Behind the Stories

How America Amplified stations turn engagement into content, and what they learned along the way.

Check out our archives to see what we learned in America Amplified 1.0

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How KCUR added critiquing their own content into the newsroom process

Public radio stations produce a ton of local content on a wide range of platforms: news features, digital stories, videos, talk shows, newscasts, announcer breaks, promos. But it’s difficult to actually listen and read in real time to evaluate how well we are serving communities. News directors and other managers may carve out time to evaluate the work, but we really need more diverse observations to continually improve.

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Ohio Valley ReSource use of Hearken: What was helpful, what was limiting

Jeff Young is the managing editor of Ohio Valley ReSource. He is an award-winning journalist and has reported from Appalachian coalfields, Capitol Hill, and New England’s coast, among other places. His book, “Appalachian Fall: Dispatches from Coal Country on What's Ailing America,” was released in August 2020.

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‘When it works you just know it’: KOSU shares rewards of community engagement

Rachel Hubbard is an journalist with a track record of innovative collaborations during her 20-year career at KOSU in Oklahoma. KOSU is a small station that covers two-thirds of the state — with a news staff of only four — but have successfully integrated engagement into much of their journalism. We asked her to explain the process.

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