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While non-public and for-profit media also produce programming that serves to educate the public, public media is more widely available, meets consistently high standards, and fills gaps left by other sectors.
In addition, public media currently plays an important role in the domains of radio and podcasting, and AVDF has expanded funding to these other domains. We support efforts by public radio stations to fill gaps in local journalism, especially in markets that are losing local newspapers. And we fund the production and distribution of podcasts that focus on history or science, that are aimed at a youth audience, or that promote one or more of the Foundations’ Program Areas.
Film and television grants are typically provided to non-profit production companies or public media stations for programs that have a firm commitment to national distribution. While projects funded by the Foundations concern a variety of subjects, supported programs typically focus on science or history, or have American youth as a primary audience.
Our aim in this focus area is to support the production and distribution of high-quality public media that fill gaps in or raise the quality level of broadcast television programming.
The Foundations support programming for children, as well as science and American history-focused programming for adults. Film and television grants are typically provided to non-profit production companies or public media stations for programs that have a firm commitment to national distribution.
Featured Grant: Alma’s Way
Alma’s Way is a new animated series for preschoolers that features 6-year old Alma Rivera who lives in the multicultural neighborhood of the Bronx with her multi-generational Latino family. Produced by the Fred Rogers Productions, Alma’s Way premiered in October 2021 as the #1 PBS KIDS series among kids 2-8 on television and streaming video. The episodes feature Alma’s Puerto Rican family, her Cuban Uncle Nestor, and her friends in the Bronx who are Dominicans, Colombians, Mexicans and other Latino groups.
The program aims to help children develop self-awareness, skills for responsible decision-making, cultural awareness, and empathy. In addition, Alma’s Way aims to help young Latino viewers feel more represented in the programs they watch, and to help non-Latino viewers better understand and welcome Latinos in their communities as neighbors, friends, and family. Alma’s Way includes a website, a mobile app, and other digital content in both English and Spanish.
Our aim in this focus area is to support high-quality local journalism through public broadcast media stations, especially in regions with a shortage of local news coverage.
AVDF values the benefits that such journalism can bring to its communities including a more civically engaged citizenry. Funding in this area is intended to help fill the gap left by the local news crisis. Since 2020, AVDF has formed strategic partnerships with national organizations such as the American Journalism Project and Report for America. Place-based support has taken place through grants to WJCT, the local public media organization serving Northeast Florida, in support of their Local News Initiative.
Featured Partnership: Press Forward
The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations is a partner of Press Forward. Press Forward is a coalition of funders part of a national initiative to strengthen communities and democracy by supporting local news and information with an infusion of more than a half-billion dollars over the next five years.
Our aim in this focus area is to support high-quality, educational podcasts in areas that include science, history, and programming aimed at a young audience.
This focus area also supports educational podcasts of exceptional merit that increase interest and raise awareness for the Foundations’ other Program Areas. AVDF intends to support podcasts that fill a gap or raise the bar when it comes to publicly available content.
Featured Grant: On Our Minds Podcast
The student-led podcast On Our Minds is a 2022 Edward R. Murrow Award winner. The Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) announced the winners of the esteemed journalism award. The honorees include networks such as MSNBC, ABC News and Netflix.
The AVDF-supported podcast On Our Minds is a production of the PBS NewsHour Student Reporting Labs (SRL) and developed in partnership with WETA’s Well Beings mental health campaign. On Our Minds is a mental health-focused podcast developed by teens for teens. About 70% of teens said anxiety and depression are major problems among their peers according to a 2019 Pew Research Center study.
The On Our Minds podcast goes beyond just talking about youth mental health by providing a relatable resource for students.
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