Montana Public Radio answers community questions big and small on its engagement podcast ‘The Big Why’
Image courtesy of Montana Public Radio
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?” for their audience and they have goals to reach far beyond their core listeners in the coming year. Engagement Producer Katy Wade told us how the show came to fruition and how they want to make it even bigger.
Tell us who you are, and share a brief summary of the reporting project?
Montana Public Radio is an NPR affiliate serving western and central Montana and beyond. The Big Why team is made up of me, News Director Corin Cates-Carney, Digital Director Josh Burnham, Producer Nick Mott, and Host Austin Amestoy. Our programming includes eclectic music, entertainment, and news that reaches many parts of rural Montana, connecting communities through access to exceptional programming.
The Big Why began as exactly that, a community-led podcast to better engage with our listeners and to potentially reach new audiences as well. We were able to utilize Hearken’s Engagement Management System to solicit questions and input from the public, which have informed all of the episodes produced so far on The Big Why. Since beginning the podcast, we have seen it become one our highest-performing podcasts yet, exceeding expectations in both downloads and sponsorship opportunities after only eight months in production.
How did community engagement inform your reporting?
Community Engagement was at the heart of this project. We wanted the podcast to both embody our mission of connecting communities and reflect our commitment to community-led journalism, telling the diverse stories of Montanans and producing the stories they wanted to hear.
How did you build trust in the community you were reporting on?
Something that we have found while on this engagement journey is that people love to be involved. Our listeners are already a large part of what we do at MTPR, through donations and volunteering, but we are so glad to be able to include our audience in the reporting process itself. These mutual respect-based relationships are what we see building trust between our audience, communities, and reporters.
How are you bringing this reporting back to the community?
The Big Why has already seen a large number of responses from across the state, but as the podcast grows we hope to be able to answer a question from every county in our listening area. We hope to hear from smaller areas that may not have been heard from in the past, and eventually create a more direct line to community members that would like to share their stories with us.
What lessons do you take away from this project in terms of strengthening your engagement?
We’ve learned how eager our listeners are to connect with us, and how best to go about opening those channels of communication. We’ve also only just begun dipping our toes in the water of engagement, but we’re already seeing massive benefits to our entire station. This project has been so encouraging and we are looking forward to integrating all that we have learned to bring engagement to other aspects of MTPR as well.
