What does public media mean to you?
This question has been top of mind for me this week. It's one that our listeners may have heard a few times on our airwaves, as we engage in our final fund drive of the year.
We take this time to encourage readers and listeners to support all the work we do here at Ideastream Public Media.
Growing up, I knew Ideastream mostly for WVIZ-PBS, which brought me my favorite shows like Sesame Street, The Ruff Ruffman Show and Word Girl.
Thankfully, as an only child I never had to wrestle for the remote or argue about what I wanted to watch, so I got to enjoy all of my PBS Kids programming without interruption.
I still remember sitting on the living room couch reciting the line "Support for WVIZ, Ideastream comes from viewers like you. Thank you!"
But it wasn't until I started working here more than a decade later that I really began to see the benefits of public media and all it has to offer.
The first thing I noticed, that our digital users may have noticed, too, is our paywall-free website.
For me, it's nice to know that I can send my mom, dad and grandma links to my stories without worrying about them being bombarded with ads or pestered to pay. My grandma doesn't trust that sort of thing anyway, so a paywall would definitely keep her far away from our content.
But outside of my family, this means anyone in Northeast Ohio and beyond has quick and easy access to news wherever they are — on the web, radio, television and social media channels.
As reporters, we spend less time talking about clicks, page views and subscriber count, and more time out in the field talking to our local elected officials, residents and stakeholders about issues that matter to them.
Whether it's redistricting in the city of Cleveland, environmental justice concerns in Akron or ongoing changes at our local school districts and universities, our commitment here is less about the numbers and more about providing our audiences with news they can trust and information that's easy to share and come back to.
And as a member of the team, it's comforting to know I landed in a newsroom as committed to our community as I am. After all, that's what inspired me to get into journalism in the first place.
So, I'll ask again: What does public media mean to you? What role do we play in your day, or week? Which of our programs would be difficult to live without?
Maybe you know us for our arts segments on Applause, our educational programming via NewsDepth, soundscapes from the region's local jazz scene through JazzNEO or soothing classical music after a stressful day on WCLV.
It's like we're a one-stop shop for all of your Northeast Ohio needs.
And here is where a number is really important to us. It's how many people who listen to us become members and support us. That's how this works. We don't charge a fee, but if you feel that public media is worth it, we ask for members to support the work.
Take a moment to consider your answer to the question I posed. And, if you feel compelled, there's still time to show your support at ideastream.org/donate so that we can continue to bring trustworthy, accessible, diverse content to readers, listeners and viewers like you.
Thank you.
(I've wanted so say that since I was a kid.)
"The Cut" is featured in Ideastream Public Media's weekly newsletter, The Frequency Week in Review. To get The Frequency Week in Review, The Daily Frequency or any of our newsletters, sign up on Ideastream's newsletter subscription page.
