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Media Releases
Baking – and raising money – for the future of journalism
Submitted by Marianne Combs, Arts Reporter and Producer, MPR NewsI love a good bake sale – especially when it’s for a cause I can really get behind - and October's bake sale at MPR will go down as one of my all-time favorites.
Each year MPR participates in a fundraising campaign for ThreeSixty Journalism, a program run by the University of St. Thomas that teaches ethnically diverse high school students how to tell their stories, and attempts to instill in them a love of journalism. As a media organization that recognizes the importance of a multicultural workforce, we know it’s critical to help foster talent at an early age.Last week our in-house fundraising campaign culminated in a bake sale with contributions from some of the best bakers in the newsroom. Digital Producer Nancy Yang created a “Purple Rain” cake in honor of Prince; reporters Solveig Wastvedt and Peter Cox each whipped up batches of pumpkin muffins and ginger snaps, and editor Meg Martin turned out fudge and biscotti. Even our Executive Director of News and Programming Nancy Cassutt brought in some Rice Krispies treats.
And our co-workers responded in kind with amazing generosity. By the end of the day we had raised $4,400 for the ThreeSixty Journalism program. That’s a record for us, and it placed us once again as the top media donor - outgiving the Star Tribune, KARE 11 and several other local media sponsors.There’s another reason this bake sale was particularly important. In past years the fundraising campaign was run by our beloved colleague Toni Randolph, who died last summer. Toni was a mentor to many budding reporters, and a champion for diversity. We felt it was important not just to match what she raised in past years, but to go even further, in her honor.
So it was particularly gratifying for me last Friday to attend the ThreeSixty Journalism fundraising and awards dinner, where I got to meet some of the amazing high school seniors that benefit from the program. They are smart, enthusiastic, motivated young men and women, and I have no doubt they will go far.I’m already looking forward to next year’s bake sale, and to breaking more records, as we take our commitment to diversity in journalism forward.Toni would be thrilled.
more from the Inside APMG Blog
Talking the talk: Can the parlance of public media drive inclusivity?
by Eric Garcia McKinley
Engagement and Inclusion Senior Research Analyst/ACLS Public FellowI am now eight weeks into my new job in public media. The position is exactly as new to American Public Media Group as I am: Senior Research Analyst for Engagement and Inclusion (read more about it here). My general assignment is to develop a method for tracking the demographics of sources on which MPR News relies, and to help devise strategies for making news coverage and programming more distinct, diverse, and inclusive.The work will entail thinking about the broad range of experiences that inform perspectives. I’ll start with some of the things that influence the way I see the world: I am a cisgender straight male in my mid 30s. I am Latino, but I am also white. I don’t speak Spanish. I grew up Catholic, but I’m an atheist. And yet, “Catholic” remains part of my identity. I have a PhD in European history from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign with an emphasis on German and Jewish history (I do speak German, and German Catholics were a part of my research). Politically, I’m liberal with a preference for the word progressive. Identity is complex, and while it can’t be reduced to a set of demographic information, the pieces help. Analyzing demographics is just one way I can help MPR News gain a better understanding of itself and its audiences.Before getting to that though I have to learn not just what journalists do, but how they do it. So for the past several weeks, I’ve attended daily news huddles, shadowed reporters, and gone into the studios to observe live radio production in action. I attended two tapings of Counter Stories, and I wrote a blog post about about one of them. I was continually reminded of the importance of language when it comes to matters of inclusion.Every industry and organization has its own vocabulary that makes sense to insiders but might sound strange to outsiders, and public media is no different. But words are more than just industrial quirks. Language can influence action.One of the first new words I learned was “vox.” I asked someone what it meant, and I learned that it was a news story reliant upon a reporter’s voice. I later learned that the shorthand was “vcr,” for the alternative “voicer.” Someone in the newsroom later sent me a “radio glossary” with more new words.One word excluded from the list, probably because it’s not a technical term like “voicer,” is “talker.” I always understood the term to mean long-winded, as in “They’re real talkers over there so clear your schedule.” And Seinfeld taught me, years ago, that people can also be “close talkers” and “low talkers.” In public media, people are often divided into “good talkers” and “bad talkers”—judgments regarding whether or not someone can authoritatively speak in clear and concise sentences in a manner that demonstrates investment in the topic, is easy to understand, and is pleasant to hear (at least, that’s a synthesis of what my colleagues have told me). It’s not that “bad talkers” never make it on the air, but they have to hold a powerful position to get there. A politician can be a bad talker and still get air-time. Given the medium of radio, there’s a clear rationale behind the good talker/bad talker dichotomy. Still, I’ve wondered if there isn’t something of a “talker tyranny” that filters out engaging and diverse guests and content. I don’t yet know the nature of it or how to get around it, but I’m thinking about it.I’m also thinking about how the meaning of words changes. Language evolves. I learned that lesson while writing a dissertation that parsed the meaning of terms like religion, confession, and race over the course of 60 years of German history as part of the process of defining who did and did not belong within the German national body, as well as who decided. Likewise, the definition of terms like diversity and inclusion continually are debated.Understanding and respecting the history and context of words and how they affect people differently is one way to combat microaggressions—words and actions that may unintentionally reinforce stereotypes but are no less exclusionary because of it. As I write this, MPR employees are participating in workshops about microaggressions and unconscious bias. These trainings should occur in every workplace, but they’re particularly necessary in an industry where the choice of words shapes public dialogue, influences attitudes, and drives behavior.What else it will it take for MPR News to be more relevant to more people, especially those often marginalized in media? How will the sound and language of public media need to change? For instance, what effect would replacing “good talker” with “inclusive talker” have on the voices and perspectives journalists choose to amplify? This is some of what I hope to learn in collaboration with my colleagues and the broader community.I’ll be posting here about this process, and I invite you to be part of it. Submit your thoughts, ideas and questions here or email them to emckinley@mpr.org
Intern Highlight: Ellen Bartyzal
submitted by Sarah Eldred
Meet Ellen Bartyzal, a senior at the College of Saint Benedict in St. Joseph, Minnesota. Ellen was one of the two Eichten News Fellows this summer at Minnesota Public Radio. She applied for the program because she knew former Eichten Fellow, and they had “nothing but good things to say about their summers at MPR.”From Ellen: I have learned so much at this internship! I’ve learned about interviewing, reporting and writing concisely for radio. I’ve also learned a lot of technical skills through recording interviews and sound with state-of-the-art recording equipment and then editing and mixing that sound into a story. I’ve learned about voicing pieces for radio and how challenging it can be to find your voice and express that in your stories. I learned these things from all of the work that I did day-to-day, but I learned so much more from just observing others in the newsroom.Give Ellen's story a listen. We think she's found her voice!The Gary Eichten News Fellowship is a partnership between MPR and two affiliated schools: the College of St. Benedict and St. John’s University. One student from each school works full time from June to August in the newsroom learning how to write, report and produce for radio, calling on news sources, editing and assisting with other production tasks.Ellen shared these insights about working in the newsroom while reporters covered the Allina nurses strike:
They [reporters] need to be sure to report on the facts, but also be aware that some sources mayhave their own agenda. I saw the high standards that MPR holds for what is accurate and fair. I had a greater appreciation for this organization after seeing the great lengths that Lorna Benson (Ellen's supervisor) went through to gain all of the facts and make an educated decision regarding the story.
Community Voices: St. Paul's Rondo Neighborhood, Moving Forward
"It’s a powerful experience to give voice to people who aren’t heard on their terms, sitting in their neighborhood and from their point of view on ways they are moving forward following this story." - Kate Moos, Director, News Content Development
Philando Castile, a 32-year-old black man, was killed during a traffic stop in Falcon Heights, MN on July 6th, 2016. Minnesotans, especially the Rondo neighborhood of St. Paul where Castile grew up and worked, were deeply impacted by his death.
MPR's Counter Stories team paired with Tom Weber to take their regular conversation "by people of color, for people of color" to the neighborhood most deeply affected by Mr. Castille's death. On August 10 they broadcast a live show from the Golden Thyme Coffee & Cafe, in the center of the Rondo neighborhood.Members of St. Paul’s African-American community and their allies joined Tom Weber and Counter Stories co-hosts Anthony Galloway, Luz Maria Frias, Don Eubanks and Hlee Lee for a conversation about whether and how events like the Philando Castile shooting move Minnesota toward racial awareness and change.Community elders like Macalester College professor Mahmoud el-Kati and leaders like St. Paul Central High School principal Mary Mackbee joined with Rondo community members in a the discussion.
Nancy Cassutt began her role as Executive Director of MPR News earlier this year. She stepped in to lead a successful, well-established newsroom at a time when disruptive technology is a daily challenge for journalists. But while the media landscape constantly shifting, Cassutt knows one thing for sure: our communities must see and hear themselves reflected in our programming or we're not carrying out the mission of public radio."These relationships and connections are critical as we build more content around community-centered needs and voices," says Cassutt. "[MPR] dropped an ISDN line at the Golden Thyme for future use. We will definitely be back!" 
The Power of Listening: Audience, Employees, and Community Partners Tackle Women's Financial Security
Written by Linda Miller Director, Network Journalism and InclusionMPR News recently partnered with the Twin Cities chapter of the National Association of Black Accountants (NABA) to host Women Empowering Women: A Conversation About Financial Security at MPR's UBS Forum in downtown St. Paul.The idea for the June 29 event came from a Public Insight Network questionnaire that asked women how they are doing financially and what would help them do better. We heard from women working to overcome student loan debt, pay for childcare, save for retirement, live within their means, confront bias in the workplace, and have difficult conversations with loved ones about finances. We also heard from women with a lot of knowledge to share - about setting financial goals, creating budgets, negotiating a raise and eliminating credit card debt.Their insights sparked interesting on-air conversations with MPR listeners – something that is common for PIN sources to do. But when we asked the 170+ women what they wanted, the response, overwhelmingly, was to be in conversation with other women.Convening conversations is something that is second nature to MPR. Our show hosts do this every day, as do our digital and social media producers. And we have a strong track record of hosting community engagement events like Policy and a Pint, Talking Volumes, the Top Coast Festival and Conversations on the Creative Economy.Most often we invite authors, academics, journalists, politicos, pundits, thought leaders or other authoritative experts to answer questions, provide commentary and, in some cases, dole out advice. Here, however, women were asking for something different: an opportunity to learn from each other.To understand how a conversation like this might play out, we used the questions from the PIN survey to spark discussions among professionals at MPR through our Women's Employee Resource Group. Our conversations were deep, illuminating and cathartic, and many of us learned more about each other in two hours of conversation than we had in years of working together.Inspired, we reached out to our friends at NABA and asked if they would co-sponsor an event and help recruit their members to attend. About 25 women of diverse professional and personal backgrounds signed up and showed up, including a few MPR employees.
Arts reporter Marianne Combs, co-chair of the MPR Women’s ERG, and PIN engagement and inclusion manager Annie Anderson facilitated the two-hour-long workshop, which started with networking and a Jamaican dinner catered by Pimento in Minneapolis. We did not record the event for broadcast, live-blog, stream or tweet it. But we did establish some values to guide our discussions:1) Everyone is an expert in her own lived experience.2) Everyone has insight to share.3) When you are curious, you cannot be judgmental.4) To be inclusive means to listen.We spent an hour circulating among tables labeled with topics the women most wanted to discuss, starting each conversation by sharing stories about steps we had taken to better understand or improve our financial futures.We spoke about our relationship to money and the role money plays in our relationships. We talked about debt, divorce, and online tools for creating and maintaining a household budget. We talked health care, retirement planning and philanthropy, about obstacles we are facing and hardships we have overcome. And we talked about how to talk about all of these things with children, parents and spouses.At the end of the night, we reflected on what we had learned and pledged to take one more action, write it down in a “memo to self,” and seal it in a self-addressed envelope to be mailed back to us in 30 days. Several women lingered to continue their conversations and swap contact information, and many have since offered written feedback on the event itself.“It was really incredible to speak with other women and hear about their struggles,” wrote 31-year-old Kristin Campbell of Minneapolis. “Money is one of those things that no one talks about so it's easy to assume you're the only person who's made poor choices or been through rough times or that those times are permanent. Here was a group of women in various stages of their lives, all who have struggled and worked and made their financial situations better.”“It was reaffirming that most women seem to want the same thing--to have financial independence and to give back,” wrote Elizabeth Dickinson, a 56-year-old life coach and writer.Andrea Jauli, 28, said she learned a lot from the older women about planning for kids and retirement, and she has since connected with women she met at the event. Next time, she suggested, build in more time for women to network.Speaking of next time, all of the women who have provided feedback so far would like MPR to host more events like this on topics ranging from gender equality at work to parenting for safety to empowering female heads of households to cultivating a practical spirituality.One of my big takeaways is that, by creating safe spaces for people to share their insights, especially on taboo topics like finances, Minnesota Public Radio can create learning opportunities with the potential to change the way we relate to one another. The experience also reaffirmed the founding principle of PIN®: It’s amazing what people will tell you if you bother to ask, and remarkable what we all can learn if we take the time to listen.
Linda Miller became a journalist in the small towns of Wyoming, where newspapers were pieced together with hot wax and held together by trust, transparency and a partnership with readers. As the Director of Network Journalism and Inclusion, she is still helping journalists deepen relationships with the communities they serve, albeit with better technology.
In Memoriam: Toni Randolph
This week we're mourning the sudden loss of our dear colleague, veteran journalist Toni Randolph.Toni's work impacted so many people... the outpouring of memorials offer us some insight into the depth of Toni's impact and the strength of her relationships.We're sharing just a few of them below.
Excerpts from Toni's full obituary at mprnews.org:
"She was crucial in her work connecting us to new audiences around the state and training the next generation of young reporters," MPR News executive editor Nancy Cassutt wrote to staff on Sunday.
She had a special devotion to young journalists — and steered the stories and reporting of countless high school and college students through MPR News' Young Reporters Series and the University of St. Thomas' ThreeSixty Journalism high school program, whose board she joined in February. At the time of her death, she was in the midst of preparing for the fall season of Generation Next's [sic] young journalist classes. Her Young Reporters Series was honored with a 2015 Gracie Award by the Alliance for Women in Media.
"Just as Toni inspired countless young people, she has been one of the strongest voices for diversifying newsrooms — including our own," Cassutt said Sunday. "May we all follow Toni's example and build on her amazing legacy."
Excerpt from Insight News:
“Toni embodied the true mission of NABJ by working to diversify public radio and by serving as a mentor to countless numbers of young NABJers,” said National Association of Black Journalists President Sarah Glover. “On behalf of the entire NABJ family, our heartfelt sympathies go out to those who loved her. Her memory will continue on through the lives that she has impacted.”
Excerpt from We Know How This Ends: Living While Dying, written by MPR colleague Cathy Wurzer:
This morning, as I stood in front of Toni Randolph's desk, I noticed a small turtle, carved from a piece of pipestone, just above her computer keyboard.
The pipestone is sacred to Native Americans and the turtle spirit symbolic of health and longevity. It's hard shell signifying protection and perseverance. Ultimately Toni wasn't blessed with longevity nor protected from the ravages of cancer, but she leaves behind a bright legacy, certainly in the body of work she created, but most importantly in the people she helped nurture and mentor.
Finally, words from Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton, via mprnews.org:
Lt. Governor Smith and I extend our deepest condolences to the family, many friends, and colleagues of Toni Randolph as they grieve their tragic loss. During her 13 years with Minnesota Public Radio, Ms. Randolph told the stories of our citizens and communities, which contributed greatly to the recognition of our shared values and aspirations. The many young journalists, whom she inspired and mentored, will continue her legacy through their own careers for many years to come.
Photo and words by Cathy Wurzer: This is Toni Randolph's desk in the Minnesota Public Radio newsroom. It is filled with notes, files and the other detritus accumulated by a news editor. It looks as if Toni will come back at any time, settling in behind the keyboard to edit newscasts and reporter's stories, especially the stories of the fledgling reporters she loved to work with. Toni was a valued mentor and a champion of including more ethnically diverse voices in our stories and in the newsroom.
MPR News and Next Generation Radio
Next Generation Radio is a series of one-week student radio training projects co-sponsored by NPR member stations and several journalist and media organizations. The projects are designed to give students who are interested in radio and journalism an opportunity to report and produce their own radio and multimedia stories. Our own Laura Yuen of MPR News participated as a mentor and shared her admiration on the students' work:"On Saturday, the students presented their audio stories at the annual convention for College Broadcasters, Inc. The final products made me incredibly proud, yes, but also won my admiration. I’ve lived in Minnesota for more than a decade and was surprised to learn so much about my own community. These non-narrated pieces focused on individuals doing extraordinary things: a Minneapolis woman reclaiming lacrosse for the indigenous people who invented it, a Hmong community member sharing his personal tale of exodus and rebuilding, a blind woman who’s learning literally to find her way, a Native American kid who’s attending a magnet school that’s trying to close the achievement gap, and more."Explore the Next Generation Radio stories online.