas Latinos. Additionally, through a unique distribution partnership with a Mexican AM station, millions of Spanish speakers in Texas and surrounding states will have access to Radio Bilingue programming.
NATIVE AMERICA CALLING, Koahnic Broadcast Corporation (Anchorage, AK) $1,200,000. With this two-year grant, Koahnic Broadcast Corporation will strengthen the editorial capacity of both Native America Calling and National Native News. Koahnic also will explore opportunities for reaching larger audiences and enhancing long-term viability.
NEW BASICS, Public Radio Internet Service Alliance, (Rhinebeck, NY) $231,500. Renewed funding of this e-development project supports continued research and expansion of station participation. PRISA also will identify and report to the system ways to accurately measure Internet performance and efficiency
ONLY IN AMERICA, Radio Foundation, Inc. (New York, NY) $200,000. Timed to coincide with the 350th anniversary of the landing of the first Jews in New Amsterdam, this 10-hour limited series will document Jewish contributions to American society and culture.
OPEN STUDIO PROJECT, Jay Allison Productions (Woods Hole, MA) $180,000. Funding for two additional years will continue delivery of new and diverse voices to public radio listeners through existing vehicles and special programs. The project will draw on the producer’s broad experience in collaborating with young journalists, artists from other disciplines, and citizen storytellers, with a particular focus on minority perspectives.
PUBLIC RADIO EXCHANGE, Station Resource Group (Takoma Park, MD) $1,500,000. To support the full launch of Public Radio Exchange (PRX), an Internet-based platform for digital distribution, peer review, and licensing of radio content. This project is capable of linking independent producers more directly with the marketplace, enabling them to control the rights to their own work and to set its value in a fair market economy that dramatically simplifies transactions for both themselves and the acquirers of their content.
SPEAKING OF FAITH, Minnesota Public Radio (Minneapolis, MN) $500,000. Support for two additional years of this weekly interview and discussion program, which explores the diversity of religions and their participants in the U.S. with the same seriousness and balance that public radio extends to
such other fundamental aspects of public life as politics and economics.
STORYCORPS, Sound Portraits Productions, Inc. (New York, NY) $750,000. This is a national launch of StoryCorps, a project designed to instruct and inspire Americans to record one another’s stories in sound. Sound Portraits Productions will travel the country, documenting voices of Americans traditionally overlooked by the media and partnering with local public radio stations to maximize participation and to air content of local interest. StoryCorps segments also will air nationally on NPR newsmagazines.
TAVIS SMILEY SHOW, National Public Radio (Washington, DC) $750,000. To support continued production of this daily news and information program, which is intended to increase public radio’s service to African-American listeners, significantly broadening the scope of topics, voices, and viewpoints heard on public radio.
PUBLIC RADIO LEADERSHIP FORUM, Development Exchange, Inc. (Minneapolis, MN) $137,300. Support for the first two years of the Leadership Forum. Created by a collaboration of 17 public radio stations, this new model for an annual, system-wide managers’ meeting will focus on key strategic issues.
