By Wailin Wong |
Chicago Public Radio (WBEZ-FM 91.5) is taking part in a $10.5 million
local journalism initiative by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting
that will create approximately 50 new jobs, including five positions in
the Midwest.
The CPB is setting up seven Local Journalism Centers with participating
stations around the country. These centers will hire multimedia
journalists, whose reports will be broadcast on radio and television, as
well as “digital platforms” and “community engagement programs,” the
CPB said.
The $10.5 million figure comprises investment from the CPB and the participating stations. Each center is expected to become self-sustaining in two years.
Locally, WBEZ is partnering with Michigan Radio and Cleveland-based public broadcaster Ideastream for the CPB’s Upper Mid-West center.
These stations “will focus on reinventing the industrial heartland and in particular, the economy in the upper Midwest,” the CPB said. The center plans to hire three reporters, a senior editor and a senior producer.
YES! my generous donations to WBEZ are paying off!
well, not exactly franklin808. the project is funded by CPB, not your membership donations. but i’ll look at this as some sign of life that wbez is trying to redeem itself in some small way from the joke that it has become in the last few years.
your generous donations are likely going to the giant sucking sound that is the squandered resources wasted on the station manager’s failing pet project = vocalo