St. Louis Public Radio | 90.7 KWMU has established a new fellowship designed to discover, encourage and train the best possible representatives of a diverse new generation of public media talent. The St. Louis Public Radio Fellowship for Coverage of Regional Race Matters is made possible, in part, by a grant from the Public Policy Research Center at the University of Missouri–St. Louis.

“Ongoing changes in our listeners’ needs not only require thoughtful, engaging and entertaining programs, they also call for a strong commitment to diversity within our organization,” St. Louis Public Radio General Manager Tim Eby said. “As St. Louis continues to grow and change, it is our duty to reflect its composition in the staff we create and the programs we offer.”

The fellowship will provide the opportunity to pursue in-depth, on-air and online projects that cover race issues in the bi-state region. These reports will leverage ongoing PPRC public policy research, as well as build on St. Louis Public Radio’s established ongoing initiative: “St Louis History in Black & White” and the “Bound by Division” series.

“This fellowship is a unique opportunity for PPRC to support investigation of one of the key public policy issues in the St. Louis region,” said Mark Tranel, director of the University of Missouri–St. Louis’ Public Policy Research Center. “PPRC’s funding for this fellowship comes from a bequest from Margaret Bush Wilson, a civil rights leader, and the work that will be done over the coming year will be a fitting tribute to her efforts to promote racial justice and harmony.”

The St. Louis Public Radio Fellowship will serve as a way to attract unique audio contributors who will share their stories and voices with the station’s listeners and to mirror St. Louis’ changing population in the staff created and the programs offered. Professional training for this full-time fellowship will be provided at the new, state-of-the-art St. Louis Public Radio studios at UMSL at Grand Center.  The program will begin in August and conclude in July 2013.

The fellowship will offer high-level mentorship and professional development focused on multi-platform journalism, and content gathering and sharing. Fellows will be given rigorous training in public radio journalism, talk shows and online content gathering, and will work alongside some of the nation’s most respected professionals, including: reporters/producers, talk-show producers, online/web content staff and operations/production staff.

“St. Louis History in Black & White” presents an oral history of civil rights, the black experience, and race relations in St. Louis from 1847 to 2010.  The intention of this project is to enlighten blacks and whites on history with which they may not be familiar and to inspire greater understanding and harmony between the races in our community today. Hopefully, these stories serve as a springboard into a more detailed look at that history and its legacy.

“Bound by Division” was a past series of feature and news reports examining the economic, cultural, social, racial, geographic and political boundaries that divide the population of Missouri.

A member-supported service of UMSL, St. Louis Public Radio provides the St. Louis region award-winning, in-depth news, insightful discussion, and entertaining programs that focus on the issues and people who shape our community, our country and our world. Signature programs include: “Morning Edition,” “All Things Considered,” “Fresh Air,” “This American Life,” “Marketplace,” “Car Talk,” “St. Louis on the Air,” “BBC World Service,” “The Tavis Smiley Show,” “Wait Wait … Don’t Tell Me!” and “A Prairie Home Companion.”

St. Louis Public Radio, which broadcasts in HD on 90.7, 90.7-2 and 90.7-3, reaches nearly 235,000 people each week in the bi-state area.