Article by Marc Moorghen, Former Communications Director
This week KCRW announced that we have awarded the Southern California public radio station a grant of $1 million to produce multiyear coverage of issues affecting disadvantaged and vulnerable populations in our region.
This week KCRW announced that we have awarded the Southern California public radio station a grant of $1 million to produce multiyear coverage of issues affecting disadvantaged and vulnerable populations in our region. This is our first media grant of this size, so it’s an exciting partnership for both of our institutions.
Many listeners may not realize that KCRW is a non-profit public radio station based out of Santa Monica College. With its eclectic mix of news, music and cultural programming, the station has become a flagship NPR affiliate, with a diverse and engaged audience, as well as a cultural icon in Los Angeles and beyond.
Our media landscape is often divided along partisan lines and too rarely covers controversial social issues, including some of the causes we fund—for instance, homelessness or foster youth. There are some notable exceptions and KCRW is one of them. With this recent grant, KCRW will be able to hire and train staff to produce stories about issues affecting disadvantaged and vulnerable people in the Greater Los Angeles area. “The Hilton Foundation’s unprecedented support to KCRW will deepen our ability to tell important stories that require time, depth and analysis,” said Jennifer Ferro, the station’s President.
Aside from producing more high-quality programming, KCRW plans to disseminate the content to its audience in creative and engaging new ways, leading to increased awareness of the issues about which we care and, hopefully, improved outcomes for the vulnerable people our nonprofit partners serve.
We believe our partnership with KCRW will create a space in today’s busy media world for reporters to cover issues affecting neglected populations and we look forward to even more content on these topics. Together, we hope to elevate the discussion and make Southern California a better place to live for everyone.