WVPB Stay or Go Project Selected for NPR Workshop

A team of journalists from West Virginia Public Broadcasting have been selected to attend NPR’s first-ever Audio Storytelling Workshop.

The Audio Storytelling Workshop is where public media creators will bring their ideas to D.C. for three days of planning, training and collaborating.

WVPB’s project will focus on the economic crisis facing West Virginia and the decision by families here to stay or go. The team includes Roxy Todd (Reporter and Producer for Inside Appalachia), Glynis Board (Reporter) and Crystal Collins (Digital Editor/Producer).

They will follow three families over a six-month period, as they try to make their decision, “Do I Stay or Do I Go?” The result will be a multimedia project with audio, photos and more.

WVPB and West Virginia Living recently conducted a social media campaign around this issue, #TheStruggletoStay, in photos and video.

  In partnership with the Association of Independents in Radio (AIR), NPR invited member station staff and independent producers to pitch audio storytelling ideas that break traditional formats and reach new audiences.

NPR received more than 100 applications from all corners of America and beyond. Over the course of a month, a committee of 20 judges — including the NPR Editorial Training team, NPR’s Story Lab, NPR journalists, AIR and independent producers — carefully read each application.

After much evaluation and debate, NPR announced the 12 teams selected to participate in the workshop.

Other winning teams include:

Indie producer teams

Pita Juarez, Carla Chavarria and Dominique Medina (Arizona)

A podcast by Latino millennials that speaks to the issues of their generation.

Kelly Jones, Claire Tacon and Chioke I’Anson (Charlottesville, Virginia and Ontario, Canada)

A podcast that explores people’s life choices — and what could have happened to them if they’d gone down a different path.

Member station teams

KERA (Dallas, Texas)

A podcast that explores the medicines millions of people take but know very little about.

Team: Lauren Silverman (Health, Science & Tech Reporter) and Seema Yasmin (staff writer at The Dallas Morning News and former disease detective with the CDC)

WAMU (Washington, D.C.)

A fresh take on a public radio staple: a podcast rounding up the week’s news, taking listeners beyond the beltway with diverse and unexpected voices and topics.

Team: Alexandra Botti (Senior Producer, The Diane Rehm Show), Rebecca Kaufman (Senior Producer, The Diane Rehm Show) and Gracie McKenzie (Digital Producer, The Diane Rehm Show)

KALW (San Francisco, California)

A podcast where race, identity, fun, funk and journalism come together to go deep into issues about black identity that aren’t always openly discussed

Team: Leila Day (Producer/Reporter), Hana Baba (Producer/Reporter) and Julie Caine (Editor)

WLRN (Miami, Florida)

A multimedia reporting project about the mental health implications of gun violence against young people in Miami.

Team: Nadege Green (Reporter/Producer), Sammy Mack (Reporter/Producer) and Alicia Zuckerman (Editorial Director)

KPCC (Southern California)

A podcast about the Asian American experience, told through Southern California’s San Gabriel Valley.

Team: Fiona Ng (Producer), Josie Huang (Senior Reporter) and Lauren Osen (Senior Producer)

Wyoming Public Media and Utah Public Radio

A radio series about the gender parity problem in state legislatures — told from states that rank close to last in percentage of female legislators.

Team: Caroline Mary Ballard (Reporter/Host, Wyoming Public Media) and Jennifer Pemberton (Reporter/Host, Utah Public Radio)

Alaska Public Media 

A podcast about Alaska, produced in collaboration with the state’s network of station newsrooms.

Team: Zachariah Hughes (reporter, producer, and podcast co-host), Emily Kwong (reporter, producer, podcast co-host) and Ben Matheson (reporter, data and web producer)

KYUK Public Radio (Bethel, Alaska)

Radio stories about the conflict between the world’s largest proposed gold mine and Alaska natives.

Team: Anna Rose MacArthur (English Language News Reporter) and Charles Enoch (Yup’ik Language News Reporter)

KUT (Austin, Texas)

Audio stories from a pop-up bureau in a rapidly changing Austin neighborhood.

Team: Matt Largey (Managing Editor), Audrey McGlinchy (Reporter) and Syeda Hasan (Reporter)

West Virginia Public Broadcasting

An audio project about the shrinking population in West Virginia and the residents who are deciding to stay or go.

Team: Roxy Todd (Reporter and Producer for Inside Appalachia), Glynis Board (Reporter) and Crystal Collins (Digital Editor/Producer)