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Yellowstone Public Radio Receives Two-Year Grant to Increase In-Depth Coverage About Poverty and its Solutions

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Northwest Area Foundation Grants Aim to Boost Regional Newsroom Capacity

St. Paul, Minn., April 19, 2006 – “Poverty is not a simple issue,” said Karl Stauber, president and CEO of the Northwest Area Foundation. “And as much as newsrooms might want to investigate its many causes, faces and solutions, most find themselves competing for scarce resources,” he said. “We decided to make grants to four public radio stations in our eight-state service region, which includes Montana, because we wanted these very credible newsrooms to have the means needed to increase the number of in-depth stories that can make a real difference in the lives of their listeners.”

"We're delighted to receive this grant from Northwest Area Foundation," says Yellowstone Public Radio News Director Jackie Yamanaka. In addition to producing feature-length stories, YPR is also planning on hosting public forums and call-in programs with our media partners to discuss the various facets of poverty. "We want to provide an opportunity for dialogue and input from our communities on this complex issue," says Yamanaka. "The stories and 'live' programs all expand on the station's mission to help our listeners across Montana and northern Wyoming better understand the issues that affect their quality of life and the quality of life of their neighbors."

Yellowstone Public Radio is one of four public radio stations to receive this type of support. YPR’s $60,000 grant covers March 2006 to late March 2008. Montana Public Radio also received a similar grant in March. Minnesota Public Radio and Seattle Public Radio are each in the second year of their two-year grant periods.

The Foundation’s requirement is that the newsrooms develop and broadcast feature-length stories over the two-year period. Each radio station will accomplish this a bit differently given the size of newsroom staff, its organizational structure and the culture of the area served. A fundamental premise is that each news department maintains editorial control over all of its coverage and content. “Our funding assists only with the capacity to do work,” said Stauber. “We will be very interested to hear the stories YPR develops in the months to come,” he said.

The Northwest Area Foundation is dedicated to helping communities reduce poverty for the long term. The Foundation works on strategic efforts with a small number of rural, urban, and American Indian reservation communities, and the organizations supporting these efforts, in its eight-state region: Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Oregon and Washington. These states were served by the Great Northern Railway, founded by James J. Hill. In 1934, Hill’s son, Louis W. Hill established the Foundation.

Since 1999, the Foundation has invested approximately $150 million in community-based poverty-reduction programs. It expects to invest at least an additional $50 million within the next three years. The Foundation does not accept unsolicited grant requests.