WHA: Telling Public Radio’s Story 2014‐2015 1. Describe your overall goals and approach to address identified community issues, needs, and interests through your station’s vital local services, such as multiplatform long and short‐ form content, digital and in‐person engagement, education services, community information, partnership support, and other activities, and audiences you reached or new audiences you engaged. Wisconsin Public Radio’s (WPR) WHA is committed to researched‐based reporting and conversational/talk programming on the issues that affect the people of Wisconsin with the highest standards of journalistic ethics and excellence. WHA presents and facilitates discussions about politics and current events with attention to balance. Guests, hosts and callers come together for smart, meaningful conversations on The Joy Cardin Show, The Kathleen Dunn Show and Central Time. Each spring and fall (twice during the reporting period) the station partners with St. Norbert College in DePere, Wisconsin for a statewide survey of residents. Results of the survey, which focuses on key issues and concerns, is used to guide production of news content heard within newscasts and topic selection for our 8.5 hours of daily, local call‐in programs. The Wisconsin Survey also informs news and information content on the station website, wpr.org. Some of the issues cited in the survey are reflected in the following in‐depth stories the station and its affiliates aired in FY15 including: a. A multipart series on the Affordable Care Act in Wisconsin; b. An in‐depth series on aging and elder care in Wisconsin; c. A year‐long look at gun homicides in Milwaukee; d. A multipart look at Wisconsin’s drinking culture and the impacts of alcohol in the state; and, e. A multipart look at the Common Core education debate in the state. In addition to covering news and current affairs, WHA and its affiliates provide some of the best educational and life‐long learning content in the state. Listeners always hear something they can use on The Larry Meiller Show, which focuses on gardening, consumer issues, and “how‐to” topics. Each Tuesday, The Joy Cardin Show covers personal finance, and listeners — in Wisconsin and around the nation — turn to Zorba Paster On Your Health for perspective on medical concerns. The station and its affiliates are also dedicated to providing a cultural resource to its listeners, with curated entertainment, comedy and music programs. Chapter A Day is the original audiobook, aired every weekday for a half hour. University of the Air provides fascinating interviews on a variety of topics with experts, and Old Time Radio Drama shares the classics of radio’s golden age with listeners each Saturday and Sunday night. Also on Sundays, Simply Folk with Stephanie Elkins broadcasts concerts recorded in Wisconsin and traditional music of people the world over. Beyond broadcast, WHA’s and its affiliate’s information and cultural stories are also featured in full, online articles at wpr.org where audiences can post comments, ask questions and connect with other listeners through our online forums. One story in particular, on gun violence, drew more than 465,000 page views and more than 1,500 comments in FY15. Social media is used for distribution of content, engaging audiences on and off air and promotion. In FY15, WPR used individual show pages on Facebook so listeners could post questions, share information and engage with our hosts and guests. Our main Facebook page “Likes” increased by 62%, to more than 24,000, as users turned to WPR’s social media to stay up to date on everything from breaking news to healthy recipe recommendations. Each year our audience services team answers more than 36,000 requests from Wisconsinites eager to learn more about the news and information they hear on our programs. In an effort to better serve all the people of Wisconsin, WPR collaborated with Wisconsin Public Television (WPT) and University of Wisconsin‐Extension to hold a series of meetings with residents and leaders in communities around the state. In FY15, we held meetings in five communities, big and small, including Waukesha, Janesville, Green Bay, Superior and River Falls. Staff from across our organization ‐ including reporters, hosts, producers, membership and administrative staff ‐ attended to listen and learn about the issues and concerns of Wisconsin’s residents. Like the survey noted above, results of these community meetings were shared throughout the station and influenced content on WHA and its affiliates in FY15. WHA’s licensee, the Wisconsin Educational Communications Board, partners with the University of Wisconsin‐Extension to produce and distribute programming under the banner of Wisconsin Public Radio. According to Nielsen, the partnership reached an average of 431,000 listeners each week in the spring of 2015. Wisconsin Public Radio expanded its digital presence in FY15. WPR’s websites had more than 13.2 million page views in FY15 and has had more than 60,000 app downloads (iOS and Android) since 2012. 2 2. Describe key initiatives and the variety of partners with whom you collaborated, including other public media outlets, community nonprofits, government agencies, educational institutions, the business community, teachers and parents, etc. This will illustrate the many ways you’re connected across the community and engaged with other important organizations in the area. WPR’s WHA and affiliates provide extensive election coverage and collaborate with Wisconsin Public Television (WPT) to broadcast important events, including the governor’s State of the State address, budget address, and the official state celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. We encourage listeners to experience the state from diverse perspectives. Wisconsin Life, our most recent collaboration with WPT, continues this commitment by featuring stories of unexpected Wisconsin people and places on WPR, WPT and online at wisconsinlife.org. In 2014, as in all election years, we invited ballot‐certified candidates to participate in broadcast debates, forums and interviews and to record unfiltered candidate statements. WisconsinVote.org, WPR’s and WPT’s award‐winning site, offers immediate access to voting information, candidate statements and extensive unbiased reporting on issues that affect the people of Wisconsin. During the week leading up to the fall 2014 elections, the site garnered more than 200,000 sessions and served more than 170,000 unique users. WPR and WPT are working with state veterans’ organizations, the Wisconsin Newspaper Association and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund to spread the word and find a photo of every Wisconsin serviceman or woman listed on the Wall in Washington D.C. The images will become part of the “Wall of Faces” — a lasting tribute planned for the Vietnam Memorial Education Center near the mall in our nation’s capital. As of the end of FY15, nearly 1,170 images had been found. During the reporting period, WHA and its affiliates expanded its commitment to educating the next generation of reporters with the announcement of the Mike Simonson Fellowship for Investigative Journalism in partnership with the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism. The fellowship, like our Lee Ester News Fellowship, helps attract some of the brightest young minds in journalism to public broadcasting. Each year we build partnerships with local nonprofits, arts organizations and venues to raise awareness of educational and entertainment opportunities at the local level. Our hosts also made special appearances for broadcasts and promotion throughout FY15. WHA and its affiliates have partnerships with a number of non‐profit arts and community organizations, including: the Wisconsin Science Festival, Wisconsin Book Festival, Wisconsin Film Festival, Madison Public Library, Wisconsin Veterans Museum, Milwaukee Historical Society, Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestra, Overture Center for the Arts, Sugar Maple Traditional Music Festival, Summerset Festival, Porcupine Music Festival, Door Community Auditorium, Fox Cities Performing Arts Center, Neville Public Museum, Meyer Theater, Wisconsin Maritime Museum, Midsummer’s Music Festival, Peninsula Players, Paine Arts Center and Gardens, Wet Whistle Wine Festival, Brown County Civic Orchestra, Fox Valley Symphony, Majestic Theater, Manitowoc Symphony Orchestra, Green 3 Lake Festival Music, Sheboygan Symphony Orchestra, Peninsula Music Festival, St. Norbert College, UW‐Marinette, White Heron Chorale, UW‐Green Bay, Shawano Folk Fest, Children’s Theater of Madison, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Stoughton Opera, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Madison Opera, American Players Theatre, Driftless Film Festival, Hardy Gallery, Downtown Green Bay, Stoughton Opera House, UW‐Stevens Point, Wisconsin Institute for Public Policy and Service, Wausau Lyric Choir, Trout Museum, Lucille Tack Center for the Performing Arts, UW‐Oshkosh, Grand Theater of Wausau, UW‐Madison School of Music, Einstein Project, Mile of Music, Wisconsin Union Theater, Token Creek Chamber Music, Chippewa Valley Book Festival, Chippewa Valley Cultural Association, Chippewa Valley Jazz Orchestra, Chippewa Valley Museum, Chippewa Valley Post, Chippewa Valley Symphony, Chippewa Valley Theatre Guild, Chippewa Valley Youth Symphony, CVA Sing, Eau Claire Chamber Orchestra, Eau Claire Children's Theatre, Eau Claire Jazz Festival, Eau Claire Male Chorus, Eau Claire Regional Arts Council, Fresh Art Tour, Gaylord Nelson Audubon Society, Green Life Expo, Imagination