North Carolina Voices: Understanding Poverty
Content
Summary: "North Carolina Voices: Understanding Poverty is a series of reports, audio portraits, documentaries and talk programs that aired on North Carolina Public Radio - WUNC in April 2005.
"Our goal was to provoke questions and ignite public conversation about poverty in North Carolina, and about how poverty has changed since the 1960s. We looked back forty years because of The North Carolina Fund, an initiative to fight poverty launched by Governor Terry Sanford in 1963. We wanted to know what's changed since then: Who was poor and why back in the 1960s? Who is poor and why today? What's different? And what's changed about the way we talk about poverty, and how we address it now'
"We used a range of forms to do this - long form documentaries, news feature reports, audio portraits, call-in programs, and radio 'shorts' we called 'What is Poverty'' and 'Poverty by Numbers.' In addition to the radio elements, we produced a web site, a gallery photo exhibit, a DVD slide-show (for a public event and our web site), and a public opinion poll.
"We feel we succeeded in creating an engaged public dialogue. Such a thing is difficult to measure, but for evidence we look to a few places. One is listener response. We received more than 150 calls and e-mails, more than we have ever received for a story or series (selections are included with 'Supporting Materials'). We were especially thrilled to hear from teachers and other professionals who want to use the series in classrooms and training sessions. One teacher used a piece in a unit on the changing job market. She wrote: 'Your story was a major piece of our day! We used (it) to interest students in information about the labor market ... (and to) help students make the school to work connection.' And we got a call from a college professor who wanted transcripts for a class about poverty and writing, and from a manager at the Department of Social Services who wanted to use excerpts in employee training. We have also heard that the story about dental care is being used by the National Society of Dental Practitioners and the National Dental Association to promote awareness and interest among dental professionals about the problem of access to dental care in the United States.
"And we heard from listeners who wanted to help. One listener called to offer a job to someone in a story. Several more called wanting to make direct contributions of money and furniture.
"During the two-weeks the series aired, WUNC listeners heard a lot about poverty. In addition, the major daily and weekly newspapers in our area produced features that we think contributed to public awareness and conversation about the issues (copies are included). And six of the radio stories were later picked up for national broadcast on NPR and Marketplace, giving larger exposure to the issues explored in Understanding Poverty.
"What we feel made this series exceptional was the breadth and depth of the way we engaged the topic, the historical context we provided, and the way we used a variety of forms to engage listeners' attention about an important topic that does not receive abundant attention in the mainstream broadcast media. "--2005 Peabody Awards entry form
Corporate Producers: WUNC (Radio station : Chapel Hill, N.C.)
Persons Appearing: Timothy Bazemore, Sr. (Guest) | Sheila Kingsberry-Burt (Guest) | Joyce Daye Clayton (Guest) | Chris Fitzsimon (Guest) | Alice Franklin (Guest) | Shirley Hise (Guest) | John Hood (Guest) | Anirudh Krishna (Guest) | Nhe Nie (Guest) | Beulah Pendley (Guest) | Robert Rector (Guest) | Christopher Rowland (Guest) | Sorien Schmidt (Guest)
Broadcast Date: April 11 - 22, 2005
Related items
