Building Stronger Communities
As part of its mission, NHPR strives to give listeners a voice by gathering questions and ideas from our audiences. The result is reporting rooted in the community and shared stories that engage audiences on a more personal level.
This not only translates to people being better informed about the issues that matter to them, but also can help people find common ground - and build stronger communities in the state.
The Exchange on the road
Laura Knoy, host of The Exchange, at an Exchange on the Road event at Keene State College in August, 2018. Photo by Allegra Boverman.
The ongoing The Exchange on the Road series explores issues relevant to New Hampshire communities, with the people who live in those communities. In front of a live audience on February 7, 2019 at the Nashua Public Library, The Exchange recorded a program on “How Nashua is Addressing the Opioid Crisis.” Host Laura Knoy took questions from the audience and, as with all Exchange shows, from listeners who reached out via phone or email.
This forum was part of NHPR’s opioid reporting project, “Crossroad,” funded in part by the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation.
Civics 101
Civics 101 host Hannah McCarthy interviewed former Massachusetts governor (and 1988 presidential candidate) Michael Dukakis for an episode about what it’s like to run for president. Photo by Nick Capodice.
Civics 101 is a podcast refresher course that explains the basics of how our democracy works - from legislative terminology, to the rights and duties of citizenship.
With an Education and Engagement Producer on board to guide this effort and a generous grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, NHPR continues to enhance this highly informative - and entertaining - podcast.
As interest in civics education continues to grow, NHPR is reaching out to increasing numbers of teachers and educational advocates to make them aware of this resource as a potential learning module in their classrooms.
Engagement journalism: The Balance & only in New Hampshire
Tattoo artists Martin Trout and Miguel Angel Villanueva at New Inkland Tattoo Co. in Manchester. Their story about choosing New Hampshire as a destination to open a business was part of The Balance. Photo by Robert Garrova.
The series The Balance looked at the costs, benefits, and tradeoffs of living in New Hampshire, while Only in NH featured stories inspired by listener questions about the quirky things that make living in New Hampshire...quirky.
These are two examples of how - on-air and through our website - NHPR seeks suggestions and feedback from listeners using the online journalism tool Hearken.
Part of NHPR’s continuing efforts to engage with what listeners want to know, the result was a wide range of story topics in 2018-19 - from the difficulties faced by young people looking for housing and students of color looking to find salons who understand their hair-styling needs, to listeners asking about the missile in Warren and the potato’s roots in New Hampshire history and status as the state vegetable.