Audio (40 minutes)
They are moments that make you sad, angry or reflect: Neighbors react to the senseless killing of a young mother and her infant son in a drive-by shooting. A firefighter describes in heart-wrenching detail the attempts to rescue people who were carried away by fast-moving floodwaters.
They are moments filled with joy: Kids sing and chant as they go into a forest to find maple syrup. A trainer talks about rescuing shelter dogs and transforming them into movie and Broadway stars.
They are moments of wonder: Residents oohing and aahing over the solar eclipse as they enjoyed the celestial dance.
They are moments that, collectively, on air and online, offer our listeners and readers a sense of place. That’s the power of local media and that’s what we strive to do each and every day.
Connecticut Public Radio is committed to serving our audiences with news, information and conversations that inform, enlighten and inspire. Over the past year, we’ve been more intentional than ever about centering our audience in everything we do. We’ve expanded our podcast efforts. We’re providing more news and information on more platforms. We’re producing stories in Spanish. We’re distributing QR codes for audience feedback, including a survey filled out by hundreds of people telling us what they wanted to see in election coverage in 2024. We’re in the community, hosting events to meet and engage with our audiences.
An audio rundown is posted below. And below that is a listing of notable digital stories, as well as a summary of coverage highlights from 2024.
AUDIO RUNDOWN
0:00-3:00, Audio postcard: Maple syrup
We go outdoors and learn about maple syrup season in this audio postcard that features the voices of energetic elementary school kids. Science teacher Xander Lowry is our guide as we tap trees, gather sap, split wood and make syrup with the students. Children start by singing a song about “photosynthesis,” the teacher yells “Living the dream!” and one kid chimes in: “Yum, yum, yum, yum!”
https://www.ctpublic.org/show/seasoned/2024-03-20/seasoned-heads-to-the-forest-for-local-maple-syrup
3:00-4:05, Feature excerpt: From frost fans to hayrides, wild weather is forcing CT farmers to adapt to a changing climate
It sounds like a helicopter, but this noisy spinning contraption is actually a frost fan. Picture a giant windmill powered by too many cups of coffee. It’s a tool one Connecticut farmer is using to protect his fields from climate change.
4:06-8:50, Feature: From stray to superstar: A CT man rescues shelter dogs, turning them into Broadway and movie actors (Special surprise ending at 8:27-8:50.)
Connecticut is home to many famous actors — including four-legged ones. They have names like Sandy from the show "Annie" and Bruiser from the musical "Legally Blonde." Most are rescues from animal shelters who went on to become showbiz stars. Their trainer is Bill Burloni, a world-renowned animal handler for stage and screen. The animals live with him on his farm in central Connecticut. We visit Burloni with two Havanese dogs cuddled in his lap. (The dogs play a leading role in the story, too, and we hear from them throughout the piece. Wait for the special surprise ending at 8:27-8:50.)
https://www.ctpublic.org/news/2024-09-12/sandy-annie-rescue-dogs-broadway-movies-bill-berloni-ct
8:51-12:40, Breaking news: Intense floods result in a “tragic and devastating day”
This newscast brings listeners up to speed on the fast-moving developments regarding intense flooding that hit the southwestern part of the state. A firefighter describes in heart-wrenching detail the attempts to rescue people stuck in floodwaters – two of whom died after being carried away by the waters. We talk with people affected first-hand by the flooding, including a homeless man who had to evacuate a state park.
https://www.ctpublic.org/news/2024-08-19/connecticut-flooding-oxford-southbury-death
12:41-16:18, Reporting on gun violence
Gun violence continues to rip families apart and put communities on edge. Throughout 2024, we explored the topic, including breaking news, profiles and conversations on our talk shows. Some examples:
12:41–14:39: We visit a neighborhood reeling after a young mother and her infant son were shot and killed in drive-by shooting.
14:40-16:17: We visit a Hartford neighborhood where a mother talks about regularly running across her apartment parking lot to get to her car because she fears getting hit by a bullet.
https://www.ctpublic.org/news/2024-08-12/hartford-gun-violence-real-art-ways
16:18-22:33, Feature: A once-enslaved man’s music was hidden for centuries. Go on a journey to rediscover his melodies (Don't miss the music: 20:27-22:33)
It's a story of mystery and music. An enslaved man’s music was hidden for centuries in Connecticut. Go on a journey to rediscover Sawney Freeman’s music – tucked away in a Hartford college library – and hear it performed today. Freeman is one of the earliest published Black composers in the U.S. His compositions were recently restored digitally and musicians of color gathered to perform his music – and we were there to record it. The story generated poignant feedback from listeners across the country. As a result of our story, music teachers across the U.S. are seeking access to Freeman’s compositions – and groups are starting to perform his music at community events and concerts. This story was part of an in-depth, multi-platform series that explores Connecticut's connections to slavery.
https://www.ctpublic.org/2024-03-15/sawney-freeman-slavery-connecticut-music-composer
22:34-25:52, Enlightening conversations
Connecticut Public’s five talk shows capture a range of voices and perspectives across our state. These programs continue to be a place where listeners can call in and engage on issues of importance to the community – one-of-a-kind programming no other local media outlet is offering. As one listener told us: “You take topics I may have otherwise dismissed, then you engage in non-judgmental and curious conversation. You gently remind me to open my mind to possibilities and experiences I've never considered.”
22:34-24:16: Books: A man reflects on the importance of books when he was in prison. “Books ... offer you an opportunity to reach for some of the stuff that’s missing from your life ... Books give you a chance at reaching it and if you’re in prison sometimes that's your only way to reach for the full bandwidth of human emotions.”
24:17- 25:52 Poetry: Why did a local poet decide to start writing poetry again? “If I met my maker today and he goes ‘what did you do with the gifts I gave you; what did you do with the voice I gave you?’ I would have nothing to say. Other than I stopped writing poetry when I was 15.”
25:53-30:33, Investigative feature: A mother's calling: Inside the fight to make prison phone calls free in Connecticut
Local families brought an end to expensive prison phone calls, providing a lifeline for people behind bars. Connecticut was the first state to make prison phone calls free. But as we discovered, consistent contact still isn’t guaranteed.
30:34-34:27, Election conversation: High school seniors speak out on the election, from abortion to immigration to character
The heated 2024 campaign was more than a race between candidates and parties. Polls indicated that the preservation of democracy was among the top concerns for many voters. We wanted to hear how young people view this moment. So we visited a Connecticut high school and spoke with a group of seniors and presented a variety of viewpoints on the air.
34:28-35:58, Feature excerpt: A dam fine spot for bald eagles: Birders flock to a CT river for a glimpse of majestic bird
Bald eagles are making a stunning comeback in Connecticut. We take you to a dam that’s not just attracting bald eagles -- it’s attracting people who want to see them. Why are eagles attracted to this dam? The dam moves water and that means “the river can’t freeze and fish get pushed along … kinda like easy-to-grab meals on a sushi bar conveyor belt.”
35:59-38:02, Podcast excerpt: “Generation Barney”
This is an excerpt from our seven-part podcast about the media we loved as kids and how it shapes us – from the station that helped launch Barney the dinosaur into the world. We hear from a Connecticut family who in the early 1990s rented a video featuring an unknown purple dinosaur – a discovery that would eventually lead to Barney becoming a mainstay of PBS kids’ programming in the ‘90s.
https://www.ctpublic.org/podcast/generation-barney
38:03-39:56, Slices of life: Corpse flower, spiders, solar eclipse
38:03-38:44 Corpse flower: People flocked to a college in eastern Connecticut to smell something absolutely disgusting: a corpse flower that reeks of feces and rotting fish. The smell just makes you want to throw up. We hear from someone who describes the experience.
https://www.ctpublic.org/news/2024-06-05/corpse-flower-connecticut-eastern-bloom
38:45-39:00 Spiders: A humorous preview of a story about spiders that we aired just in time for Halloween.
39:01-39:56: Eclipse: We hear from a Connecticut child in awe after seeing the total solar eclipse. “It was like someone was painting something in the sky. ... It was extraordinary. ... That sun looked like a super nova and a diamond ring.”
https://www.ctpublic.org/news/2024-04-08/eclipse-connecticut-new-england
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DIGITAL HIGHLIGHTS
1. Unforgotten: Connecticut's Hidden History of Slavery: This entry showcases our in-depth project exploring Connecticut’s connection to slavery, including original videos, photographs and graphics.
https://www.ctpublic.org/connecticuts-hidden-history-of-slavery
2. Election night updates from across Connecticut: Our election story brought readers up to speed on the fast-moving developments on election night, featuring charts and photographs that captured scenes across the state as voters cast their ballots.
https://www.ctpublic.org/news/2024-11-05/live-updates-connecticut-election-day-2024
3. A mother's calling: Inside the fight to make prison phone calls free in Connecticut: This piece features investigative reporting, as well as a chart showing a dramatic surge in phone calls made by incarcerated people once the state stopped charging for them.
4. Partial solar eclipse comes to CT, sparking wonder and joy as people look up: When the solar eclipse moved across the region, we were at locations across Connecticut to capture oohs and aahs as people enjoyed the celestial dance.
https://www.ctpublic.org/news/2024-04-08/eclipse-connecticut-new-england
5. Reeking of feces and rotting fish, a CT corpse flower blooms: We took our audience to a local college where something fishy was on display: a corpse flower. The smell was a horrid combination of feces and rotten fish, but we braved the odor to document the event, capturing people on camera for digital audiences, including a video: “Out of the Odor-nary.”
https://www.ctpublic.org/news/2024-06-05/corpse-flower-connecticut-eastern-bloom
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COVERAGE HIGHLIGHTS
Audience focus: We’ve launched intentional efforts to cover and engage with specific audiences. In 2024, we hired an editor to help expand our station-wide Latino Initiative and elevate our “Somos Connecticut” content in English – and translated into Spanish –and deepen our engagement with Latino communities. We launched “Black Voices,” an ongoing effort to produce programming that elevates, honors and highlights diverse narratives and community stories from across the state.
Collaboration: Our collaborative content team includes a newsroom that creates more than 20 newscasts each day, a storytelling unit that produces five talk shows, an investigative team, a robust visuals unit and an expanding social media team. We’re also the lead station of the New England News Collaborative, an NPR regional newsroom that includes 10 public media stations. In the digital space, we’re focused on producing a variety of developing stories and in-depth pieces that explain the news. We’re committed to creating a working environment where journalists are inspired to do the best work of their careers. We work across teams to create daily news programming and produce podcasts. Radio and visual journalists work together on breaking stories and in-depth projects.
Audience engagement: We’re being more proactive in engaging with our audiences. Hundreds of people responded to our survey asking for suggestions about how to better cover the 2024 election. We used those responses to help inform our coverage throughout the year. We’re using social media tools to crowd-source stories; we’re handing out postcards with QR codes to ask people about how to better serve the Latino community.
Social media: A recent expansion of our social media team allows us to tell more stories on various platforms, from TikTok to Instagram to YouTube. Our talk show team explored Connecticut's identity – from its iconic pizza to pronouncing tricky town names to its historical connection to baking powder – inspired by the viral “Of Course” TikTok trend. We explained how the homeless can vote by listing the Hartford library as their address when they register. Connecticut was one of the last states in the U.S. to allow early voting, so we went to the polls to talk with voters. In one social video, we read part of an original poem and inspired our audiences to finish it in their own words. Leading up to Halloween, we launched a social media series – Spooky CT – featuring videos exploring our favorite local haunts.
In-depth storytelling: Connecticut Public’s journalists spent nine months reporting to launch “Unforgotten: Connecticut’s Hidden History of Slavery,” a multi-platform history lesson that includes a podcast and in-depth radio feature stories, as well as a digital project, documentary-style videos with animations, social media content, an hour-long television special and a community conversation at a local museum.
Podcast expansion: Connecticut Public launched distinctive podcasts in 2024. Our investigative team, The Accountability Project, produced “In Absentia,” a four-part podcast that explored the long history of political dysfunction in Bridgeport, the state's largest city. For years, people have said that something is going on with local elections: Partisan operatives have been fined over misuse of absentee ballots and there have been investigations by state agencies. And “Generation Barney” explores the rise of the popular purple dinosaur from the station that helped launch Barney into the world -- a seven-part podcast about the media we loved as kids and how it shapes us. “Generation Barney” was The Guardian’s podcast pick of the week. Stories about the podcast appeared in People, Entertainment Weekly and Variety. The podcast was highlighted on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and the NPR app.
Community engagement: We hosted a variety of events across the state, often working with community partner organizations, to explore topics ranging from equity to housing to health. Other examples of community events: In March, we put on the first-ever “Audacious Live! Show & Tell.” About 70 people gathered at a Stamford brewery and many of the attendees brought objects that had interesting stories. We have held several community listening sessions with Latino communities and have expanded that effort with ongoing “La Tertulia” community conversations in partnership with the Hartford Public Library. And The Colin McEnroe Show hosted its annual holiday spectacular from a venue in Hartford, featuring 10 performers onstage – including three pianists – and they rocked their way through an 18-song setlist of holiday and holiday-adjacent classics.
Visuals: Our visuals team produced “Mini Docs,” an original video series featuring everyday voices and striking visuals as we explore our state’s identity through the hearts and minds of the people who live here. Some videos included “Out of the Odor-nary," a look at a rare double-stemmed “corpse flower” in bloom at a local college and “Trail of Terror,” which has provided countless screams for 30 years.
Thank you for your time and consideration.