PRI Receives Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Grant to Elevate Global
Health and Global Development Coverage in Public Media
MINNEAPOLIS (Business Wire EON) December 12, 2007 --
Public Radio International (PRI) announces that it has received a
three-year, $5 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to
lead an unprecedented effort to produce and distribute global health and
development content. By creating an array of penetrating journalism for
use on-air and online throughout the 24-hour news cycle, PRI will raise
awareness and deepen understanding of pressing global health and
development issues among the influential thought-leaders who comprise
the public media audience. In addition to fostering active listener
engagement with these issues, PRI's enhanced coverage will help elevate
global health and development reportage to prominence among national
media outlets.
"This transformational grant will enable PRI to increase Americans'
understanding of the impact that global health and development issues
have in today's world," says PRI President and CEO Alisa Miller. "People
and nations of the world are more interdependent than ever before, yet
many media outlets continue to withdraw from international news. PRI is
uniquely capable of aggressively developing compelling content, global
reporting and interactive strategies to fill this urgent need."
PRI will use its original productions to provide in-depth reporting and
analysis of global health and development issues throughout the
broadcast day. These programs include the PRI and WNYC Radio
co-production "The Morning Show" (w.t.), a live, conversational news
program that is poised to transform morning drive-time listening when it
launches in 2008 with editorial partners BBC World Service, the "New
York Times" and WGBH Radio Boston; PRI's "The World," an award-winning,
weekday global news program; as well as collaborations with other
producers.
Global health coverage might, for example, focus on increasingly
drug-resistant forms of TB and staph infections, the search for HIV/AIDS
vaccines, the bureaucratic obstacles to fighting such preventable
diseases as malaria and polio, as well as the personal stories of those
involved with each of these subjects. Stories on global development
might examine the process and cost of getting food to Americans' tables,
ways of measuring the effectiveness of relief work and foreign aid
around the world, or the intersection of globalization and agriculture,
including how trade policy affects the availability of food in the
developing world.
PRI will stimulate listener engagement with its global health and
development programming through online discussions and other resources,
including customized social networking and civic engagement tools,
blogs, podcasts, mobile phone segments and searchable transcripts. These
will be available on PRI.org and PRI partner Web sites.
These efforts are part of PRI's Our World Initiative, an
innovative programming and online engagement undertaking that seeks, in
part, to invest in journalistic capacity in critical content areas
across PRI programs. PRI will announce additional Our World Initiative
content tracks in the coming months.
About Public Radio International®
Founded in 1983, Public Radio International has distinguished itself by
producing, acquiring and distributing innovative content that enables
U.S. audiences to "hear a different voice," bringing new voices and
global perspectives to the public airwaves. Through partnerships with
BBC World Service and station-based and independent producers, the
Minneapolis-based network provides over 400 hours of programming each
week, content that is broadcast and streamed online by 827 PRI
affiliates nationwide, whose radio broadcasts reach over 29 million
listeners each week. Podcasts of PRI programs consistently rank in the
top U.S. 100. PRI owns Public Interactive LLC, public broadcasting's
leading Web services company. PRI is also the managing partner of the
satellite radio company American Public Radio LLC, established with
Chicago Public Radio®,
WGBH Radio Boston and WNYC, New York Public Radio®.
PRI programming is available via XM Public Radio and Sirius Satellite
Radio.
PRI is known for driving innovation in public radio through partnerships
with stations, independent producers and other organizations, and for
working collaboratively to pool resources, share risk and cultivate new
talent. Its best known offerings include "The Tavis Smiley Show,"
produced by Smiley Radio Properties Inc.; "This American Life," produced
by Chicago Public Radio®;
PRI's "The World," a co-production of BBC World Service, PRI, and WGBH
Radio Boston; "Living on Earth," produced by World Media Foundation
Inc.; "Michael Feldman's Whad'Ya Know?®,"
produced by Wisconsin Public Radio; and PRI's "Studio 360 with Kurt
Andersen," produced by PRI and WNYC, New York Public Radio®;
as well as 24-hour program services —
"Classical 24®,"
produced by American Public Media™; and BBC
World Service, produced by the British Broadcasting Corporation. For
more information on PRI and its programs and services, visit www.pri.org.
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