Page 21 - Programs Content News Today

The CPB-funded Next Gen Public Media Accelerator jump-starts content development for 12 stations targeting the “Missing Middle.”

“One thing that ... is really important is not to frame the work we're doing as farmers versus environmentalists," says Executive Director Sara Shipley Hiles. "I never want to see that headline or that framing on the story. because I don't think that's accurate and it's not helpful, either."

Under Maribel Lopez, who became head of PBSDS in December, the unit is branching out nationwide and developing STEM content aimed at women and people of color.

The three-year grant program backs five stations as they build digital platforms, sponsor intergenerational music collaborations and rethink the definition of jazz.

Two public media stations and 13 independent projects received nearly $4.3 million supporting films, podcasts and archival preservation.

The two-year grant is part of a more ambitious plan to raise the profile of the NPR podcast on race and identity.

WCAI in Woods Hole, Mass., has teamed up with a community radio station in Cornwall, England, on the project "Falmouth to Falmouth."

While some stations are welcoming the show, other programmers are wary of furthering public radio's relationship with for-profit producers.

“We believe that bringing production and distribution under the same roof will provide a more streamlined process for our station partners and be a seamless experience for our listeners,” said an APMG executive.

“People really felt the value of the station to a greater degree during the pandemic and wanted to make certain that the station had the funding it needed to not just survive but thrive,” said Brenda Barnes, CEO of KING FM in Seattle.