KOSU, along with its collaborators KGOU, KWGS, KCCU and HPPR, has been awarded a two-year $250,000 grant to increase coverage of state government from The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). The grant is part of $2.25 million in funding to strengthen public media state government reporting in seven states, which CPB announced today at the Public Media Content Conference in Philadelphia.
The grant will provide for a full-time journalist reporting on the state legislative session and state agencies, with investigative and enterprise coverage throughout the year. The reporter will aim to deepen listeners’ understanding of state government and the impact of state policy and processes.
Their work will build on the long-term collaborations of StateImpact and the Oklahoma Public Media Exchange to produce and share content that better informs Oklahomans. Through KOSU and the partner news organizations, the state government reporting will reach 65 of Oklahoma’s 77 counties through on-air radio broadcasts.
“Oklahoma continues to lose journalists at a rapid rate. This funding helps combat that crisis,” said KOSU executive director Rachel Hubbard. “Research shows journalists covering the statehouse help to increase civic engagement and government transparency.”
Amid an industry drop in the overall number of full-time statehouse reporters across the country, CPB funds will support KOSU, along with public media stations serving Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, Kentucky, Wyoming and Texas as they add statehouse reporting capacity. The coverage will be shared with public media stations across the state, as well as other media organizations. CPB funds will also support NPR’s ability to provide editorial and training support for station-based reporters covering state government.
“The American people look to public media to provide high quality journalism in the form of factual, trusted news and information,” said Patricia Harrison, CPB President and CEO. “A strong civil society and democracy requires its citizens be informed with the facts. This is especially important when it comes to state government reporting. Unfortunately, today, there are far fewer full-time journalists covering our nation’s statehouses than just a decade ago. These CPB grants will address an urgent need as we increase the number of journalists at public media stations reporting statehouse news and policy decisions. Their coverage will be made available to all citizens in those seven states.”
The grant recipients were selected from 20 proposals submitted from public media organizations in 19 states. Many will fill gaps identified in the State Government Coverage in Public Media survey commissioned by CPB and published in 2022. The survey found that while public media stations in all 50 states provide original state government reporting at least weekly when their legislatures are in session, five states lacked a full-time state government beat reporter based at a public media station.
A hiring notice for the job will be posted on kosu.org/jobs at a later date.
MEDIA CONTACT: Rachel Hubbard | KOSU Director | 405-742-4100 | rachel.hubbard@okstate.edu
About KOSU
KOSU is more than a radio station, it’s a community organization dedicated to sparking curiosity with stories, resources, events and information that connect people. KOSU reports news in collaboration with the public, not just for the public. KOSU helps Oklahomans understand issues that are important to them and discover new things about our state.
Every month KOSU reaches more than 500,000 Oklahomans by freely sharing the content e produced alongside other media outlets and nonprofits. New technology allows KOSU to publish on multimedia channels that include podcasts, email newsletters, kosu.org, radio, text message and social media.
Established in 1955, KOSU can be heard on the radio at 91.7 in Oklahoma City, 88.3 in Stillwater, 94.9 in Ponca City and 107.5 in Tulsa. Other ways to listen and engage with KOSU and The Spy are available at kosu.org.
About CPB
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private, nonprofit corporation authorized by Congress in 1967, is the steward of the federal government’s investment in public broadcasting. It helps support the operations of more than 1,500 locally managed and operated public television and radio stations nationwide. CPB is also the largest single source of funding for research, technology and program development for public radio, television, and related online services. For more information, visit cpb.org.
