Download a photo of Amanda Anderson, Producer of Compass on Pioneer PBS
GRANITE FALLS, Minn. — Pioneer PBS is proud to announce that Amanda Anderson, producer of the station’s Compass public affairs program has been selected as one of 16 LEDE fellows out of a worldwide pool of 250 applicants by the Solutions Journalism Network.
LEDE Fellows are journalism entrepreneurs spreading solutions journalism to their communities and beyond. The Fellows were selected for the quality, depth and potential impact of their projects. They will spend the next 12 months working on projects that: Leverage networks of journalism professionals; Engage communities; Disseminate solutions stories; and Elevate the people and narratives that problem-focused reporting misses.
From Juba, South Sudan, to Tucson, Arizona, the LEDE Fellows will be experimenting with everything from newsletters to YouTube channels to innovative community engagement. Wide-ranging in beat, medium, geography and scope, their projects will focus on one or more of these core questions, with the aim of providing insights that can be shared across the Solutions Journalism Network: how to broadcast solutions journalism to new audiences; how to spread solutions journalism regionally, on the ground; and how to build solutions journalism subscribers and ambassadors.
As the producer, editor and host of the public affairs program Compass for Pioneer PBS, Anderson has been working to overhaul the program to make it digital-first, solutions-focused and community-centered. Her favorite working days are when she gets to think creatively about how to present rural television-based journalism and storytelling — with a new eye toward solutions stories — while also thinking about ways to promote the work of other community and small-town journalists.
Amanda’s LEDE project aims to create a network of solutions journalists in rural Minnesota, focusing on solutions stories around caregiving. You can see some of her recent work on the topic of Aging Well in Rural Minnesota by visiting pioneer.org/compass/aging-well/.
Viewers with story ideas and issues they would like to see discussed on Compass are encouraged to contact Pioneer PBS via email at yourtv@pioneer.org or call the station at 1-800-726-3178. Compass is also seeking to expand its community-based contributors to help develop a true community journalistic program.
About Pioneer PBS
Established in 1966, Pioneer PBS is an award-winning, viewer-supported television station dedicated to sharing local stories of the region with the world. For more information visit: www.pioneer.org.