0 2 1 9 COMMUNITY REPORT LETTER FROM THE GENERAL MANAGER A DIGITAL TIPPING POINT This is our final community report of a decade that has changed the way we produce, distribute and access media. This year’s digital media usage trends at WOSU are eye opening. Here are a few highlights: You love the WOSU Passport service. This exclusive on-demand library of quality PBS and local programming for WOSU members has seen amazing growth. You want more of your news at your fingertips. WOSU had a 66 percent increase in unique visitors to wosu.org, primarily to tap into our news content from smart phones. You want to listen to us everywhere. All listening online, through the WOSU mobile app or smart speakers, is up substantially. Some of that is due to our exclusive digital podcasts like Rivet, StoryCorps COLUMBUS and Snollygoster. You enjoy connecting to the local arts scene. Classical 101 saw online gains with streaming and a 92 percent increase in fans coming to our team’s thoughtful blog about topics ranging from the Notre Dame Cathedral fire to ProMusica’s concerts in local taverns. ON THE COVER: This digital access is not taking away from the traditional listening and viewing of WOSU’s many channels, all of which remain strong. 89.7 NPR News is hitting The new WOSU some of its best listenership numbers with an average of 150,000 listeners Headquarters will weekly thanks to our intrepid news team and All Sides with Ann Fisher. include a digital media learning lab. Live streaming of WOSU TV and WOSU Kids, as well as on-demand programming, Artistic rendering are now available to YouTube TV subscribers, expanding PBS’s digital footprint by Paul Kelley. and offering viewers additional ways to stream content. That was remarkable, given the many negotiations that had to occur for PBS to provide this opportunity to local stations. All of this is a part of the growing shift to using the Internet and often your smartphone or smart TV as a primary source of news, culture and entertainment. Our commitment is to continue to go where our audience goes and to be there with quality, non-commercial content about the world and about Central Ohio. Thank you for supporting these efforts! Tom Rieland General Manager, WOSU Public Media [email protected] 2 MISSION VISION To engage, inform and inspire Curiosity ignited. our diverse community. Community connected. VALUES trusted source authenticity Integrity, independence and Our internal environment aligns civil discourse are fundamental with our external commitment to to our identity collaboration, respect, openness, inclusion and creativity access to knowledge Learning is embedded in elevating voices all our programs, events and Sharing the richness productions of our community is essential to our service celebrating culture Connecting people to experiences intentional innovation that enrich and entertain is at the We strive to be forward-thinking core of our work in all that we do IMPACT OF GIVING ... WOSU’s service to our community is made possible by donors like you. Throughout this report, look for highlights of how our generous donors made an impact in 2019. For all the ways you can have an impact see page 31. 3 IMPACT METRICS 5.2million 6 28,640 visits to wosu.org EMMY Awards New Headquarters WOSU Members 47% {a WOSU record!} groundbreaking 759,425 10million 92% 100th sessions on the minutes of content increase in episode of Columbus WOSU Public Media viewed by WOSU Classical 101 blog Neighborhoods Mobile App Passport members traffic 207 179 27% Ohio’s Best Radio Producers Club Underwriters increase in All Sides News Operation: Donors with Ann Fisher 89.7 NPR News blog traffic 4,458 7,720 30 3.7million hours logged by students served by student unique users to student employees WOSU Classroom employees wosu.org 62% 36% 4 increase in covering over WOSU TV channels 89.7 NPR News 89.7 NPR News a quarter of Ohio plus TV translator and Classical 101 plus online stories serving Mansfield 4 regional FM stations: Mansfield, Marion, Coshocton and Portsmouth 4 CONTENTS TRUSTED SOURCE 6 89.7 NPR News Most-Read Stories of 2019 Columbus on the Record All Sides with Ann Fisher ACCESS TO KNOWLEDGE 8 WOSU Classroom American Graduate In the Know CELEBRATING CULTURE 12 Country Music: A Film by Ken Burns WOSU Receives Record 6 Regional EMMY Awards 2019 Top Programs Broad & High Classical 101 A Productive Partnership AUTHENTICITY 19 Community Engagement Digital Friends of WOSU Board 2019 Higgy Tyler Award ELEVATING VOICES 22 StoryCorps in Columbus Columbus Neighborhoods Curious Cbus It’s a Pod World INTENTIONAL INNOVATION 24 WOSU New HQ Progress New Place. New Space New Experience. Producers Club Neil Legacy Society Membership Underwriters Lean Six Sigma FINANCIALS 28 MAKE YOUR IMPACT 29 STAFF LISTING 32 (back cover) 5 TRUSTED SOURCE Black Holes and Other Worlds: Most-Read Stories of 2019 Once again, 89.7 NPR News listeners can hear the Best News 1 Ohio State Astronomers Capture Operation in Ohio. The Society for Professional Journalists awarded Black Hole Shredding Star the honor to the WOSU News Team in 2019. Enterprising WOSU 2 Lawmaker Says He Didn’t Research reporters combine with their colleagues at NPR and the BBC to create Ectopic Pregnancy Procedure Central Ohio’s premier global-local connection. Each week 150,000 Before Adding to Bill people tune in, making 89.7 NPR News the most-listened-to public 3 Fentanyl Now Mixed with Crack radio station in Ohio. Whether it’s to better understand complex Cocaine and Ecstasy, Causing issues or to hear live gavel-to-gavel coverage of the impeachment Local Spike in Overdoses of the President, 89.7 NPR News is the place for comprehensive reporting that is unbiased, unfiltered and uncompromising. 4 New Ohio Bill Would Ban Most Private Insurance Coverage of Abortion 89.7 On-Air for 70 Years 5 A Fracking Explosion In Ohio Created One Of Worst Methane WOSU FM 89.7 celebrated its 70th anniversary in December 2019. Leaks In History The station went on the air in 1949 – just four years after the FCC set aside frequencies for noncommercial radio. It took 25 years for radio See the full list of most-read stories manufacturers and listeners to make FM what it is today, but 89.7 of 2019 at wosu.org/2019topstories was there from the start thanks to the visionary founders of WOSU. 6 “I want to help support a public- sustained and unbiased news source as a way to defend our democracy and a better America.” — Roger Reeves, Columbus, OH Columbus on the Record, WOSU TV’s weekly political roundtable, entered its 15th season in 2019. Host Mike Thompson and his panel of experts analyzed Governor Mike DeWine’s first year in office, a bitter campaign to subsidize nuclear power and the debate over gun legislation. Columbus on the Record ended the year with a one-on-one interview with Governor DeWine. impact Did you know that many All Sides with Ann Fisher, WOSU’s daily radio interview show, WOSU donors utilize thier tackled critical issues in 2019. Ann and her guests explored topics IRAs to make an impact as varied as Ohio’s ongoing opioid crisis, housing affordability through membership and and pay equity for female athletes. Notable guests included Governor Mike DeWine, former Obama administration official philanthropic support? Richard Cordray and Robert Bilot, the attorney who inspired the film Dark Waters. Each week, 48,000 people tune in to be better informed through All Sides with Ann Fisher. IRA Charitable Rollover Student Internships Provide Valuable Experience Ray’Anthony Bruster knew he wanted a career in radio, so it was an easy decision to become a journalism and media analysis double major. While a senior at Ohio State, Ray was an intern with All Sides with Ann Fisher. An internship with Ann is not grabbing coffee and making copies — she expects her student interns to be radio producers, so Ray gained invaluable skills that he would not have learned in the classroom. impact WOSU is able to offer internships to students like Ray through generous support of our donors, like Phyllis Kile. A gift from her donor advised fund allowed Phyllis to help ensure that students have the opporutnity to be inspired by public media with a valuable student experience. Donor Advised Fund “Ann Fisher always asks the questions I’m thinking.” — Eva Provenzale McVey, Columbus 7 ACCESS TO KNOWLEDGE classroom Ohio Learning Hub WOSU Classroom launched the Ohio Learning Hub, an online professional learning resource for educators that showcases outstanding teachers and leaders throughout Central Ohio, ohiolearninghub.org. Thanks to a generous grant from the Martha Holden Jennings Foundation, this project has brought high-quality learning resources to educators and created replicable models of innovative training programs to our schools. 2019 WOSU Classroom Outstanding Teacher Award “The chance to work and learn with WOSU Engineers and Audio Storytellers is going to help me in working Michelle Lombardi (center), a media with my students and teaching them podcasting.” specialist at Jones Middle School in — Keith Leonard, Wellington Schools Teacher Upper Arlington, was the recipient of the 2019 WOSU Classroom Outstanding Teacher Award. Fred Rogers Productions Daniel Tiger and Katerina Kittycat greeted children at Be My Neighbor Day, made possible through a partnership with PNC Bank, Moms2B and Columbus Commons. Attending families donated a variety of essential baby supplies and worked together to create greeting cards that filled over 150 diaper bags donated to Moms2B, a nonprofit program helping women at high risk for infant mortality, learn tools that will enable them to make healthier choices and deliver healthy, full-term infants.