Program Description

"American RadioWorks provides an opportunity to go beyond the sound bites and shallow reporting that are commonly available in the media, to gain a greater understanding of our most important social issues, our history and ourselves. We provide information that is meaningful and, most of all, fascinating."
— Former Executive Producer Bill Buzenberg

American RadioWorks (ARW) is the award-winning national documentary unit of American Public Media. As public radio's largest documentary production unit it creates documentaries, series projects, and investigative reports for the public radio system on air and online. ARW produces three kinds of documentaries:

• Hour-long specials distributed to public radio stations across the country for them to broadcast for free as part of their public service mission to their audiences.
• Shorter newsmagazine reports for programs such as Marketplace, All Things Considered and Morning Edition and The World that provide additional context and depth to the stories these programs cover.
• In-depth Web sites that provide background, original photography, interactive elements and streaming audio of the radio documentaries.

A Seasonal Model

ARW will shift from a monthly distribution system to a twice-yearly seasonal calendar. The first season will be August-November 2007. It will cluster programs that have common thematic elements, mark specific dates or anniversaries or coincide with major programming initiatives at American Public Media and in public broadcasting. The seasonal approach is of enormous value to stations because it:

• Highlights the unique nature of ARW's programming within the stream of public radio offerings.
• Helps stations make the most of topic-driven, philanthropic and underwriting opportunities.
• Makes for easier, long-term planning for program directors.
• Creates an even more dependable and promotable program stream for stations.
• Makes local station programming on related topics easier to plan and execute.
• Allows stations to get more deeply involved with program producers and other organizations.

Focus

ARW's comprehensive reporting is of a depth and scope seldom seen or heard in the media today. ARW's areas of focus include:

• Public affairs reporting on major social and economic issues
• Investigative reporting
• Reports with strong narrative threads exploring significant social and cultural subjects
• "Living History," an ongoing effort to document the 20th-century American experience through the lives of those who witnessed it.

The American RadioWorks Team

The ARW team features some of the most accomplished names in public radio journalism, including Executive Editor/Correspondent Stephen Smith, Editor Catherine Winter, Correspondent William "Rocky" Kistner, Correspondent/Producer John Biewen, Economics Correspondent Chris Farrell, Correspondent Michael Montgomery, Web Producer Ochen Kaylan, Coordinating Producer Ellen Guettler and Contributing Photographer Steve Schapiro. ARW is based at American Public Media in St. Paul and has staff journalists in Washington, D.C., San Francisco and Durham, N.C.

Awards

American RadioWorks has received some of the most prestigious awards in journalism, including:

• RTNDA Edward R. Murrow Award
• Alfred I. duPont—Columbia University Gold Baton
• Overseas Press Club Lowell Thomas Award
• Investigative Reporters and Editors Certificate
• Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Journalism Award
• American Women in Radio and Television Gracie Allen Award
• Scripps Howard Foundation's National Journalism Award.

Visit the American RadioWorks program Web site for a complete list of awards.