Hearken, listening sessions, and candidate surveys were the building blocks of KAXE’s engagement.

One way the KUOW engagement team engaged with voters in 2024 was hosted three political panels ahead of the November election. The three panels consisted of 6 participants each for Republicans, Democrats and Independents. The goal? To highlight voices across Washington's political spectrum.

When the South Fork and Salt fires blazed through New Mexico in June, KUNM heard that community members desperately needed help checking on loved ones. KUNM stepped up with a hotline to connect people and communicate necessary information.

This year's local reporting Pulitzer went to a collaboration between non–profit news outlets City Bureau and the Invisible Institute, both based in Chicago. Community engagement was at the heart of the project that won the prize — a multi-part series called Missing in Chicago that investigated police misconduct regarding missing Black women and girls.

Policy doesn’t have to be boring. KUT, the NPR affiliate in Austin, Texas, proved that by turning a presentation of the city’s budget proposal into a game show.

Vermont Public is asking voters “what do you want the candidates to be discussing as they compete for your votes?”

Is the future of engagement … printed? THE CITY — a nonprofit newsroom in New York City — sends their journalism directly to community members via print media. These pieces of print media — postcards, posters, etc. — are meant to stand on their own as complete stories that address hyperlocal issues. We talked to them about their team’s approach and its local impacts.

GBH in Boston is interested in reaching more people who identify as Gen Z — that generation born after “millennials,” currently in their late teens or early twenties. So this year they’ve launched a new video series called “Politics IRL” that features Gen Z individuals talking about their passions and interests, especially as those interests revolve around politics in the lead-up to the November election.

Over the last seven years, KUNR Public Radio has built its team and workflows to report news bilingually in English and Spanish. To get that news to the communities that need it, KUNR uses a combination of partnerships, digital tools, and in-person outreach to Spanish-speaking and Latino community members.

When Indiana Public Broadcasting asked community members for their questions about state legislature, they received a huge response. Now, they’ve created a one-stop shop resource to help Hoosiers understand and navigate their state government.

When Brookhaven Landfill, which processes 14 million tons of garbage and recycling a year, announced it was closing … people had LOTS of questions.

Last summer, the WFYI in Indianapolis set out to connect with social studies and history teachers at a local highschool to hold classroom discussions on voting and elections.

Launching in 2019, WNIJ’s Hola initiative engages decision makers within multigenerational Latinx families and connect Spanish-speakers in the DeKalb County and northern Illinois areas.

KTOO became part of America Amplified in the fall of 2021. The station’s original project was to engage with the local Filipino community in Juneau and statewide, in the build-up to the Philippine presidential election in May of 2022. It was treated as a pilot project. But thanks in part to employee turnover and restructuring, the station is now able to refine those practices and apply them to all of their coverage.

Montana is a big place (they don’t call it the Big Sky state for nothing!) and big places come with big questions. That’s where The Big Why, Montana Public Radio’s Hearken-powered podcast, comes in. Since last summer, they’ve answered over a dozen questions like “Why are there so many UFO sightings in Montana?” and “What’s the deal with rolling coal?”

Last summer, WFYI in Indianapolis set out to connect with social studies and history teachers at a local high school to hold classroom discussions on voting and elections.

Community Advisory Board, focus group, recurring listening session … it doesn’t matter what you call it, bringing together community members to weigh in on content and strategy is engagement and pays off.

Since 2021, Maine Public has been broadcasting multilingual newscasts, allowing them to form deep connections within the state’s immigrant and refugee communities. Here’s what issues young immigrant voters told them were most important, and how a key partnership helped get the story in front of a broader audience.

WITF in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania has innovated in all kinds of interesting community engagement projects, from embedding reporters in various communities around the state, to developing texting clubs for each beat in their newsroom. Recently they held an event specifically aimed at better engaging with conservative community members.

Historic wildfires have ravaged Northern California over the past several seasons, and forecasters warn the trend will undoubtedly continue. During the disasters, emergency communication has proven to be one of the most challenging factors. North State Public Radio in Chico, California recognized the problem and began an initiative to hear from people in the region about what information they need most during wildfires. Then they got to work providing that information with their own broadcast and reporting resources.