Fort Wayne Public Media Stations Receive New Support from Knight Foundation

Knight Foundation, in partnership with the Community Foundation of Greater Fort Wayne, has awarded grants to Northeast Indiana Public Radio (WBOI) and PBS Fort Wayne to strengthen local public media. The support is part of a national philanthropic initiative to support local public media stations that have experienced funding cuts due to the rescission of federal dollars for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

In August, Knight Foundation and several other national foundations committed funds to support at-risk local public media stations across the country. Knight Foundation is committing additional dollars to provide direct support to stations in “Knight communities” — cities where the Knight brothers once published newspapers.

“Local public media stations are trusted community anchors that connect people to vital news, culture and civic life. This is an urgent moment that calls for bold action,” said Maribel Pérez Wadsworth, president and CEO of Knight Foundation. “We are proud to stand with our fellow foundations and urge others to join us in securing the future of public media.”

As a Knight city, Fort Wayne benefits from this commitment, with the Community Foundation serving as a local partner to connect Knight’s resources to organizations and projects in the community.

Strengthening Local Journalism at WBOI

Northeast Indiana Public Radio will use its grant to expand news gathering and storytelling. Beginning in October, WBOI will launch expanded weekday features and produce three longform storytelling or investigative pieces each month across radio, livestream, WBOI.org and Instagram. The funding will also help sustain WBOI newscasts through the end of the fiscal year, despite recent cuts to federal funding, which recently went into effect.

“We look forward to putting these funds toward strengthening our reporting, distributing news in new ways, and continuing to build the home for information and inspiration that Northeast Indiana deserves,” said Travis Pope, president of Northeast Indiana Public Radio and general manager of WBOI.

Reviving Local Programming at PBS Fort Wayne

PBS Fort Wayne will use its grant to resume its local public affairs program, PrimeTime, in January — reviving a show that had gone dormant due to budget cuts. The grant will also support new local productions, including multiplatform news formats, lifestyle and culture programming, and documentary projects highlighting the region’s colorful history.

“At a time when public media is being forced to cut or scale back local content offerings, this grant will allow us to expand our storytelling, develop new formats, and continue our 50-year legacy of producing local content,” said Ed Leon, president and CEO of PBS Fort Wayne. “I can’t be more grateful.”

“The Community Foundation is proud to partner with Knight Foundation to bring this important funding to Fort Wayne,” said Brad Little, President and CEO of the Community Foundation of Greater Fort Wayne. “Local public media strengthens our democracy by keeping people informed, connected and engaged. Supporting WBOI and PBS Fort Wayne ensures our community continues to have access to trusted news and inspiring local storytelling.”