As much as we'd like to, we can't be everywhere. Nobody can. And as much as we'd like to report on every story that is affecting people living our state, there simply aren't enough journalists working in Iowa to cover all of them.
As we work to report as much as we can, the world is moving as fast for us as it is for you. And that's why we're asking for your help.
Our new project "Iowa Amplified" aims to get at the core of what is most important to you this election cycle. Do you trust your leaders? What do you think makes a good leader? What do you think the way forward looks like after a year as fast and hairy as 2020?
Join our text club, take our surveys and let us know what you think. Each week, we're asking a new question, and we're using your responses to inform our reporting and source stories.
Since we started this project, we've gotten more Iowa voices on our airwaves, and we've learned about how Iowans from different walks of life have been doing so far during such a strange year.
We talked to Jennifer Zwagerman, assistant professor of law at Drake University, about the strains of being a working mother during the pandemic. Listen to her interview with Charity Nebbe onTalk Of Iowa.
We highlighted the thoughts of some college students who are frustrated with their peers as coronavirus case totals continue to rise in Iowa.
We heard from farmers and homeowners impacted by the devastating derecho, and how their communities worked together to help each other through it.
We listened to Anita Jung memorialize her adventurous mother, Dorothea, on Talk Of Iowa after she passed away from COVID-19.
Do you have a story to share? We want to hear from you next.
How To Get Involved
- Follow us on Instagram at @iowapublicradio. We post polls there once a week on Thursdays.
- Follow us on Twitter at @IowaPublicRadio where we tweet out our weekly surveys.
- Don't have data? Text JOIN to 515-599-7477 to subscribe to our texting club. We'll ask for your feedback once weekly on Thursdays.
- Watch our Daily Digest newsblog and subscribe to the Daily Digest email newsletter for a survey each week.
About Iowa Amplified
Iowa Amplified is a part of a larger project called America Amplified.
America Amplified is a $1.9 million national public media collaboration funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, was launched in the fall of 2019 to bring a different kind of reporting into public media coverage of this year’s election.
In light of current news facing the country, America Amplified has focused on providing resources for public media to continue to engage with the communities they cover.
America Amplified aims to put people, not preconceived ideas, at the center of its reporting process — in this era of “social distancing,” we will be using toolssuch as crowd-sourcing, polls and social media to listen first to communities across the country.
About CPB
America Amplified, and thus Iowa Amplified, is funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), a private, nonprofit corporation created by Congress in 1967 as the steward of the federal government’s investment in public broadcasting. It helps support the operations of more than 1,500 locally owned and operated public television and radio stations nationwide. CPB is also the largest single source of funding for research, technology, and program development for public radio, television, and related online services.
Since 2009, CPB has invested $35 million to develop regional journalism collaborations throughout the United States. For more information, visit www.cpb.org.
