America Amplified adds 10 new public media newsrooms for the 2022 midterm elections

KJZZ and Arizona PBS in Phoenix, AZ, Boise State Public Radio in Boise, ID, Georgia Public Broadcasting in Atlanta, GA, Michigan Radio in Ann Arbor, MI, Ideastream in Cleveland, OH, New Mexico PBS and KUNM in Albuquerque, NM, WESA in Pittsburgh, PA, and WFYI in Indianapolis, Indiana (America Amplified’s home station) are joining the America Amplified initiative for the 2022 midterm elections.

America Amplified’s Election 2022 initiative will empower voters with the information they need to participate in the 2022 midterm elections. With funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, America Amplified will work with public media stations across 25 states to engage their communities and ensure that all American citizens know where and when and how to vote this fall. 

In 2021, America Amplified began working with 19 stations across 18 states to build and strengthen their relationships with the communities they serve. For our Election 2022 initiative, we are expanding to work with 10 more public media stations – PBS stations, public radio stations and joint licensees who carry both radio and television.

• KJZZ and Arizona PBS in Phoenix, AZ

• Boise State Public Radio in Boise, ID

• Georgia Public Broadcasting in Atlanta, GA

• Michigan Radio in Ann Arbor, MI

• Ideastream in Cleveland, OH

• New Mexico PBS and KUNM in Albuquerque, NM

• WESA in Pittsburgh, PA

• WFYI in Indianapolis, Indiana (America Amplified’s home station)

“Voting is the foundation of a democracy, and we want to ensure that all eligible citizens have the information they need to exercise their right to vote,” CPB President and CEO Pat Harrison said when announcing the America Amplified expansion in May. “Public media, with more than 1,500 locally managed and operated stations, is ideally situated to engage all citizens, and America Amplified’s listening-first approach will help build trust in the process.”

America Amplified has been working since 2019 to help public media engage and build trust with their audiences and with the wider community. “We know the strategies and tools that work in this process,” America Amplified Managing Director Alisa Barba said, “Meeting our communities’ information needs is at the heart of our engaged journalism approach, and we are excited to put this to work in service to democracy.”

The Election 2022 initiative is launching this summer with tools that will allow audience members and the broader community to submit election-related questions to their local public media station. Questions will be answered using nonpartisan election information sources, and will be distributed to communities through a wide variety of platforms, including broadcast, social media and old-fashioned pamphlets. You can follow our work on Twitter at  @A_Amplified or on Instagram at @americaamplified.