Boise State Public Radio will participate in “Guns and America,” a two-year, national reporting collaborative of 10 public media stations across the U.S. supported by a $5.3 million grant from The Kendeda Fund.
The national collaborative will report on the ways firearms are intertwined in American life, from the cultural significance of hunting and sport shooting, to the role guns play in suicide, homicide, mass shootings and beyond.
The collaboration includes the launch of the first-of-its-kind Audion Fellowship to support the reporting. The program will train a diverse group of cross-platform, multi-media journalists and place them at each of the participating stations, including Boise State Public Radio.
“There are many stories to share about the role of guns in Idaho and surrounding states. The reporter who ultimately will be selected for our Audion Fellowship will represent our region in a deep and dedicated way, sharing the unique voices of the American West,” said Tom Michael, Boise State Public Radio general manager.
The Idaho share of the grant will total about a quarter-million dollars for the Boise State Public Radio network over two years, which will fully finance a new reporter and related expenses.
In addition to Boise, Audion Fellows will report from WAMU in Washington, D.C.; KCUR in Kansas City, Missouri; KERA in Dallas, Texas; KUNC in Greeley, Colorado; OPB in Portland, Oregon; WABE in Atlanta, Georgia; WCPN ideastream in Cleveland, Ohio; WNPR in Hartford, Connecticut; and WUNC in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. A five-person production team at WAMU will support the project. Reporters at the 10 stations will begin filing their first stories in the summer 2018.
The Audion Fellowship will be an ongoing program beyond the two-year “Guns & America” project.
Find more information, including how journalists can apply, online at wamu.org/guns.