CPB awards $1.3 million to Public Media Election Collaboration

CPB is granting $1,368,540 to a consortium of public media organizations to support multi-platform, system-wide public media coverage of Election 2008. NPR will manage the grant on behalf of the public media organizations that have come together on this comprehensive effort. These include: American Public Media, Capitol News Connection, KQED, NPR, PBS, Public Radio Exchange, Public Radio International/Public Interactive and The NewsHour. The project will also enlist the talents and resources of public radio and television stations and independent producers nationwide.

"On behalf of all the partners, we deeply appreciate CPB's leadership and support for this unprecedented collaboration," says NPR's CEO, Ken Stern. "By pooling content produced locally and nationally -- for radio, television, and online -- we will discover new ways of doing business to better serve the public. We are pleased to have succeeded in coming together to deliver on the commitments made at the 2007 Annual Meeting."

In addition to enhancing public service, CPB sees the project as a model that can inform the future of public media.

"This grant underscores CPB's support of innovative projects that move public radio and television into the digital future so they can help individuals better connect with their communities wherever they are," says Pat Harrison, CPB President and CEO. "This ambitious project will provide us with new ways of looking at how we serve the public on existing and emerging media platforms."

Among the tangible benefits for the audience are new opportunities for civic engagement through user-contributed content and discussion, and easier access to the complete pool of quality local and national public media content. To accomplish this, NPR and the major partners will develop a decentralized collection of Web 2.0 initiatives that provide the following array of resources to participating networks and stations:

• An interactive election map from NPR and The NewsHour;
• Localizable news modules from Public Radio International's Public Interactive;
• A curated collection of election audio and social media content from PRX;
• Election-related video from PBS;
• An archive of broadcast materials covering New York-based presidential candidates from WNYC;
• A collaborative content initiative entitled "Global Perspectives on Election 2008" from PRI;
• User-generated political commentaries curated by NPR;
• Capitol News Connection's interactive 'Ask Your Lawmaker' web widget that enables citizens to directly question their lawmakers and listen to answers obtained by CNC journalists;
• Election simulations and thought-provoking interactive activities from American Public Media and KQED.

In addition, PBS is creating an educational campaign and teaching materials related to election modules, to be made available through project partner and station sites, and promoted to educators across the country.

"This collaboration demonstrates the power of public television and public radio working together," said PBS President and CEO Paula Kerger. "When we align our strengths, the American public reaps the benefits of access to a broader range of information they can trust and new ways to connect with today's important issues."

To facilitate communication and cooperation among public broadcasters, the infrastructure will include a "knowledge network" that serves as a centralized discussion space to share experiences, ideas and best practices.

Benefits to stations and the system include:

• Greater access to content and resources;
• Emphasis on customization and localization;
• A collaborative workspace;
• A proof-of-concept model that can serve as a foundation for further collaboration.

To learn more about the collaboration and how you can participate, watch for upcoming listserv postings, station interconnects, web-based seminars, and presentations at public media conferences. Information about accessing the knowledge network is coming soon. See the full text http://www.nprstations.org/areps/index.cfm of the proposal and the recent announcement http://www.nprstations.org/programinfo/election08/election08_map.cfm about how to use the interactive election map.