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This report looks at some major initiatives launched over the last three years. It also includes information about selected ongoing efforts. For a more comprehensive look at WSIU activities, download copies of our annual Local Content and Service report here.
TELEVISION
Over the last three years, we’ve heard from so many of you who value the diversity of public media programming. So, we expanded our regional television programming to reflect that diversity. Here are some of the highlights:
Exploring the Heartland
Exploring the Heartland features the people, places, and events that shape our region. The variety is amazing! We profiled the extraordinary Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum. And examined historic preservation in the Illinois Capitol city, Springfield. We celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Cedarhust Center for the Arts in Mount Vernon, Illinois, while also preserving a landmark photography exhibition, Visions of Us: Southern Illinois Portraits. These are just a few of the ways Exploring Heartland is making a significant contribution.
InFocus
InFocus covers the issues that shape our region. We go in-depth to make sure you understand a variety of perspectives that are often overlooked. Our show on giving back in our region featured a nonprofit that feeds the less fortunate in Springfield and a Carbondale group that welcome refugees from across the globe. InFocus also welcomes leaders in their fields to explore issues that not only impact our region, but also the entire world. For instance, we spoke with NPR’s Scott Simon about changes in journalism. And we found out how local communities are planning their future, including an episode that looked at the comprehensive planning process in Carbondale while explaining issues facing cities across the nation.
CapitolView
Stay in touch with the latest news and analysis from Springfield. CapitolView is the only weekly prime time broadcast television program covering the Illinois General Assembly. It features a panel discussion with Illinois reporters, academics, and public policy experts. Special episodes include interviews with legislators and the annual State of the State and Budget address. The program is broadcast most Thursdays at 7:00 p.m. on WSIU-TV and most Saturdays at 6:00 a.m. on WSIU-FM. You may always watch the half-hour show on the PBS app, our YouTube channel, or online at wsiu.org
Scholastic HiQ
The quest for knowledge is an enriching and lifelong endeavor. Scholastic Hi-Q is a fun and exciting way of demonstrating the importance of a broad-based education that exemplifies WSIU’s mission. The program provides area schools with an excellent opportunity to showcase knowledge while promoting school spirit.
Produced by WSIU since 1985, Scholastic Hi-Q is an academically based game show featuring high school teams from the Southern Illinois region. It's a single elimination tournament in which about 30 teams compete.
Episodes are taped at the beginning of the school year and then shown on a weekly basis throughout the spring. The Hi-Q production staff is composed mainly of Southern Illinois University student employees and volunteers who gain valuable professional experience working with the WSIU production staff.
Eye on Education
Over the last three years, WSIU has become a national leader in public television programming about education. Eye on Education features interviews with people making a difference in all facets of learning. From Pre-K through higher education, we highlight efforts to prepare students to become the world's future leaders in every discipline. The program also shows how educational institutions provide research and public outreach. WSIU covers all this and more to make learning more accessible through our broadcast and digital platforms.
The variety of guests featured is a point of pride. We interviewed new Southern Illinois University students from across the globe and an alumnus who leads a nonprofit to provide scholarships to attend SIU. We were inspired by a cellist from Italy who recently graduated from SIU. He talked about his experience and performed a mini-concert for us. Thousands marveled at the groundbreaking reconstructive hand surgery taking place in Springfield, Illinois. We talked with the surgeon, heard from the patient, and learned more about the Institute for Plastic Surgery at Southern Illinois University. And these are just a few examples of the diverse mix of guests!
Top Teens
WSIU's Top Teens are chosen by their respective schools throughout the region. The area students excel academically and in a variety of co-curricular activities. Many are also involved in community service. Condensed versions of these interviews are broadcast on WSIU-TV and you may watch all of the interviews on WSIU’s Top Teens YouTube channel.
RADIO
WSIU-FM is also working to expand the diversity of our programming. Over the last three years, we’ve made a variety of improvements to our schedule. This includes The 21st Show every weekday morning at 11 a.m. The program from Illinois Public Media covers a wide range of issues in the 21st state and many episodes provide a chance for people across Illinois to call-in and join the conversation. Diverse viewpoints and issues are also heard on a variety of programs added to the schedule every weekend. These include Left, Right and Center Saturdays at 2 p.m., Open to Debate Sundays at 6 a.m., and Commonwealth Club Sundays at 9 a.m. We also added a popular health program every Sunday at 11 a.m., The People’s Pharmacy.
In addition to radio newscasts every weekday, WSIU-FM produces InFocus, a daily public affairs segment; WSIU Almanac, a daily arts, education, science, and community events segment; Tonight on WSIU, a daily prime time guide for WSIU-TV; Acoustic Nature Hour, a music and spoken word program that examines the beauty of our natural world and Blanket Fort Radio Theater, a serialized storytelling podcast collaboration between SIU Press and WSIU Radio; Inside The Blanket Fort, a weekly on-air feature segment that is a companion to the podcast; and Radio Players Present, a series of original radio plays.
DIGITAL MEDIA
Some of our biggest improvements over the past three years have been instituted in digital media. One of the first changes we implemented was a 24/7 livestream of WSIU-TV on the PBS app, available free of charge on a wide variety of devices. The livestream may be accessed anywhere in the WSIU viewing area. This complements our WSIU-FM livestream, which is available worldwide via our website, smart speakers, and other platforms.
More recently, our WSIU-TV livestream was added to other platforms, including YouTube TV and Hulu Live TV. PBS has also enhanced the PBS app to add livestreams of WSIU’s popular Create and World channels.
Digital media gives WSIU the opportunity to provide a robust archive of local news, arts, culture and history. And we’re taking advantage of that by including a video archive of our work accessible through the PBS app and YouTube. You’ll find archived audio reports, segments and interviews at our website.
The website, www.wsiu.org, continues to grow and evolve and it represents another major improvement in our “digital first” approach. In addition to programming from WSIU-FM and WSIU-TV, our digital partners provide regular updates from around the corner and across the globe. A new WSIU mobile app brings all this content together for the growing number of people who access content regularly on cell phones.
EDUCATION AND ENGAGEMENT
PBS KIDS Family Days
PBS KIDS Family Days have been held at Cedarhurst Center for the Arts in Mt. Vernon, Illinois, for years. Recently, WSIU added a second annual Family Day at the Henson Robinson Zoo in Springfield, Illinois. It’s scheduled on a day when free admission is offered at the zoo…enhancing the educational experience for the entire region.
Twilight Glow Party in Quincy
WSIU welcomed nearly 300 children and families to the Nature Trail at John Wood Community College in Quincy, Illinois, for our first Twilight Glow Party. Encouraged by the enormous response in 2024, we’re planning to make this a regular event. Participants engaged in activities that encourage reading, exploration of nature, and the arts…including music and dance.
Youth news bureau pilots
WSIU worked with area libraries and the journalism community to develop youth news production programs in after-school settings. Libraries received state grant funds to conduct this activity in partnership with WSIU. We conducted a variety of workshops at libraries and in area schools to foster development of the program.
Literacy events
WSIU partnered with Molina Healthcare on seven free literacy events to provide children and families with resources at seven local libraries—Brehm Memorial, Olney Public, Lincoln, Jacksonville Public, Rochester, Quincy Public, and Carbondale Public Libraries. The events were designed to help increase reading proficiency by distributing free books and hosting reading events to encourage an affection for literacy.
Encouraging healthy eating
To help increase awareness for healthy eating and diets, WSIU partnered with Kroger. We visited Kroger groceries throughout southern Illinois with our PBS Kids character ‘Super Why.’ We provided recipes taken from the PBS Kids ‘Healthy Eating’ website, and we gave out these recipes to families. These efforts were aimed at helping families prepare healthy home-cooked meals. The recipes were also available in the Kroger stores for additional distribution.
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LEARN MORE:
For over three years from 2021 through 2025, WSIU's progress was led by Executive Director Fred Martino, Ph.D. After more than 25 years as a public media leader, Fred has now moved on to help organizations and students adapt to the changing media environment.
He is the author of Local public media: Qualitative audience research to guide educational leaders, which is available at this link.
