KCUR FM will coordinate $1.9 million program across outlets, platforms

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) is looking to promote community engagement in the 2020 elections. 

CPB, the independent authority that distributes government funding for noncommercial media, will announce at its Pubic Radio Programmers Department Conference in Minneapolis Wednesday evening that it is giving $1.9 million to noncommercial KCUR-FM Kansas City to head up “Election 2020: Listening to America." 

Election 2020 is a national listener engagement effort in which noncommercial stations will collaborate to gather data and sponsor "listening events," public forums and outreach, including via social media. 

One goal is to provide election reporting that highlights different community perspectives on specific issues via interactive maps, graphs and other visual representations that work across multiple sites and stations.  

NPR and PBS will also be able to tap into those perspectives for their national reporting. 

KCUR will create a team to coordinate the Election 2020 efforts. 

“As a public radio station in the geographic center of the country and a leader and member of several highly successful public media journalism collaborations, KCUR is well-positioned to lead this effort,” said KCUR GM Nico Leone of the grant.