Anniversaries can show us the way forward
May 28, 2024
This month I’m reflecting on the remarkable growth in the scope of our work at MPR. We’re here today, a leading public media company because of you—our members and advocates.
When I started here at the beginning of May 2020, we were struggling through COVID-19’s early stages. We were in lockdown and MPR headquarters were mostly empty. Our reporters scrambled to find the most important, timely, and fact-based information to share with you. While our newsroom staff covered the pandemic, The Current and YourClassical staff inspired us as we navigated one of the darkest periods of our lives.
Then George Floyd was murdered on Memorial Day Weekend – and our cities erupted in protest and flames. MPR staff members dug deeper to help us understand and navigate another crisis sweeping our state and our nation.
These major events pushed us farther and faster toward changes we both anticipated and desired. Changes I want to highlight here.
We’ve doubled down on our commitment to sound more like Minnesota. All of Minnesota. From more coverage of greater Minnesota to more perspectives from Black, Indigenous, and other people of color regardless of where they live in the state.
Ratings suggest Minnesota is interested in getting to know itself better. MPR News has been second in the market in recent months and several of our programs, including MPR News with Angela Davis and Minnesota Now, are tops in their time slots. I hear from you that you notice ways we’ve added energy and voices to our programs. Across our brands, we’ve found ways to build an environment that reflects who we are as Minnesotans.
More of our stories are being picked up by stations across the country, spreading the impact of the work we do with your support. Given that May is Mental Health Awareness Month, I’m proud to highlight that our Call to Mind programs are currently airing on more than 220 stations, including nine of the top 15 markets. If you haven’t heard Call to Mind, treat yourself and take pride in knowing you make it possible.
Our partnerships stand out, too. Some are important internal partnerships, such as the program we just sponsored with APM Studios on ending cycles of trauma in Black America. Other partnerships are with community leaders, such as the remarkable success of Little Moments Count and the Early Riser’s podcast conceived of by The Family Partnership’s Dianne Haulcy. Dianne shared with me an article she wrote recently for the Social Policy Report on how Early Risers was formed, and its impact.
Unfortunately, this mission of building connection and sharing trusted information—a mission that public media can uniquely advance—is under attack, with regular calls on the national stage to defund public media. Despite these challenges, we know the mission of public media and MPR is very important, and access to fact-based news is essential to our democracy. A recent article in The Atlantic by Richard Stengel says it well. “Paywalls create a two-tiered system: credible, fact-based information for people who are willing to pay for it, and murkier, less-reliable information for everyone else. Simply put, paywalls get in the way of informing the public, which is the mission of journalism. And they get in the way of the public being informed, which is the foundation of democracy.”
Now, more than ever, we need to preserve, foster, and grow our work. Only with your partnership will we continue to play our key role in building a healthy local news ecosystem. We’re working to build trust and understanding, to listen to one another, to note who is in the room and who we need to include, and to work better together for and with communities. You are the key to the health of our local news and music ecosystem. Thank you for continuing to invest in our shared future.
I’ll close by noting that May isn’t just my fourth anniversary as president of MPR; it also marks my 30th anniversary as an MPR member. Please join me on this path as we evolve over the next 30 years.
Duchesne Drew
President, Minnesota Public Radio
About Duchesne Drew
Duchesne Drew is Senior Vice President of American Public Media Group and President of Minnesota Public Radio. In this role, he leads the teams that produce MPR News, The Current, APM Reports and Marketplace. Additionally, he oversees YourClassical MPR as a part of Minnesota Public Radio.