New audio service launching 2024!
Illinois Public Media is building a new audio service focused on serving the Black communities of central Illinois.
Over the past two decades, media organizations serving the Black communities in central Illinois have shrunk or disappeared. In 2007, the last Champaign Black newspaper closed, and radio stations centered on our region’s black communities have disappeared. This is happening despite research from Nielsen consistently showing that Black Americans listen to the radio and podcasts at higher rates and longer than many other communities.
The Vision
• A place for our community to celebrate Black voices and music: historic and contemporary.
• A place where Central Illinoisans can hear the best of NPR programming centered around the Black experience.
• A place to hear jazz, or as known to Nina Simone, ‘Black classical music.’
• A place for dialogue among members of the Black community and those who wish to reach them.
The Station
In February 2024, Illinois Public Media plans to launch a new audio service, both on-air and online, featuring Black music, voices, and culture.