Round Two
Maximizing Marketplace Digital Distribution (M2D2)
Grant: $25,000
Project Leader: Andy Martin
Project Champion: Mark Evans
Sponsoring Department: National Distribution
M2D2 will offer a direct and scalable content delivery system for local affiliates to select and ingest Marketplace digital content into their websites, thereby increasing affiliate website stickiness and building Marketplace.org awareness with potential underwriting and distribution revenue opportunities.
The Pitch:
M2D2 would feature a relationship between Marketplace, Distributed Media Lab (DML) APM Distribution and Affiliate stations.
Currently Marketplace web packages are emailed and posted with Marketplace receiving very limited attribution and station self-reported metrics when available. To date (FY24 and FY25) 17 unique stations have posted (and re-posted) a total of 54 Marketplace articles relevant to their communities.
Looking forward (the opportunity): DML offers content creators the ability to efficiently aggregate and syndicate their digital web content through “story collections”. Story collections feature publisher-curated stories and can be organized by geography, reporter, subject matter and can include relevant underwriting content. At any one time each story collection contains a maximum of 20 stories that are available to syndicates via web-ready embeddable story carousels inclusive of tracking metrics. Syndicates receive traffic attribution on their site while the publisher (Marketplace.org) receives attribution and metrics when the carousel story is selected.
KLING grant funds would be used to partner with DML for the creation of story collections curated by Marketplace for syndication leveraging two select statewide newsrooms that represent APM affiliates:
One for The Texas Newsroom (13 public radio stations)
One for The California Newsroom (15 public radio stations)
Texas and California Newsrooms represent 28 stations that would post with greater frequency. Distribution would use this case study to work in conjunction with Marketplace to scale the opportunity by leveraging all Marketplace affiliates.
Round One
Ritmofonica
A bilingual online streaming service from The Current aimed at highlighting a variety of music genres from Latin American cultures
Grant: $25,000
Project Leader: Natalia Toledo
Sponsoring Department: The Current
Project Champion: Raul Escobar
Ritmofonica’s goal is to provide a public radio platform that reflects the music and perspectives of the Latin American community in Minnesota, as well as help bridge the gap that currently exists between Minnesota Public Radio and said community. The funds requested from this grant are meant to sustain the Ritmofonica online streaming service during the Latin American/Hispanic Heritage Month, which runs September 15 through October 15. As this relationship grows and as we are able to reach more of the Latin American community, we hope that the stream can eventually create enough content and traction to continue throughout the entire year.
First Things First
The Brains On! Universe plans to bring the fun and learning beyond the podcast through the creation of a Forever Ago game in collaboration with our listeners.
Grant: $18,000
Project Leader: Lauren Humpert
Sponsoring Division: APM Studios
Project Champion: Joanne Griffith
We know that parents and caregivers turn to Brains On! Universe podcasts because they offer high-quality, screen-free experiences that allow kids (and their adults) to show off their curiosity and learn. Board and card games are a natural extension of these values. That’s why we’re proposing the creation of a Forever Ago card game based on the popular podcast segment First Things First. Games are a great way for people to connect with family and friends through play, which research has shown to be an essential part of childhood development. Play not only helps math and language skills, it teaches kids social skills and how to deal with stress. Same goes for adults, plus there’s a sense of nostalgia and joy that comes from games.
This will be an experiment in audience engagement and brand extension with the goal of generating revenue through increasing Smarty Pass subscribers and the eventual creation and sale of a Forever Ago inspired game.
LAist / Crosstown Neighborhood Newsletter Pilot
Launch a neighborhood newsletter in the city of Los Angeles using Crosstown software and data creating new opportunities for audience growth, engagement and revenue possibilities.
Grant: $15,000
Project Leader: Ashley Alvarado
Sponsoring Organization: LAist
Project Champion: Kristen Muller
Crosstown is a new venture being incubated by the University of Southern California that collects massive amounts of publicly available data on topics that matter to people – crime, traffic, housing, and more. They built a system that automatically sorts the data by neighborhood, allowing reporters to easily access it and spot trends, outliers and significant developments. Within seconds, reporters can query the data through Crosstown’s dashboard to report stories that otherwise might take weeks.
The Crosstown newsletter platform produces local news at scale by automatically creating geographically specific versions of stories. They currently partner with media organizations around the U.S., including WRAL TV in Raleigh, N.C., WBEZ in Chicago and NOLA.com in New Orleans.
This Kling Innovation Grant would pay for LAist to pilot Crosstown’s newsletter product in Los Angeles and test its potential to drive audience and revenue growth. In addition, we are already in discussions with the team at USC about making a Horizon Fund investment in Crosstown once they spin it off as an independent for-profit. Having firsthand knowledge of how the tool works and its impact on audiences would be invaluable as we consider this investment.
Know Your Ballot
Grant: $20,000
Project Leaders: Jane Helmke, Megan Bonifas, Michael Olson
Sponsoring Department: MPR News
Project Champion: Liwanag Ojala
MPR News plans to put 1,319 candidates in 724 races across Minnesota on the record as to why they are running for office and what they hope to accomplish if elected. We are addressing a serious local news gap in English, Spanish, Somali and Hmong, but UX is suppressing engagement. We have a $20K solution right now. And the clock is ticking.
Information for voters about the candidates seeking their support is more challenging to find the farther down the ballot you get. This dynamic has worsened across Minnesota as more local news outlets shut down. Encouraged by high engagement with our 2023 school board voter guides, MPR News created voter guides for every contested primary in Minnesota in this past primary election. We provided information for voters in 141 primaries that included school board, town supervisor, city council, mayor, county commissioners, judicial, state house, U.S. House and U.S. Senate candidates. The guides were available in English and Spanish, featuring key races in Somali and Hmong.
Rising to the moment for our audiences and philanthropic supporters, driving membership with an enhanced experience and integrated into our new website are all opportunities. Our primary election guide demonstrated that our Loyal users see value in this coverage and want to share it with their networks. Giving these users a better tool to share with their communities spreads our content with fans/messengers at a time when trust and quality information on local elections is critical.