Learn more about this event, Emerging Strategies for Supporting Local and Ethnic Reporting, here: http://mediaimpactfunders.org/emerging-strategies-for-supporting-local-and-ethnic-reporting/

1. How One Station Did More
A Case Study on how Southern California Public Radio (KPCC)
increased their Latino and overall audiences
September 26, 2015
Edgar Aguirre
Managing Director of External Relations and
Strategic Initiatives
Southern California Public Radio

2. “Tell me who your FRIENDS are and
I will tell you who YOU are.”
- Mom

3. One Nation Media Project

4. One Nation Media Project
Main Components
• Three desks staffed by diverse
reporters and editors (Education,
Immigration and Emerging
Communities, and Crime and
Public Safety)
• Launch of Take Two, daily
newsmagazine
• Community Outreach and Engagement

5. Timeline of Transformation
• 2000—SCPR formed, takes over
operation of KPCC
• 2001—Bill Davis hired to manage KPCC
• 2006—SCPR/Radio Bilingüe Research
Latino communities of Los Angeles
• 2009—SCPR focuses on English-
dominant Generation 2.5
• 2011—One Nation Project launched

6. SCPR Vision
“Over the next ten years if you don’t pay attention to the
changing demographics of your market and to changes in
technology, and you continue to be an FM radio station
for old affluent white people, you are going to become
irrelevant and go out of business.”
Gordon Crawford, SCPR Founding Board Member

7. Vision based on research
- Focus group research conducted by SCPR determined
that late second generation and early third generation
Latinos would be the people most likely to be
amenable to an English language news and information
service. NOT interested in bilingual programming.
They want their news and information in English.
- SCPR learned that the target group, ages 25-35, was
deeply interested in hearing a diversity of voices
coming from people whose background gives a more
textured rendition of the stories they’re reporting on.

8. How SCPR did it
• Leadership in alignment
• Community Engagement
• Relevant content/tone
• Culture of Change

9. Leadership in Alignment
“It’s not philanthropy we’re doing. It’s business.
You must transform your organization so that it
looks like the city that you’re serving. It’s not
affirmative action. You need the people you’re
targeting to be involved in what you’re putting out
there. On the board and staff level, you should
look like the way your city is composed.”
Ana Valdez, SCPR Board Vice-Chair

10. Key Takeaways
• Board made decisions based on solid market research and
desire to change.
• Value in having Board members who operate in more than one
community and network .
• Senior management was in alignment with the Board’s vision
and goals.

11. Community Engagement
• Live events
• Partnerships
• Community Stakeholder
Meetings
• Public Insight Network
(PIN)
• Social Media Engagement
• Targeted Marketing

12. Key Takeaways
• Community engagement is much more than “outreach”. It
involves actively seeking the counsel of and listening to the
issues and aspirations of the communities one seeks to serve.
• Staff should have deep knowledge of the target communities.

13. Relevant Content and Tone
Take Two weekdays 9 to 11 am
A Martinez & Alex Cohen

14. Take That
Take Two is the most listened to locally produced program on the
station and has the highest number of Latino listeners of KPCC’s
locally produced programs.

15. Content
• Program hosts, reporters and editors who know the
communities
• Guests and interviewees beyond the “usual
suspects”
• Developing deep digital coverage of key issues

16. Key Takeaways
• SCPR has actively recruited digital and
broadcast journalists that represent the
communities and perspectives they want to
represent.
• SCPR has invested the time to go beyond the
“usual suspects” as guests and “experts”.
• SCPR has created a hybrid commercial-non-
commercial sound with a brisk pace and show
structure.

17. Culture of Change
• New hires: younger, digitally native,
polyglot
• New hires: comfortable with
difference
• Training and team building for
veteran staff

18. Key Takeaways
• SCPR understood that to change the sound
and appeal of the station, it had to look in new
places for talent.
• SCPR understood that adding a lot of new
faces/voices wasn’t enough. Perspective and
knowledge of the community matter just as
much as race and gender.
• Culture change is hard and it doesn’t happen
overnight. Management has not waved in the
face of resistance.

19. SCPR Audience
SCPR’s total audience has grown by 22% since
2009. The number of Latino listeners nearly
doubled.

20. “Tell me who your FRIENDS are and
I will tell you who YOU are.”
- Mom

21. Speaker Information
• Edgar Aguirre
Southern California Public Radio
Managing Director of External Relations
and Strategic Initiatives
626-583-5277
Eaguirre@scpr.org
@edgaraguirre