CPB Transparency Report | Nashville Public Radio

As a public media entity, Nashville Public Radio makes every effort to be as transparent as possible in order to comply with The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). Below you will find documents and information related to Nashville Public Radio’s contact, governance, management, finances, meetings and diversity initiatives.

FCC PUBLIC FILE ACCESS INSTRUCTIONS

Nashville Public Radio’s representative to provide assistance for persons with disabilities can be contacted at (615) 760-2903. Nashville Public Radio’s address is: 630 Mainstream Dr., Nashville, TN 37228. The telephone number is (615) 760-2903 and email address is [email protected].

DIRECT LINKS TO NASHVILLE PUBLIC RADIO’S FCC HOSTED PUBLIC FILES ARE:

Contact information for Nashville Public Radio
Nashville Public Radio
630 Mainstream Dr
Nashville, TN 37228
(615) 760-2003.

Send a message to Nashville Public Radio

Nashville Public Radio’s Board of Directors, Community Advisory Group, and Management Team are listed below, including the meeting schedules and locations.

Nashville Public Radio’s Board of Directors

Officers:

Susan Lanigan (Chair)
Steve Swenson (President/CEO)
Jeff McGruder (Finance Committee Chair)
Carol Kirshner (Governance Committee Chair)

Directors:

Richard Abramson
Martin S. Brown, Jr.
Barbara Chazen
Scott Clayton
Ashlee Davis
Donna Eskind
Jim Flautt
Lucy Haynes
Eric Holt
Elissa Kim
Caroline Randall Williams
Alice Ganier Rolli
Ann Shayne
Fahad Tahir
Curt Thorne
Neil Thorne
Betsy Wills

Send a message to our board of directors

OUT OF AN ABUNDANCE OF CAUTION WITH REGARD TO COVID-19, NASHVILLE PUBLIC RADIO IS HOLDING ALL MEETINGS BY TELECONFERENCE UNTIL THIS MESSAGE IS REMOVED. ANY MEMBER OF THE PUBLIC WHO WISHES TO ATTEND ANY OFFICIAL MEETING OF THIS ORGANIZATION THROUGH AN AUDIO TELECONFERENCE SHOULD REQUEST DIAL-IN CREDENTIALS FROM [email protected] NO LESS THAN 24 HOURS PRIOR TO THE SCHEDULED TIME OF THE MEETING.

The Board of Directors meet at 8:30 am on the following dates. The meeting location is at Nashville Public Radio, 630 Mainstream Dr., Nashville, TN 37228

February 17, 2015
April 28, 2015
June 16, 2015
August 18, 2015
October 20, 2015
December 15, 2015
February 16, 2016
April 19, 2016
June 21, 2016
August 16, 2016
October 18, 2016
December 21, 2016
February 21, 2017
April 18, 2017
June 20, 2017
August 15, 2017
October 17, 2017
December 19,2017
February 27, 2018
April 24, 2018
June 26, 2018
August 27, 2018
October 30, 2018
December 18, 2018
February 26, 2019
April 4 – Special Closed Board Meeting personnel matters
April 30, 2019
June 25, 2019
August 27, 2019 Meeting Cancelled
October 11, 2019
December 17, 2019
February 25, 2020
May 19, 2020 Video conference call
July 29, 2020 – Closed meeting strategic planning – posted July 23, 2020 video conference call
September 15, 2020 Annual meeting Video Conference call
December 15, 2020 Video Conference call
February 23, 2021
May 25, 2021
September 14, 2021
December 14, 2021
February 22, 2022
May 24, 2022
September 13, 2022
December 13, 2022
February 21, 2023
May 23, 2023
September 12, 2023
December 12, 2023

Community Advisory Group

Ricardo Beron
Drew Dunlap
Hillini Feleke
Todd Fryling – chair
Bashir Gure
Lucas Hagerty
Tom Hayden
Eve Hutcherson
William Jenkins
Jessica Johnson
Kristen King
Carol Kirshner
Abey Lissane
Colin Pigott
Mary Ruth Raphael
Javier Solano
Knight Stivender
Caroline Williams

The Community Advisors meet at 11:30 am on the following dates. The meeting location is at Nashville Public Radio, 630 Mainstream Dr., Nashville, TN 37228.

February 11, 2015
August 12, 2015
November 11, 2015
February 10, 2016
May 11, 2016
August 17, 2016
November 9, 2017
March 1, 2017
February 28, 2018
June 22, 2018
September 28, 2018
January 17, 2019
April 26, 2019
Jan 16, 2020
April 17, 2020
July 24, 2020 Video Conference call
March 5, 2021
June 11, 2021
October 1, 2021
December 3, 2021

The Finance Committee meet at 8:00 am on the following dates.
June 5, 2015 – Investment Performance Conference call
July 22, 2015- Investment Performance Conference call
October 19, 2015 – Investment Performance Conference call
January 19, 2016 – Annual meeting at Amsurg
June 14, 2016 – Investment Performance Conference call
June 16, 2017 – Investment Performance Conference call
July 20, 2017 – Investment Performance Conference call
October 17, 2017 – Investment Performance Conference call
January 18, 2018 – Annual Meeting at Amsurg
April 23, 2018 – Investment Performance Conference call
June 18, 2018 – Investment Performance Conference call
July 31, 2018 – Investment Performance Conference call
October 29, 2018 – Investment Performance Conference call
January 28, 2019 – Annual Meeting at Nashville Public Radio
April 29, 2019 Investment Performance Conference call
July 29, 2019 Investment Performance Conference call
October 28, 2019 Investment Performance Conference call
January 27, 2020 Annual Meeting Video Conference call
May 14, 2020 Investment Performance Conference call
September 14, 2020 Annual Budget Review Video Conference call
October 22, 2020 Audit Draft Review Video Conference call

The Capital Campaign Committee meet at 11:30 am on the following dates. The meeting location is at Nashville Public Radio, 630 Mainstream Dr., Nashville, TN 37228.

January 21, 2015
March 25, 2015
May 13, 2015

The Governance Committee meet at 8:00 am on the following dates.
June 9 , 2015 at Bass, Berry, and Sims 150 3rd Ave S #2800, Nashville, TN 37201.
May 19, 2015 at Bass, Berry, and Sims 150 3rd Ave S #2800, Nashville, TN 37201.
December 2015 at Bass, Berry, and Sims 150 3rd Ave S #2800, Nashville, TN 37201.
May 19, 2016 at Bass, Berry, and Sims 150 3rd Ave S #2800, Nashville, TN 37201.
Committee meetings are now at DVL 700 12th Ave S, Nashville, TN 37203
February 22, 2018 Meet at DVL 700 12th Ave S, Nashville, TN 37203
January 30, 2019 Meet at DVL 700 12th Ave S, Nashville, TN 37203
May 29, 2019 Meet at Nashville Public Radio 630 Mainstream Dr, Nashville, TN 37228
October 22,2019 Meet at Nashville Public Radio 630 Mainstream Dr, Nashville, TN 37228
February 26, 2020 Video Conference call
September 29, 2020 Video Conference call
October 13, 2020 Video Conference call
December 12, 2020 Video Conference call
February 11, 2021 Video Conference Call

The Executive Committee meet at 10:00 am on the following dates. The meeting location is at Nashville Public Radio, 630 Mainstream Dr., Nashville, TN 37228.
July 27, 2015
February 22, 2016
June 21, 2016
October 17, 2017
March 13, 2018 Meeting via conference call
May 30, 2018 Meeting via conference call
August 7, 2018 Meeting via conference call
September 25, 2018 Meeting via conference call
January 22, 2019 Meeting via conference callFCC EEO Report 2021
May 28, 2019 Meeting via conference call
November 1, 2019 Meeting via conference call

Senior Leadership
Steve Swenson, President and CEO – [email protected] – (615) 760-2002
Carl Pedersen, VP of Finance and Technology – [email protected] – (615) 760-2003
Donna Robertson, VP of Development – [email protected] – (615) 760-2021
Anita Bugg, VP of Content – [email protected] – (615) 760-2031

FCC AND FINANCIAL REPORTS
FCC EEO REPORT 2021
AUDITED FINANCIAL REPORT
IRS 990 REPORT
CPB ANNUAL FINANCIAL REPORT

ANNUAL CPB LOCAL CONTENT AND SERVICES REPORT 2020
From CPB SAS Report 2020 – Filed February 2021

QUESTION #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.

ANSWER QUESTION #1
Health Care Desk In 2020, COVID-19 clarified and amplified the need for reliable, research-based health care reporting. As the pandemic touched every facet of life, Nashville Public Radio’s health care desk produced impactful pieces on protective gear, contact tracing, racial disparities in testing and care, the effects on elder care, strain on health care providers, clinical vaccine trials and questions of distribution. Over the course of the year, we hosted three one-hour specials:

Coronavirus in Tennessee: What We Know – March 16, 2020
Coronavirus in Tennessee: Education in Isolation – March 23, 2020
Coronavirus in Tennessee: What We’ve Learned About COVID-19 – November 10, 2020

This year Nashville Public Radio became the most productive public radio member station of the Kaiser Health News Network, appearing on national shows and platforms 35 times.

Criminal Justice Desk Our partnership with Report for America to fund a criminal justice reporter resulted in an ambitious investigation on the use-of-force policies of the Metro Nashville Police Department. We crafted a five-part podcast series, Deadly Force, about the events leading up to a shooting and subsequent murder charge for an on-duty MNPD officer — the first such charge in Nashville history. Meanwhile, we committed substantial resources to covering social justice protests after the killing of George Floyd and to the impact of COVID-19 on the incarcerated. Our work in these areas motivated us to apply and be accepted for Phase 2 of the APM/CPB Public Media Accountability Initiative.

Our Podcasts While work from home realities played havoc on podcast production, there were three far-reaching series:

The Promise entered its second season by grappling with public education and race. Still centered in the neighborhood which is home to Nashville’s largest public housing complex, The Promise asked an essential question: Why are two elementary schools, located within a mile of each other, almost completely segregated? The series dove deep into the city’s 43-year battle over desegregation and how the neighborhood remains divided over race and economics. The New Yorker once again included The Promise on its “Top Ten” list, and CNN hailed it as one of the “podcasts that helped us get through some of 2020’s toughest conversations.”
Versifydevoted its season to the Nashville Freedom Riders of the 1960s. Tennessee Agricultural and Industrial State University, now known as Tennessee State University, expelled 14 students for participating in 1961’s Freedom Summer —activities intent on bringing the right to vote to Black citizens in the South. Forty years later, TSU bestowed honorary degrees on these students. Versify told the powerful personal accounts of four of them and turned their words into poetry.
Finally, our podcast Classically Speaking, which focuses on the people who make brilliant classical music, found its groove in the time of virtual performances by connecting with musicians and composers in a radically altered year. One particularly notable episode drew on the new approach to a famed holiday special, the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols from King’s College. The podcast also leaned into questions about race and gender equity.

Special Projects: These efforts reflect the awareness of audience needs and commitment to community relationships:

A Radio Wake for John Prine – John Prine was a legendary songwriter and an inspiration to new generations of music makers. He contracted COVID-19 and died in March. In normal times, he would have had a funeral and memorial service befitting a country/folk music legend, but these weren’t normal times. So, we had a memorial on the radio, talking to fans from around the country, fellow musicians, and engineers. The hour-long tribute broke our internet, with so many people trying to listen live that our servers crashed.
Breaking Points – in this six-part non-narrated series, we passed the microphone to Black Nashvillians to hear the first time they realized the threat that whiteness and racism creates in their lives and impacts who they might imagine the future. We then took those six stories to craft a half-hour Breaking Points radio special.
Left Without Care – a collaboration with APM Reports, this 3-part series, based on more than a year of reporting, explored a for-profit system of psychiatric facilities for children in Tennessee. It exposed squalid conditions, high staff turnover, violence and little oversight by state agencies which refer children to these centers.
Nashville Noticias – each week one of our Spanish-speaking reporters joins in a Facebook live Q&A about the news of the week. This represents our most significant partnership with community media. It grew out of outreach efforts in 2019.
Student Composer Fellowship – our first cohort of fellows successfully premiered their work, with the help of musicians from the Nashville community. Given social distancing needs, the premieres were virtual, but compelling performances, nonetheless. Our second cohort is currently underway.

Of Note:

Super Tuesday Tornadoes Hours before the polls opened for Super Tuesday voting, Middle Tennessee was struck by several tornadoes, with winds up to EF-4 speed. Our newsroom immediately jumped into action, filing story after story from the front lines of the damage in North Nashville, Germantown, East Nashville, Mt. Juliet and Cookeville. That morning was the first “breaking news level 4” situation — our top tier of crisis coverage — we’ve faced in years, arguably in a decade. And that evening was Super Tuesday, during which we had live, anchored updates throughout the evening.
WNXP – New Music Discovery – in November of 2020, we launched our new music format. WNXP to capture Nashville’s music scene. We champion new voices and curate a music experience that reflects an authentic musical journey based on quality, creativity, and the diversity of our many communities.
Christmas Day Bombing – In a year of traumatic and surreal news coverage, the final week was no different. On Christmas morning, a man set off a bomb in downtown Nashville, killing himself and severely damaging dozens of buildings. That sent the newsroom into breaking news level 4 for the second time in 2020. We covered the unfolding details and strived to be a vital public service with our coverage of public safety and the AT&T outage.

QUESTION #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.

ANSWER FOR QUESTION #2
For this season of Versify, we continued our collaboration with “The Porch,” a Nashville literary nonprofit, and partnered with Choral Arts Link and Intersection (a contemporary ensemble) for the multi-media event “From The Back Of The Bus” at Fisk University in February.

Our APM Reports partnership took on two fronts through the Left Without Care series and several stories about harassment, retaliation, and discrimination within the Metro Nashville Police Department.

Our relationship with Nashville Noticias opened a new audience for Nashville Public Radio content and offered up a model for how to expand into non-traditional communities. It’s also encouraged personal initiatives to increase our bi-lingual capabilities.

The Nashville Ballet, the Nashville Opera, and various musicians from the Middle Tennessee helped us create content for quarantine times (Listen With Me, Take A Minute, Shakespeare To Music), as adults and children went searching online for compelling ways to spend their time in isolation.

Though the pandemic kept us from gathering in person, we still held news briefings. In three Zoom-based briefings open all, we discussed voting rights, the risks of schooling in the year of COVID, and the criminal justice system in Nashville.

QUESTION #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.

ANSWER TO QUESTION #3
The release The Promise season 2 resulted in the Metro Public Schools system assigning a “book study course” based on the podcast for its faculty. Neighborhood groups, high school classes, churches, and even a public policy class at Vanderbilt University have all used shared-listening events of the podcast series to inspire action — from writing op-eds to fostering discussions on race to designing school desegregation plans. Substantial anonymous donations were made to the Warner Elementary PTO. Local restaurants offered meals and donors stepped up to contribute to teachers at the school. In fact, educators of ten the ones sharing the word about the podcast. Here’s a note sent by a Metro Schools principal to the principal at Warner: “This past year has been crazy. The spring and summer afforded me time that I’ve never had and during that time I listened to “The Promise” about life at Cayce. I just finished “The Promise II” this afternoon after our i-nservice. This is my 21^st year in metro. It’s very hard for me to describe the work we do to those who don’t do it. I think “The Promise” shines a light on the that. The work you’re doing at Warner is inspiring. I’ve actually started recommending this podcast to teacher I interview so they can get an understanding of the city’s history and the challenges our kids and families face. The final episode was a “bucket filler” for sure and a great way to go into winter break. Thank you for that and Merry Christmas!”

QUESTION #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 2016, and any plans you have made to meet the needs of these audiences during Fiscal Year 2017. If you regularly broadcast in a language other than English, please note the language broadcast.

ANSWER TO QUESTION #4
We covered Meharry Medical College’s in-person efforts to overcome historic barriers to Black patients participating in vaccine trials. Reported as part of our partnership with Kaiser Health Network, the story was picked up in both regional publications, like the Atlanta Journal Constitution, and trade sites like FiercePharma.

Our story on Metro Nashville’s struggles to address COVID clusters in immigrant communities pushed the city to hire more Spanish-speaking contact tracers, and the city made sure to keep all of them on, even after downsizing when contact tracing efforts began to ebb.

Our stories on domestic workers came from comments on live hits with Nashville Noticias. We also connected with sources for our Belmont Presidential Debate watch party through this partnership and learned of a woman whose son is incarcerated and has cancer for a story about COVID-19 response in Tennessee prisons.

And finally, Breaking Points was an intentional effort to hear directly from Black Nashvilians. We plan to take this experience and build upon it.

QUESTION #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?

ANSWER TO QUESTION #5
In short, CPB funding allows us to be a distinctively local, Nashville service. This is important, given that more and more information and entertainment choices available to our listeners do not originate from or reflect the community our listeners call their home.

ANNUAL CPB LOCAL CONTENT AND SERVICES REPORT 2019
From CPB SAS Report 2019 – Filed February 2020

ANSWER TO QUESTION #1
Health Care Desk Nashville Public Radio’s health care desk addresses one of the most critical of all community needs: ready access to affordable, effective health care that ensure positive health outcomes. Our health reports run nearly every day on our flagship news station. WPLN’s Health Care Reporter Blake Farmer produced a series this year on the limitations of the growing hospice system in America. Its stories were picked up by NPR and Marketplace. As members of the Kaiser Health News Network, we are partnering with other Kaiser public stations to coordinate coverage.

Criminal Justice Desk This year, Nashville Public Radio partnered with Report For America to hire a criminal justice reporter who could focus on issues like incarceration, police reform and capital punishment. We ran nearly 200 stories about criminal justice in 2019, including several that broke news or helped change policies.

Mayoral Election Coverage We devoted our focus on the mayoral election to what the voters needed — not what the candidates wanted us to follow. Rather than spending too much time trailing the candidates on campaign stops, we fact-checked their websites, solicited questions from the community to ask the candidates, and produced a one-hour radio special leading up to the runoff election that pressed the two finalists on their stances.

Our Podcasts allow us to address community issues, needs and interests and deliver in-depth, long form storytelling and analysis as well as shorter pieces for our airwaves. Because of this, we have invested heavily in the platform. Our various podcasts are described below, with an emphasis on community needs and issues.

The Promise is a limited-run series life in public housing, located in the middle of a city on the rise. Reported from the James Cayce Homes, these are stories of a neighborhood in flux, and the growing divide threatening its very existence. “The Promise” was listed in TIME as one of top podcasts of 2019.
In Curious Nashville, our reporters answer listener questions about our city and region. Listeners get to decide which question we should investigate and answer in our next podcast episode. We also answer some questions in shorter form, on the radio and online.
Movers & Thinkers is a podcast about why people do what they do. Our host, WPLN News Director Emily Siner, probes the minds of some of the most interesting innovators in Nashville and discuss their motivations, passions and challenges.
Versifyis a collaboration between WPLN and The Porch, a Nashville literary nonprofit. Versify is a show where someone tells a story, and in a matter of minutes, that story becomes a poem. Each episode guides listeners through this journey. It can surprise or make you cry — and proves that everyone’s life is worthy of poetry.
The Tri-Star State breaks down what’s happening in Tennessee politics each week, with statehouse reporter Sergio Martínez-Beltrán. Tri-Star State is offered free of charge to other public stations in Tennessee and Southern Kentucky.
Finally, our podcast Classically Speaking focuses on the people who make brilliant classical music. Beside telling compelling stories, this podcast gives us additional opportunities to collaborate with the local music institutions who support and present music.

Student Composer Fellowship In 2019, WFCL instituted our first-ever Student Composer Fellowship to invest in the next generation of classical musicians. After soliciting applications from middle- and high-school students in our listening area, four teenagers were chosen. Throughout the 2019-20 school year, they are getting private lessons and mentorship from professional composers and opportunities to attend rehearsals and performances of area professional music ensembles. The students are writing choral and chamber music which will be performed and broadcast on WFCL by professional musicians in June 2020.

Local Composer’s Month While WFCL has for several years placed a priority on sharing music from our community, in 2019 we went another step and designated July as Local Composer’s Month. For a month, we used all of WFCL’s platforms (broadcast, website, social media) to highlight the work of composers living and working in Middle Tennessee. Our weekly live performance show, Live in Studio C, was dedicated entirely to performances and interviews with local composers, recordings of music by composers from our community aired each locally-hosted hour, our Classically Speaking podcast released episodes interviewing composers based here, and profiles of Middle Tennessee composers were shared online, with highlights included on the air.

QUESITON #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.

ANSWER TO QUESTION #2
A continued partnership with “The Porch,” a Nashville literary nonprofit, provides an opportunity for us to engage with minority audiences and educational institutions.

In reporting health care stories, we collaborate with the Nashville Health Care Council and several local law practices and other firms who serve health industry clients. These informal partners help guide us to important stories but have no editorial control.

In 2019, Meribah Knight, producer of The Promise podcast, appeared before more than two dozen groups, service clubs and classrooms, taking the policy lessons of The Promise to a broader audience.

For the 200^th anniversary of groundbreaking musician Clara Schumann’s birth, WFCL collaborated with faculty and students from Belmont University and Vanderbilt University’s Blair School of Music, as well as the Nashville Concerto Orchestra, to mount a two-week festival of Schumann’s music. The festival included two concert events, two live broadcasts of local musicians performing her music, and programming material on our air throughout the two-week festival.

Nashville Public Radio also launched a “listening tour” in 2019, partnering with local nonprofits and community groups to bring our staffers to different parts of the region. We engaged with listeners in Cookeville, in Nashville’s Kurdish community, and in the immigrant corridor of South Nashville.

Beyond that, members of our newsroom participated in 20 speaking engagements, teaching opportunities or other outreach initiatives.

QUESTON #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.

ANSWER TO QUESTION #3
We know from listener feedback that our hospice care series had a considerable impact and sparked conversation around a difficult, often taboo, topic. We also saw our criminal justice stories being cited in conversations by city leaders. These examples show the power of having reporters and resources dedicated to covering certain beats.

Through our listening tour, our newsroom was able to solicit story ideas and better understand communities that we have not, historically, covered thoroughly. Those moments of engagement were very valuable for strengthening conversations between underserved communities and the media.

ANSWER TO QUESTION #4
We investigated an initiative within the Nashville district attorney’s office that sought to overturn wrongful convictions. While the intentions were good — serving justice fairly — we discovered that the initiative had not even officially investigated a single case. As a result of our story, the DA’s office changed the structure of this initiative and agreed to re-open its first case.

Some of our listening tour stops built stronger connections with minority communities. For example, when Kurds took to the streets to protest the U.S. removal of troops from Kurdish areas in Iraq, we were able to cover it more deeply because we got advanced warning and had already established connections with people in the community.

In booking WFCL’s weekly classical performance show, we made a concerted effort to include a range of music and musicians that is as diverse as our art music community. We placed a priority on including music faculty from our city’s two historically black universities, whose output has not always been fully integrated into the larger classical community in Nashville. Including the music of groups who have not historically been valued in classical music was an important part of crafting our daily music playlists on WFCL. We took the opportunity to emphasize their contributions during times such as Black History Month, the International Day of the Woman, and Local Composer’s Month.

ANSWER TO QUESTION #5
CPB funding accounts for just under 7% of Nashville Public Radio’s operating budget but this money is critical, as it helps the station be more than just an NPR outlet by supporting the production of local programming that reflects the uniqueness of Nashville.

In short, CPB funding allows us to be a distinctively local, Nashville service. This is important, given that more and more information and entertainment choices available to our listeners do not originate from or reflect the community our listeners call their home.

ANNUAL CPB LOCAL CONTENT AND SERVICES REPORT 2018
From CPB SAS Report 2018 – Filed February 2019

Question #1
Describe your overall goals and approach to address identified community issues, needs, and interests through your station’s vital local services, such as multi-platform 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.

Answer for Question #1

Health Care Desk Nashville Public Radio’s health care desk addresses one of the most critical of all community needs: ready access to affordable, effective health care that ensure positive health outcomes. Our health reports run nearly every day on our flagship news station. WPLN’s Health Care Reporter Blake Farmer produced a series this year on the limitations of the growing hospice system in America. Its stories were picked up by NPR and Marketplace. As members of the Kaiser Health News Network, we are partnering with other Kaiser public stations to coordinate coverage.

The Promise is a limited-run series life in public housing, located in the middle of a city on the rise. Reported from the James Cayce Homes, these are stories of a neighborhood in flux, and the growing divide threatening its very existence. “The Promise” was listed in TIME as one of top podcasts of 2019.
In Curious Nashville, our reporters answer listener questions about our city and region. Listeners get to decide which question we should investigate and answer in our next podcast episode. We also answer some questions in shorter form, on the radio and online.
Movers & Thinkers is a podcast about why people do what they do. Our host, WPLN News Director Emily Siner, probes the minds of some of the most interesting innovators in Nashville and discuss their motivations, passions and challenges.
Versifyis a collaboration between WPLN and The Porch, a Nashville literary nonprofit. Versify is a show where someone tells a story, and in a matter of minutes, that story becomes a poem. Each episode guides listeners through this journey. It can surprise or make you cry — and proves that everyone’s life is worthy of poetry.
The Tri-Star State breaks down what’s happening in Tennessee politics each week, with statehouse reporter Sergio Martínez-Beltrán. Tri-Star State is offered free of charge to other public stations in Tennessee and Southern Kentucky.
Finally, our podcast Classically Speaking focuses on the people who make brilliant classical music. Beside telling compelling stories, this podcast gives us additional opportunities to collaborate with the local music institutions who support and present music.

Question #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.

Answer for Question #2

A continued partnership with “The Porch,” a Nashville literary nonprofit, provides an opportunity for us to engage with minority audiences and educational institutions.

In 2019, Meribah Knight, producer of The Promise podcast, appeared before more than two dozen groups, service clubs and classrooms, taking the policy lessons of The Promise to a broader audience.

Beyond that, members of our newsroom participated in 20 speaking engagements, teaching opportunities or other outreach initiatives.

Question #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.

Answer to Question #3

We know from listener feedback that our hospice care series had a considerable impact and sparked conversation around a difficult, often taboo, topic. We also saw our criminal justice stories being cited in conversations by city leaders. These examples show the power of having reporters and resources dedicated to covering certain beats.

Question #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 2016, and any plans you have made to meet the needs of these audiences during Fiscal Year 2017. If you regularly broadcast in a language other than English, please note the language broadcast.

Answer to Question #4

We investigated an initiative within the Nashville district attorney’s office that sought to overturn wrongful convictions. While the intentions were good — serving justice fairly — we discovered that the initiative had not even officially investigated a single case. As a result of our story, the DA’s office changed the structure of this initiative and agreed to re-open its first case.

Question #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?

Answer to Question #5

CPB funding accounts for just under 7% of Nashville Public Radio’s operating budget but this money is critical, as it helps the station be more than just an NPR outlet by supporting the production of local programming that reflects the uniqueness of Nashville.

DIVERSITY PROGRAM

Nashville Public Radio strives to ascertain that its staff, board of directors and community advisory board are reflective of the diverse population it serves. Additionally, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s (CPB) Diversity Eligibility Criteria require public media organizations to adopt formal goals for diversity and to report annually on steps taken to work toward those goals. These actions are required for all stations receiving Community Service Grant funds (CSG).

To that end, Nashville Public Radio has set the following diversity goals:

To recruit and retain a diverse workforce that is representative of our service area. • To provide equal opportunity in employment.
To educate our management and staff annually in best practices for maintaining an inclusive and diverse environment for all persons.
To seek candidates for Nashville Public Radio’s Community Advisory Board that represent the geographically and demographically diverse composition of the many communities we serve.
Seek diverse candidates for our Board of Directors through the Nominating Committee process.
To assist in developing a more diverse future workforce with professional skills in the broadcasting/media industry by recruiting diverse candidates for Nashville Public Radio internship opportunities and/or by participating in minority or other diversity job fairs.
Review with the station’s governing board those practices that are designed to fulfill Nashville Public Radio’s commitment to diversity and to meet the applicable FCC guidelines

In addition, Nashville Public Radio shall undertake one of the following initiatives on an annual basis:

Include individuals representing diverse groups in internships or work-study programs designed to provide meaningful professional level experience in order to reflect the diversity of the communities they serve and further public broadcasting’s commitment to education;
Include qualified diverse candidates in any slate of candidates for elected governing boards that the Nashville Public Radio controls;
Implement a diversity training program for members of the organization’s governing board of directors on an annual basis;
Participate in minority or other diversity job fairs; or
Implement formal diversity training programs for management and appropriate staff.

In addition to these goals Nashville Public Radio will interview at least one qualified diversity candidate for each senior leadership position hired. The term senior leadership position includes: CEO, COO, CFO, Chief Content Officer, General Manager, and other equivalent positions.

Diversity Results for April 1, 2019 to March 31, 2020
Establishment of Internship Program:
Three student interns worked in the News department during the summer one intern from the Chips Quinn Scholars Program for Diversity.

Training Programs for Station Personnel:
Marketing and development training for the general manager and development director at the PMDMC conference. Membership training for three membership staff at PRDMC conference The music director and station manager attended a music conference on best practices in music presentation and programming for classical music stations. The content director and a news reporter attended a training meeting in on podcasting and best practices.

The Nashville Public Radio Diversity Fellowship Program was funded for the second year and was re-named the Emerging Voices Fellowship:
Hired the second Fellow for the Emerging Voices Fellowship program in August 2019.

Direct Recruiting:
Nashville Public Radio has increased its use of direct recruitment as a way to proactively attract diversity to the station. This primarily includes the use of LinkedIn to identify potential candidates affiliated with diverse associations and reaching out to them directly and encouraging them to apply for openings.

Community Outreach:
Events or Programs with Educational Institutions relating to Broadcast Careers:

03-11-19 WPLN HealthCare Reporter hosts Lipscomb Academy WPLN visit
03-22-19 WPLN HealthCare Reporter hosts student for job shadow
03-25-19 WPLN Public Housing Reporter speaks at Lipscomb University class
04-01-19 WPLN Reporter speaks to UT policy class
05-08-19 WPLN Reporter helps Explore school students create a podcast
07-22-19 Highschool student shadows at WPLN for the day
09-06-19 WPLN Public Housing Reporter speaks to a Stratford High Podcasting class
09-25-19 WPLN Public Housing Reporter speaks via Skype to a Northwester Journalism class
10-09-19 WPLN ATC Host speaks to an MTSU Media class
10-25-19 WPLN Public Housing Reporter speaks at Belmont University event
11-13-19 WPLN News Editor Speaks to Vanderbilt University Media Class about public broadcasting
01-11-20 WPLN reporter speaks to a Stratford STEM about podcasting

Event participation involving Community Leaders where WPLN staff presents Public Radio’s mission and the organization’s work:

05-16-19 WPLN Reporters speak to McMinnville Rotary
08-06-19 WPLN HealthCare Reporter speaks to the AG’s office regarding his role in health care reporting
11-07-19 WPLN HealthCare Reporter moderates’ panel at Interfaith Ministries
11-07-19 WPLN Reporter and News Director speaks at Leadership Nashville conference
02-19-20 WPLN HealthCare Reporter moderates’ panel on gun violence at the Jewish Temple

Diversity Results for April 1, 2018 to March 31, 2019

Supplemental Outreach Initiatives during this period

Establishment of Internship Program:
Three student interns worked in the News department during the summer

Community Outreach:
Events or Programs with Educational Institutions relating to Broadcast Careers:
2-22-2019 HealthCare reports speaks to Lipscomb University graduate class
3-27-2018 News Directors skypes with MTSU reporting class
4-04-2018 News Editor meets with YMCA Youth in government
4-19-2018 Versify producer speaks to Vanderbilt students about podcasting
6-07-2018 News Editor speaks to Father Ryan HS group
7-11-18 Podcast producers speak to students from Martha O’Bryan children’s summer program
8-16-2018 HealthCare reporter speaks to and give tour to Vanderbilt Media Students
10-10-2018 HealthCare reporter shadows Brentwood HS student
10-28-18 News director speaks to Vanderbilt Students Communications students about internship
11-08-2018 News Host speaks to TSU radio class
11-14-2018 News Director speaks to UT communications admins
2-01-2019 News Director speaks at TN State University Research Development Conference
2-12-2019 HealthCare reporter speaks a KIPP Academy career Day
2-14-2019 HeathCare reporter teaches podcasting class at Renaissance HS
2-15-2019 HealthCare reporter shadows TSU student
12-07-2018 News Director speaks to MTSU reporting class

Event participation involving Community Leaders where WPLN staff presents Public Radio’s mission and the organization’s work:
2-04-2019 Emerging Voices reporter interviewed on TVA utilities Podcast
2-06-2019 HealthCare Report speaks to Dyer County Leadership
4-16-2018 HealthCare reporter moderates anesthesiologist panel
4-16-2018 HealthCare reporter moderates Vanderbilt Medical School panel
4-21-2018 News reporter speaks at Craft Content Nashville conference
5-08-2018 News reporter gives keynote address at Neighborhood Resource Council
6-06-2018 HealthCare reporter speaks to Acklen Church
7-31-2018 News reporter speaks to Nashville Econ club
11-02-2018 News reporter moderates Leadership panel
11-06-2018 News reporter moderates Distributed Health conference panel
11-08-2019 News reporter moderates Artia Solutions conference panel

Diversity Results for April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2018

Supplemental Outreach Initiatives during this period were the following:

Establishment of Internship Program: Two student interns worked in the News department during the summer one intern from the Chips Quinn Scholars Program for Diversity. The two student interns were Vanderbilt University Students.

Training Programs for Station Personnel: Marketing and development training for the general manager and development director at the PMDMC conference. Membership training for three membership staff at PRDMC conference. Membership department training on new membership database January 22 – 26, 2018. The music director and station manager attended a music conference on best practices in music presentation and programming for classical music stations. The content director and a news reporter attended a training meeting in on podcasting and best practices.

Established The Nashville Public Radio Diversity Fellowship Program: Installed the first Fellow of the Diversity Fellowship program in August 2017.

Direct Recruiting: Nashville Public Radio has increased its use of direct recruitment as a way to proactively attract diversity to the station. This primarily includes the use of LinkedIn to identify potential candidates affiliated with diverse associations and reaching out to them directly and encouraging them to apply for openings.

Community Outreach:

Events or Programs with Educational Institutions relating to Broadcast Careers:
April 1, 2017 — WPLN State House Reporter speaks to Youth in Government group
April 9, 2017 — WPLN Enterprise Reporter talks to Lipscomb civics class
April 18, 2017 — WPLN Growth and Development Reporter talks to Medill journalism class
April 21, 2017 — WPLN News Director talks to TSU class
June 7, 2017 — WPLN HealthCare Reporter hosts KIPP students for three days
June 23, 2017 — WPLN Growth and Development Reporter interviewed for MTSU class project
August 22, 2017 — WPLN HealthCare Reporter hosts Vanderbilt media immersion students
September 20, 2017 — WPLN HealthCare Reporter hosts USN student Daniel Jacobs
September 20, 2017 — WPLN State House Reporter teaches at TSU three sections
October 30, 2017 — WPLN State House Reporter speaks to MTSU class of journalists for Maria DeVarenne
November 16, 2017 — WPLN Enterprise Reporter talks to Vanderbilt’s Osher school
February 1, 2018 — WPLN Enterprise Reporter to Cumberland River Compact
February 22, 2018 — WPLN Enterprise Reporter to Vanderbilt’s Osher school
February 26, 2018 — WPLN Growth and Development Reporter Skypes with Medill journalism class
March 2, 2018 — WPLN HealthCare Reporter hosts Lipscomb Academy station visit
March 13, 2018 — WPLN Growth and Development Reporter Skypes with MTSU advanced reporting class
March 22, 2018 — WPLN News Director talks to MTSU class 3-22-18

Event participation involving Community Leaders where WPLN staff presents Public Radio’s mission and the organization’s work:
April 23, 2017 — WPLN Enterprise Reporter presents the Podcast Versify at Global Education Center
April 25, 2017 — WPLN News Director live reading for NSA and Southern Word
August 14, 2017 — WPLN HealthCare Reporter speaks to VA conference
September 9, 2017 — WPLN HealthCare Reporter moderates panel at Religion Newswriters Association
September 13, 2017 — WPLN Host/Reporter speaks to Center for Nonprofit Management
November 3, 2017 — WPLN State House Reporter participates in investigative journalist panel for Leadership Nashville
November 3, 2017 — WPLN HealthCare Reporter participates in media panel for Leadership Nashville
December 7, 2017 — WPLN Host/Reporter speaks on WXNA Radio
January 1, 2018 — WPLN News Director participates at Lipscomb University radio show

Diversity Results 2016

Supplemental outreach initiatives during this period were as follows:

Establishment of Internship Program:
Four student interns worked in the News department during the summer. One student from the University High School in Nashville, one Student from Boston College, one student from Vanderbilt University and one student from Lipscomb University.

Training Programs for Station Personnel:
Marketing and development training for the general manager and development director at the PRDMC conference. Membership training for newly hired membership manager. Controller attended PMBA conference in Washington DC which included training related to HR and business and accounting job specific related seminars.

Station management training and review of EEO:
On March 9, 2016 a review of EEO standards and practices was conducted with station senior management.

Events or Programs with Educational Institutions relating to Broadcast Careers:
4/13/15 – Emily Siner speaks to Broadcast Journalism class at Travecca Nazarene University
8/14/15 – Blake & Anita give a station tour and speak to a group from Vanderbilt Student Communications about radio journalism
9/17/15- Emily Siner spoke to the freshman photojournalism class at the University of Illinois and spoke to a newsroom leadership class for student editors and Illini media at the University of Illinois
9/18/15– Emily Siner makes presentation on podcasting at the Illinois Journalism Educator Association Conference – approximately 100 high school students in attendance
10/13/15 – Emily Siner discusses podcasting with students at Hume-Fogg High School
10/15/15 – Tony Gonzales & Emily Siner present at the Tennessee High School Press Association
10/16/15 – Blake Farmer participated in a panel discussion for students at Abilene Christian University about “finding your first job.”|
11/10/15 – Blake Farmer spoke to the MediaMasters class at Lipscomb University
12/30/15 – Blake Farmer provides job shadowing experience for high school student Sydney Glisson
1/11-28/16 – WPLN newsroom participates in Winterim for Harpeth Hall junior Emily
2/16/16 – Via skype, Emily Siner lectures about podcasts and journalism to students at the Campus Middle School For Girls in Urbana, Ill.
2/26/16 – Tony Gonzalez lead training team at workshop for the Online News Association
2/27/16 – Tony Gonzalez teachers a journalism class for the Nashville writing collected, The Porch

Event participation involving Community Leaders where WPLN staff presents Public Radio’s mission and the organization’s work:
4/22/15 – Blake Farmer moderates a Mayoral Candidates Land & Water Forum organized by various Middle Tennessee environmental groups
6/17/15 – Nina Cardona participates in a panel discussion for Metro Arts Commission October event
6/22/15 – Blake Farmer moderates a panel on Nashville architecture at the Parthenon.
6/25/15 – Chas Sisk speaks to the McMinnville Rotary Club
8/7/15 – Blake Farmer speaks to the League of Women Voters about results of August 6^th Metro Elections
8/20/15 – Blake Farmer moderates a run-off candidate forum for At-large Metro Council, organized by the Belmont-Hillsboro Neighbors, Inc.
9/10/15– Anita speaks to non-profit leaders at the Center for Non-profit Management about how to work with the media
9/26/15 – Tony Gonzalez served as a judge for the Neighborhood Resource Center’s 3^rd Annual Neighborhood Celebration
9/29/15 – Blake Farmer discusses possible changes to Tennessee’s Open Records law on WTVF’s Morningline
11/5/15 – Tony Gonzalez participated in panel discussion for Leadership Nashville about new ways of story telling
11/5/15 – Anita Bugg and Mack Linebaugh talk about today’s changing media landscape to a group called Life Long Learners at The Temple
1/15/16 – Chas Sisk appears on Inside Politics on WTVF-TV
3/2/16 – Emily Siner & Chas Sisk talk about news coverage with staff and attorneys at Bass, Berry and Sims law firm

Diversity Results 2015

Establishment of Internship Program:

Three student interns worked in the News department during the summer. One student from Coffee County Tennessee high school, one Indiana University, and one from Rollins College.

Station management training and review of EEO:
On January 7, 2015 a review of EEO standards and practices with department heads

Events or Programs with Educational Institutions relating to Broadcast Careers:
The Audio Production Class from Trevecca University toured the Nashville Public Radio studios on September 19, 2014 and participated in a presentation and question and answer session with the organizations technical manager, production manager and news director.The Vanderbilt University Media Immersion Program University toured the Nashville Public Radio studios on August 18, 2014 and participated in a presentation and question and answer session with the organizations technical manager and news director.

Diversity Results 2014

Establishment of Internship Program:

Three student interns worked in the News department during the summer. Two were from the Vanderbilt Student Media Intern program, and one from the University of the South

Student Mentoring and Job Shadowing
A student from Harpeth Hall spent “Winterim”, three 40-hour weeks, January 6 to 24, in the Nashville Public Radio Newsroom researching, interviewing, writing, and producing stories. Three students from the University School job shadowed in the Newsroom on February 28^nd. .

Station management training on EEO:
On March 28, a review of EEO standards and practices with department heads

Events or Programs with Educational Institutions relating to Broadcast Careers:
The News Director guest lectured to journalism students at Tennessee State University on November 26^th One February the News Director conducted an advanced workshop for radio news students at Tennessee State University

Events with Community Organization regarding Broadcast Careers:
Program director was a panelist at the Tennessee State University music on radio workshop on February 27, 2014.

OPEN MEETING NOTICES
Notices were broadcast on both WPLN-FM and WPLN-AM on the following dates unless otherwise noted.
01/25/15
02/22/15
03/22/15
04/19/15
06/14/15
07/19/15
08/16/15
09/20/15
10/4/15
10/11/15
Dec 18, 19, 20, 2015 WPLN-AM & FM
Feb 26, 27, 28, 2016 WPLN-AM & FM
Mar 4,5,6, 2016 WPLN-AM & FM
June 24,25,26, 2016 WPLN-AM & FM
July 1,2,3, 2016 WPLN-AM & FM
July 22,23,24 2016 WPLN-AM
July 1,2,3,29,30,31 2016 WPLN-FM
Nov 25,26,27 2016 WPLN-AM
Dec 2,3,4, 2016 WPLN-FM
Jan 20,21,22 2017 WPLN-AM
March 3,4,5, 2017 WPLN-FM
April 21,22,23, 2017 WPLN-AM
June 2,3,4, 2017 WPLN-FM
July 21,22,23, 2017 WPLN-AM
July 28,29,30, 2017 WPLN-FM
Aug 13,14,15, 2017 WPLN-AM
October 13,14,15, 2017 WPLN-AM
December 29,30,31, 2017 WPLN-FM
February 23,24,25, 2018 WPLN-FM
March 30, 31 and April 1, 2018 WPLN-AM
June 29, 30 and July 1 and July 15, 2018 WPLN AM
June 29, 30 and July 1 and 8, 2018 WPLN-FM
August 3,4 and 5 2018 WPLN FM
Sept 28, 29, 30 2018 WPLN AM
December 28, 29, 30 2018 WPLN-AM
December 28,29,30 2018 WPLN-FM
March 22,23,24 2019 WPLN-AM
March 22,23,24 2019 WPLN-FM
July 12,13,14 2019 WPLN-FM
August 16,17,18 2019 WPLN-AM
October 15,16,17 2019 WPLN AM
December 27, 28,29 2019 WPLN FM
January 17, 18, 19 2020 WPLN-AM
January 24, 25,26 2020 WPLN-FM
January 5,6,7 2020 WFCL
May 27,28,29 2020 WFCL
May 22, 23,24, 2020 WPLN-AM
June 26, 27, 28 2020 WPLN-FM
July 24, 25, 26 2020 WPLN FM
August 26, 27, 28 2020 WFCL
August 7, 8, 9, 2020 WPLN-AM
October 4, 5, 6, 2020 WPLN-FM

The Board of Directors meet at 8:30 am on the following dates. The meeting location is at Nashville Public Radio, 630 Mainstream Dr., Nashville, TN 37228

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