Telling Public Radio’s Story

Telling Public Radio’s Story – Fiscal Year 2024
Item 6.1 of the annual CPB SAS Report

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.

WUNC delivers high-quality news and information that gets people talking and helps citizens make informed decisions about their lives and community. We produce hourly newscasts, radio and digital feature stories, and “Due South,” our hour-long program that unpacks news and culture across North Carolina, and is broadcast weekdays at 12 p.m., and rebroadcast at 8 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays. WUNC also produces “Embodied,” a weekly show discussing sex, relationships, and health. It is distributed nationally by PRX (Public Radio Exchange) and airs on more than a dozen public radio stations.

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.

In 2024, the WUNC reporting team took an innovative approach to science communication with its Scorched Workers project, which extended beyond traditional broadcast journalism. Through collaboration with scientific experts from local universities and state health and climate officials, WUNC translated complex climate data into accessible formats for diverse audiences. WUNC also partnered with Durham-based artist Antonio Alanis to create bilingual educational material, including zines.

Additionally, WUNC partnered with various Latino organizations to distribute science-based heat safety information to at-risk workers. WUNC worked with other public radio stations and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to earn a grant to improve state government news coverage.

The resulting North Carolina Newsroom initiative is currently hiring several positions to work out of WUNC, including a full-time editor and reporter dedicated to producing content that will benefit audiences across the state. The project is expected to launch in early 2025.

3. What impact did your key initiatives and partnerships have in your community? Describe any known measurable impact, such as increased awareness, learning or understanding about particular issues. Describe indicators of success, such as connecting people to needed resources or strengthening conversational ties across diverse neighborhoods. Did a partner see an increase in requests for related resources? Please include direct feedback from a partner(s) or from a person(s) served.

WUNC has a daily impact on a large listening audience. It is, on average, one of the top three most listened to radio stations for persons 25+ in the Raleigh-Durham market. As one of the leading stations in our market, we reach a broad cross-section of the community and spark conversations and actions that often happen out of our view. We produced several virtual and in-person community events in 2024 to engage with audiences.

4. Please describe any efforts (e.g. programming, production, engagement activities) you have made to investigate and/or meet the needs of minority and other diverse audiences (including, but not limited to, new immigrants, people for whom English is a second language and illiterate adults) during Fiscal Year 2024, and any plans you have made to meet the needs of these audiences during Fiscal Year 2025. If you regularly broadcast in a language other than English, please note the language broadcast.

WUNC strives to serve as broad an audience as possible with its news and information programming. In 2024, the reporting team took an innovative approach to science communication with the Scorched Workers project, which extended beyond traditional broadcast journalism. Through collaboration with scientific experts from local universities and state health and climate officials, WUNC translated complex climate data into accessible formats for diverse audiences. WUNC also partnered with Durham-based artist Antonio Alanis to create bilingual educational material in the form of a zine that explains heat stress physiology, early warning signs of heat-related illness, and preventive measures based on current medical research.

WUNC also partnered with various Latino organizations to distribute science-based heat safety information to at-risk workers. The station launched the zine at the 2024 Hispanic Book Fair, hosted by Durham-based El Centro Hispano. The three-day festival included an author roundtable with WUNC reporters and artist Antonio Alanis; a community forum at El Centro Hispano; and a booth at the festival’s book fair.

Additionally, WUNC News, along with our "Due South” daily show, covered the 2024 election cycle. WUNC reporters filed spots and features on local and statewide candidates and races. “Due South” initiated a long-running series entitled “The Purple Ballot” that unpacked races, candidates, and North Carolina's unique voting habits. WUNC reporters also tackled election topics related to education, affordable housing, healthcare, and other issues important to voters. WUNC continued to cover post-election news, including the (still) contested race for a seat on the North Carolina Supreme Court.

5. Please assess the impact that your CPB funding had on your ability to serve your community. What were you able to do with your grant that you wouldn't be able to do if you didn't receive it?

CPB funding is essential to the operations of WUNC. Our CPB funding allows us to support our local programs and news operations and purchase nationally distributed programs. It makes up roughly 5% of our overall operating budget. We leverage that foundational support to raise the rest through listener contributions, corporate support, and foundations. If we lost CPB funding, it would put other funding sources at risk, and we would have to make cuts, which would likely result in the loss of reporters and producers.