About

Contact Us:

WKU PBS
1906 College Heights Blvd., #11034
Bowling Green, KY 42101

1-800-599-2424

wkyutv@wku.edu

Google Maps link to guest parking

Executive Staff:

David Brinkley - Executive Director -david.brinkley@wku.edu

Jordan Basham - Assistant Executive Director - jordan.basham@wku.edu

Erik Costa - Director of Technology - erik.costa@wku.edu

Amy Combs - Director of Development - amy.combs@wku.edu

Emilee England - Director of Finance - emilee.england@wku.edu

The governing body of Western Kentucky University is an 11 member Board of Regents. Eight of the members are appointed by the Governor from among nominees submitted by a nominating commission. These members serve up to 2 six-year terms.

Faculty and staff representatives are elected by their peers to three-year terms. The student representative is the President of the Student Government Association and is elected to a one-year term. All members have voting privileges.

Board of Regents open meetings schedule

Compliance and Transparency Information:

FCC Public File : https://publicfiles.fcc.gov/tv-profile/wkyu-tv

EEO Report

Local Content & Service Report

2023 Local Content & Service Report is available by clicking here.

Financial Information and Files:

For information on how to obtain copies of the CPB Annual Financial report, please contact WKU Public Broadcasting’s Business Manager, Emilee England, or call 270-745-5480.

WKU Public Broadcasting is licensed to WKU, and as such you may view the WKU Audited Financial Statements at http://www.wku.edu/finadmin/financial/, along with the WKUF Form 990 & WKUF Audited Financial Statement at http://www.wkufoundation.com/s/808/landing.aspx?sid=808&gid=1&pgid=3920.

Additional information is available for public inspection during WKU Public Broadcasting (WKYU) regular business hours, weekdays from 8:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M. WKU Public Broadcasting studios are located at 1906 College Heights Blvd. #11035, Bowling Green, KY 42101-1035.

Audited Financial Statements (PDF) : FY18 - FY19 - FY20 - FY21 - FY22

Annual Financial Report (PDF) : FY18 - FY19 - FY20 - FY21 - FY22

Employee & Job Openings Statistical Report (PDF) : FY18 - FY19 - FY20 - FY21- FY22

Program Sponsors

BG Hot Rods	Lost River Sessions: Wild Eggs and First Bank
Glasgow EPB	Western Kentucky University
John and Linda Kelly	LifeWorks at WKU

WKU Public Media Community Representation Statement

WKU Public Media seeks to serve our increasingly diverse coverage area with high-quality public radio programming, both on air and online, that reflects and explains issues impacting a wide variety of individuals and communities.

Through our own locally-produced content, and through programs we air originating from organizations such as National Public Radio, American Public Media, Public Radio International, PBS, American Public Television, NETA and the BBC, WKU Public Media seeks to enhance the quality of life in our region by presenting unique, non-commercial programming of exceptional quality. The majority of this programming is focused on news, educational and informational shows that touch upon topics of interest impacting an audience of various racial and ethnic backgrounds; genders; religions; age ranges; sexual orientations; and education and income levels.

One of the goals of WKU Public Media has been to strengthen our coverage and awareness of our region's growing immigrant communities. Our staff has worked to establish contacts within those communities that serve as ways for us to learn about issues, challenges, and programs related to these groups.

One of the categories in our FCC-mandated quarterly Programs and Problems report is “Issues Impacting Minority Groups, Immigrants, Refugees, and LGBTQ Community". This is one-way WKU Public Media ensures that our local content creators maintain a focus on issues impacting diverse groups of people from across our region.

Diversity of Governance, Staff

WKU Public Radio’s governing body is an 11 member Board of Regents. Eight of the members are appointed by the Governor from among nominees submitted by a nominating commission. These members serve up to two six-year terms.

Faculty and staff representatives are elected by their peers to three-year terms. The student representative is the President of the Student Government Association and is elected to a one-year term. All members have voting privileges.

More information on the makeup of the Board of Regents can be found here.

Since we are a part of WKU, this public media service adheres to WKU’s formal diversity efforts.

The diversity of WKU Public Media’s staff is recorded annually in our Employee and Job Openings Statistical Report. That report can be found here.

Representation Initiatives

WKU Public Media will produce content that reflects the diverse nature of the communities we serve. We will also feature stories covering the growing international communities in our southern Kentucky region, including the contributions made by, and challenges facing, immigrants and refugees, and the potential impacts of the newly increased federal refugee resettlement cap on our region and state. WKU Public Media will also continue to focus it’s lens on the history of our region and share the stories from our history that have shaped our region.

The WKU Public Media news team will seek new stories to tell on air and online about the challenges facing, and accomplishments achieved by, our region’s growing refugee and immigrant communities.

The WKU Public Media news team will sharpen its focus on local stories related to the LGBTQ+ population, in light of recent legislation passed by a number of states in our region curtailing the freedoms of that community in terms of gender affirming health care for transgender youth and materials involving LGBTQ+ people in public schools.

WKU Public Media

Editorial Independence Policy

The mission of WKU Public Media is to enrich our communities by providing distinctive programming and services of the highest quality that enhance lives, expand perspectives, and connect us to one another.

In order to support this mission, it is essential that WKU Public Media management rigorously administer the highest standard of editorial independence in all content areas. WKU Public Media is guided by the constitutional guarantees of a free press and by the regulatory framework established by Congress. The Public Broadcasting Act of 1967 reinforces the expectation of prevention of interference with program content. This Act requires the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to protect public broadcasting entities from “interference with, or control of, program content or other activities.”

Historically, this mandate has been embraced by WKU Public Media and the public it serves. Editorial integrity in the operation of WKU Public Media means the responsible application of a free and independent decision-making process, which is ultimately accountable to the public. We recognize that our broadcasting activities must be perceived to be independent, honest, and of highest quality. Any attempt by the government or interest groups to influence content, especially before a program has aired, raises serious Constitutional, statutory, and policy concerns.

WKU Public Media reaffirms its commitment to the responsibility to exercise the editorial freedom necessary to achieve the mission of WKU Public Media effectively.

The Code of Editorial Integrity is part of a larger initiative to advance principles, policies and practices of editorial integrity throughout public media. The Public Media Code of Editorial Integrity was developed by the Affinity Group Coalition and the Station Resource Group, collectively representing public television and radio stations and organizations from across the country, in particular, the University of Wisconsin Public Broadcasting System with support from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. (September 2013.)

Using a number of available resources and best practices, the WKU-PBS/ WKU-NPR Code of Editorial Integrity was created in support of our mission. Please consult the Acknowledgements page at the end of this document for source attribution and credits.

PUBLIC MEDIA CODE OF INTEGRITY

Public broadcasters have adopted shared principles to strengthen the trust and integrity that communities expect of valued public service institutions.

Public media organizations contribute to a strong civil society and active community life, provide access to knowledge and culture, extend education, and offer varied viewpoints and sensibilities.

The freedom of public media professionals to make editorial decisions without undue influence is essential. It is rooted in America's commitment to free speech and a free press. It is reflected in the unique and critical media roles that federal, state, and local leaders have encouraged and respected across the years. It is affirmed by the courts.

Trust is equally fundamental. Public media organizations create and reinforce trust through rigorous, voluntary standards for the integrity of programming and services, fundraising, community interactions, and organizational governance.

These standards of integrity apply to all the content public media organizations produce and present, regardless of subject matter, including news, science, history, information, music, arts, and culture. These standards apply across all public media channels and platforms - broadcasting, online, social media, print, media devices, and in-person events.

Public media, individually and collectively:

Contribute to communities' civic, educational, and cultural life by presenting a range of ideas and cultures and offering a robust forum for discussion and debate.
Commit to accuracy and integrity in the pursuit of facts about events, issues, and important matters that affect communities and people's lives.
Pursue fairness and responsiveness in content and services, with particular attention to reflecting diversity of demography, culture, and beliefs.
Aim for transparency in news gathering, reporting, and other content creation and share the reasons for important editorial and programming choices.
Protect the editorial process from the fact and appearance of undue influence, exercising care in seeking and accepting funds, and setting careful boundaries between contributors and content creators.
Encourage understanding of fundraising operations and practices, acknowledge program sponsors, and disclose content-related terms of sponsor support.
Maintain respectful and accountable relationships with individual and organizational contributors.
Seek editorial partnerships and collaborations to enhance capacity, perspective, timeliness, and relevance and apply public media standards to these arrangements.
Expect employees to uphold public media's integrity in their personal as well as their professional lives, understanding that employee actions, even when "off the clock," affect trust, integrity, credibility, and impartiality.
Promote the common good, the public interest, and these commitments to integrity and trustworthiness in organizational governance, leadership, and management.

The Standards We Will Uphold

OUR MISSION:

Public Media; WKU-PBS; WKU-NPR:

The mission of Public Media is to create a more informed public, one challenged and invigorated by a deeper understanding and appreciation of events, ideas, and culture within the United States and across the globe. To this end, WKU-PBS and WKU-NPR report, produce, acquire and distribute news, public affairs information, and other content that meet the highest standards of public service in journalism and cultural expression, Public Media, WKU-PBS, and WKU-NPR work to deliver the highest quality of programming by adhering to accepted national journalistic standards free of any and all outside influences.

OUR GUIDING PRINCIPLES:

Our news content and public affairs programming, whether on the radio, television, on the web, or in any other platform, must attain the highest quality and strengthen our credibility. We take pride in our craft. Our journalism is as accurate, fair, and complete as possible. Our journalists and producers conduct their work with honesty and respect, and strive to be both independent and impartial in their efforts. Our methods are transparent and we will be accountable for all we do.

We hold those who serve and influence the public to a high standard when we report about their actions. We must ask no less of ourselves. We work hard to be worthy of the public’s trust and to protect it. These principles are intended to guide our content creation, both as it is performed and as it is perceived, to help us earn and keep the confidence of the public. The principles exist not only to answer questions, but more importantly, to raise them. By regularly discussing and debating how these principles apply to our work, we will produce content worthy of the public we serve.

Adapted from the NPR Ethics Handbook

WKU-PBS and WKU-NPR

Code of Editorial Integrity

INTRODUCTION

Trust is the most important asset public broadcasting carries forward into its evolving public media future. Audiences rely on our information and perspectives as they make decisions in their public and personal lives. The public consistently says public television and public radio are their most trusted sources among many media choices.

Our independence is deeply rooted in American values of freedom of speech and of the press, both protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution. The Public Broadcasting Act of 1967 reinforces that independence, directing the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to protect public broadcasting entities "from interference with, or control of, program content or other activities."

Public confidence in our organizations is strengthened by the regulations and legal requirements that accompany our FCC licenses to broadcast, our federal recognition as nonprofit educational and charitable organizations, and the federal funds that contribute to our work.

The Code of Editorial Integrity for Local Public Media Organizations has been developed through discussions, debates, and consultations involving hundreds of executives and senior staff of public broadcasting organizations, faculty from schools of journalism, and advisers in the areas of philanthropy, community engagement, news media, and best practices for nonprofit organizations. We have benefitted from statements of editorial practices and standards, programming guidelines, and fund raising policies from public television and public radio stations across the country.

While offered as a model for all public service media, the principal focus of the Code of Editorial Integrity is the public television and public radio stations that benefit from federal support through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The principles, policies, and practices of the Code define and unify an evolving field. Stations and other public media organizations will adapt and apply the Code in ways that both reflect shared values and address their unique circumstances. We affirm our principles, policies, and practices through our support of this Code of Editorial Integrity.

CODE OF EDITORIAL INTEGRITY

Our purposes are to support a strong civil society, increase cultural access and knowledge, extend public education, and strengthen community life through electronic media and related community activities. The public's trust in our organizations, content, services, and relationships is fundamental to achieving these purposes.

We earn the public's trust through the quality and excellence of our work, the inclusion and reflection of the diversity of our communities, and a commitment to define professional standards and practices.

We take specific steps to ascertain and understand community needs, issues, and interests; to assure respect and civility in our forums and discussions and impartiality and objectivity in our coverage of complex and controversial matters; and to be accessible, accountable, and transparent to those who use our services and the community as a whole.

GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT FOR THE COMMON GOOD

We govern our activities in ways that promote the common good and the public interest and that reflect our commitment to integrity and trustworthiness. These obligations supersede personal and institutional agendas.

IDEAS, CULTURE, AND FORUMS WITH RESPECT AND CIVILITY

We contribute to the civic, educational, and cultural life of our communities by presenting a range of ideas and cultures and offering a robust forum for discussion and debate.

JOURNALISM THAT REPORTS EVENTS AND ISSUES WITH ACCURACY AND INTEGRITY

We pursue facts about events and issues in our communities and other important matters that affect people's lives with accuracy and integrity.

INCLUSION AND REFLECTION OF OUR COMMUNITIES' DIVERSITY

The integrity of our work is strengthened by incorporating the diversity of demography, culture, and beliefs in our communities and the nation into our work and our content.

TRANSPARENCY IN PROGRAM SELECTION AND CONTENT CREATION

We share with our audiences and the public the mission-based and practical reasons for our program choices. We seek to be transparent in how we gather and report news and create other content.

TRANSPARENCY IN FUNDRAISING

We aim for respectful relationships with our donors and clear understanding among donors and others about our fundraising operations. We acknowledge the sponsors of our programming and disclose the terms on which we obtain such support.

PREVENTING UNDUE INFLUENCE

We assure that our editorial process is free from undue influence. We take care in deciding from whom we seek and accept funds and in setting boundaries with respect to those who contribute.

CONSISTENT EDITORIAL STANDARDS IN PARTNERSHIPS AND COLLABORATIONS

We bring our standards into editorial partnerships and collaborations through which we expand our capacity to serve, add to the perspectives we share with our audiences, and enhance the timeliness and relevance of our work.

EMPLOYEE ACTIVITIES BEYOND THEIR PUBLIC MEDIA WORK

The actions of our employees, even when "off the clock," affect public trust in our integrity, credibility, and impartiality. We expect employees to uphold our integrity in their personal as well as their professional lives.

GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT FOR THE COMMON GOOD

We govern our activities in ways that promote the common good and the public interest and reflect our commitment to integrity and trustworthiness. These obligations supersede personal and institutional agendas.

We have a public service mission.

We make important organizational decisions in open meetings of our governing bodies, which we announce to the public in a timely fashion. We make key financial statements available to the public. The only exceptions to these provisions are in matters related to personnel, business matters of a proprietary and competitive nature, and legal matters that require confidentiality.

We assess community needs and interests to inform and guide editorial decisions and employ approaches that assure we have been inclusive of the full community and a diversity of voices, experiences, and views.

We require our decision-makers to disclose possible conflicts of interests to their colleagues, and to remove themselves from decisions where such conflicts exist.

Senior members of our professional staff are accessible to the public and information about how to contact them is available on our web site.

We regularly discuss and debate elements of this Code and other editorial and fundraising guidelines, review the success of their application in our work, and affirm and update the Code and guidelines as appropriate.

In fulfilling these commitments to accountability, we are guided by and adhere to multiple legal and regulatory frameworks within which we work. Principal among these are laws, rules, and regulations that govern the licensees of noncommercial educational broadcast stations, federal and state policies that apply to nonprofit organizations, and requirements applied by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to organizations that benefit from the federal investment in public media.

IDEAS, CULTURE, AND FORUMS WITH RESPECT AND CIVILITY

We contribute to the civic, educational, and cultural life of our communities by presenting a range of ideas and cultures and offering a robust forum for discussion and debate.

In doing this work we provide:

Public access to information, resources, and opportunities for life-long education, the cultural offerings of the arts, humanities and sciences, and forums and media through which to experience a diversity of voices, experiences, and views.

Citizen access to means for expressing concerns, asking questions, providing answers, and sharing viewpoints and ideas in ways that are heard and respectfully considered.

Civil discourse and interaction among people with varying interests and perspectives, leading to greater shared knowledge and understanding of differences, constructive problem-solving and sustained community building.

Portions of these activities are accomplished through forums for perspectives and opinions on matters that are important to our communities, including interview programs, talk shows, online content, and similar opportunities for officials, experts, advocates, and citizens to express their views and hear the views of others.

In all these settings we strive to support a vigorous marketplace of ideas without advocating, endorsing, or certifying a particular point of view.

When inviting participants, we seek people who, by reason of their expertise and experience, are able to add perspectives and insights across a broad range of views on issues of concern to our communities. From time to time, audience members may hear points of view with which they disagree.

We work to include individuals who help provide balance among the main positions on important issues, although not always in a single program, online discussion, or event.

We ask participants in our forums to create a level of clarity by providing details, examples, and evidence to support their contentions. We give them opportunities to respond to criticism and seeming inconsistencies.

JOURNALISM THAT REPORTS EVENTS AND ISSUES WITH ACCURACY AND INTEGRITY

We pursue facts about events and issues in our communities and other important matters that affect people's lives with accuracy and integrity.

We aim to:

Foster an informed and engaged public that, in turn, enables a strong and effective democracy.

Support individuals in making good decisions for themselves and their families and in their pursuit of a high quality of life.

We take responsibility for the validity of the content we present. We operate within a system of defined professional principles, ethics, and practices in gathering data and perspectives. We are transparent about editorial decision-making processes.

Key principles that guide our reporting and editing:

We make every effort to assure that we are accurate. We use consistent standards and approaches in verifying the facts we present and the sources of information we use.

Whenever feasible we attribute the sources of our information. We resist anonymity, especially with respect to opinion, speculation, or personal attacks, and permit it only if we are without other means to gather compelling, verifiable information.

We place the facts we report in context. In our coverage of politics and controversial topics, we emphasize not only accuracy and full attribution, but also an impartial, non-partisan approach and attention to competing views.

We welcome comments and corrections. If we receive additional facts that add to the precision of what we present, we are committed to timely modifications or corrections.

We present a full range of views on controversial subjects- sometimes in a single story and sometimes over the course of a series of programs or set of commentaries presented in a timely fashion.

We seek out individuals and organizations mentioned in our coverage and reports when others have made unfavorable or critical allegations about them so that they have an opportunity to respond to such assertions and our audiences are more fully informed about the controversy.

We avoid stereotyping, with particular attention to race, gender, age, religion, ethnicity, geography, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, and social status.

In our reporting we make a distinction between the accountability of public officials, business, and non-profit leaders and others who serve the public or seek power and influence, and the greater rights and expectations of privacy for private individuals, which we endeavor to respect and protect.

We are straightforward with our audiences. When we present the work of others we say so. When we edit interviews and other material we strive to preserve the original meaning. When we process audio, video, or images electronically, we do so only to enhance clarity and not to distort meaning or mislead audiences as to how or when the content was obtained.

We tell the people and the organizations we cover who we are and what we are doing unless public or personal safety is at serious risk and this open approach will not produce vital information. We will generally avoid an undercover approach, but will disclose when we have done so. When we make mistakes, we will admit and correct them.

INCLUSION AND REFLECTION OF OUR COMMUNITIES' DIVERSITY

The integrity of our work is strengthened by incorporating the diversity of demography, culture, and beliefs in our communities and the nation into our work and our content.

We look to the full diversity of our community as we ascertain needs and interests to which we might respond.

We assure that people with different backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences are heard and seen as both sources and subjects of our programming and are invited to participate in our activities.

We seek to create content and activities that reach and serve a diversity of people, recognizing that different programming attracts people with different values, beliefs, lifestyles, and demography.

We treat the subjects of our programming with respect. We include points of view that may not be widely shared and individuals and groups that are infrequently heard or seen outside their own communities.

TRANSPARENCY IN PROGRAM SELECTION AND CONTENT CREATION

We share with our audiences and the public the mission-based and practical reasons for our program choices. We seek to be transparent in how we gather and report news and create other content.

Selecting material for broadcast and online:

We choose programs and content for broadcast and online presentation that are consistent with our overall mission and purposes. We are also guided by our public service priorities, which focus our work on particular needs and issues and on service to particular communities and audiences. Our mission statement and service priorities are published on our website.

Our content decisions are also shaped by practical considerations, such as the need for an overall coherence to our service and identity, the interests of audiences, the availability of material through other media, the costs of different kinds of programming we create, the costs of programs we acquire, and our overall resources.

We aim for public understanding of these public service and practical reasons for our decisions, especially when we make substantial changes in the direction or focus of our programming or services.

Selecting stories and issues for news and public affairs programs:

Topics we cover for broadcast and online delivery are selected at regular editorial meetings of our professional staff. We welcome suggestions about what to cover and encourage comments, criticisms, and corrections of our work. We publish the names, position, and contact information for senior members of our staff on our website.

Several criteria influence topic selection, beginning with the importance to our community and the fit with our organization's public service priorities. Other factors include relevance to our audience, timeliness, potential impact, our capacity to bring something new or unique to the topic, and our ability to take on the topic or issue in a way that meets our defined editorial standards.

Showing how we gather and report information:

We work to verify and authenticate the information we present in ways that are visible and understandable to the public.

We use and cite public records, publications, and databases whenever possible.

We identify the individuals or organizations that are our sources of information unless such disclosure jeopardizes the livelihood or safety of the source or it is otherwise impossible to obtain information that we believe to be newsworthy and reliable.

We identify the locations where we gather facts and from which we report.

TRANSPARENCY IN FUNDRAISING

We aim for respectful relationships with our donors and a clear understanding among donors and others about our fundraising operations. We acknowledge the sponsors of our programming and disclose the terms on which we obtain such support.

Our public service depends on donations of all sizes from many different sources. We maintain the trust and confidence of these donors and our communities by making clear the purposes and uses for which we seek their support, making every effort to understand a donor's intent and, after accepting a gift, working to carry out the donor's wishes.

We inform donors about how donor records will be used. We protect personal and confidential information that we obtain during fundraising activities or through our ongoing relationships with these donors.

We acknowledge donors that support the production of specific programs in on-air announcements. We keep a list of these donors in a publicly available file.

We acknowledge donors that sponsor political programming or discussions of controversial issues of public importance (other than such discussions during regular news and public affairs programs) in on-air announcements. We keep a list of these donors and additional FCC-required information about the sponsors in a public file.

We do not accept anonymous gifts for the production of specific programs.

If a person or organization that has provided substantial funds to the station becomes the subject of a news story or other program, we disclose the relationship in the program or in an announcement adjacent to it, whether or not the donation was in support of the story or program.

We publish on our website a list of funders that have provided support for creation of specific programming or areas of coverage along with a brief statement of the programs or content areas the donor supports. We also publish a list of donors that have contributed substantial funds for our general support, when we have received permission to do so.

We report the overall costs of fundraising, including personnel, consultants, special events, and related support costs. This reporting is part of our overall disclosure of revenue and expenses in our public file as part of our Annual Financial Report to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

PREVENTING UNDUE INFLUENCE

We assure that our editorial process is free from undue influence. We take care in deciding from whom we seek and accept funds and in setting boundaries with respect to those who contribute.

A large and diverse group of funders supports our work, including many individuals, businesses, governmental entities, and foundations. Most of the funding and underwriting we receive is used to support the overall operations of our stations, as opposed to supporting specific programs. A diversity of sources, the number of contributors, and the unrestricted character of funds all reinforce the independence and integrity of our editorial process.

We give careful attention to contributions and grants that support specific programs, projects, and activities. We seek to avoid both the reality and the appearance of inappropriate influence.

We reserve the right to refuse any donation for any reason, including, but not limited to, perceived conflicts of interest, potential audience misconception regarding a funder's role or influence, and perceived impact on our reputation, integrity, or fundraising ability.

We review the propriety of prospective funders on a case-by-case basis, using the framework outlined below.

Funding and Underwriting for News Programming

Ongoing News and Information Programming:

We exercise close scrutiny when deciding who can fund, sponsor, or otherwise underwrite ongoing news and information programming. We are especially cautious with respect to potential funders whose principal purpose or agenda is to bring about a specific political outcome or to influence public policy on controversial matters that are the current subjects of our ongoing coverage.

We do not accept funding of ongoing news and information programming from political parties and candidates for public office.

Funding and Underwriting for Music, Arts, and Cultural Programs:

We do not accept funds for arts and cultural programs that focus on reviews and recommendations from organizations with a direct interest in the works or performances.

We occasionally consider funding from a music or cultural performing group or venue to support the presentation of performances by such groups or at such venues, depending on the answers to such questions as:

Is the performance likely to meet our standards of quality for such material?

Does the group or venue have broad community support and interest or is there another community-focused rationale for presenting the performance?

Is there an appropriate reason to accept production funding from one community arts organization while declining such funding from another?

Funders and Underwriters as Partners in Content Creation

When we accept funding from an organization or institution that will also play a role in the creation of our content, including Western Kentucky University, our licensee, we do not substitute others’ editorial judgment for our own. We assure that our presentation of content produced through partnerships with funders meets our defined editorial standards. We disclose when a funder has joined us in the creation of content we present.

CONSISTENT EDITORIAL STANDARDS IN PARTNERSHIPS AND COLLABORATIONS

We engage in ongoing efforts to build connections that deepen our knowledge of the communities we serve and our awareness of potential partners for projects.

We maintain our defined editorial standards when partnering with other entities. We identify and articulate our principles, policies, and practices to all stakeholders in our partnerships and other collaborations. We require our partners to adhere to the same standards for any shared content, including transparency in the editorial process and the disclosure of content funders.

Our standards follow our content to other technologies and contexts. We disclose our editorial partners and provide to the public a brief description of their and our roles and responsibilities.

EMPLOYEE ACTIVITIES BEYOND THEIR PUBLIC MEDIA WORK

The actions of our employees, even when off the clock, "affect public trust in our integrity, credibility, and impartiality.” We expect employees to uphold our integrity in their personal as well as their professional lives.

We respect the active personal lives of public media employees and their many interests, activities, and relationships. We are mindful, though, that employees' activities beyond their public media work can affect our reputation and public trust. We, therefore, ask employees to integrate the principles and values of public media editorial integrity into their personal lives.

All public media employees should:

Aspire to high standards of integrity and ethics in their personal lives, including dealings with friends and associates, public behavior, and use of social media.

Be alert and sensitive to conflicts of interest between personal interests (including family members) and their professional public media responsibility.

Make a distinction between communications that are part of professional public media responsibilities and all other communications.

Exercise careful judgment about, limit, and in some cases forego, engaging in partisan activities or advocacy regarding controversial issues of public importance.

Volunteer Work

WKU Public Media benefits from and encourages staff to be actively engaged with the community, including participation on boards of directors for non-profit organizations, as engagement strengthens our community connections. In most cases, our community work is inconsequential to our positions in public broadcasting. Except when we are participating as part of our regular job duties (i.e. an on-air person appearing at a school graduation event), when we volunteer we must be very clear that we are acting as an individual, not on behalf of WKU-PBS or WKU-NPR. Our association with WKU-PBS or WKU-NPR may be construed as an endorsement by the organization of an activity. To be certain that these personal commitments do not unacceptably conflict with the public service interests of WKU-PBS and WKU-NPR, we must confer with a supervisor in advance of becoming involved.

Beyond volunteer work, we are occasionally asked to serve on a board, sometimes because our position in public broadcasting is advantageous to that organization. For most staff, it is expected that you let your supervisor know of your prospective candidacy for a board. Journalists and senior executives must review individually and with supervisors, the activities of organizations and prospective public policy positions they may take before they may be approved to serve on such boards.

Outside professional employment

Western Kentucky University does not discourage employees from outside employment or involvement with other organizations. However, employees should refrain from outside professional activities that create potential problems, such as:

interfering with your WKU- PBS or NPR performance
negatively affecting WKU-PBS or NPR’s reputation or credibility
using WKU- PBS or NPR’S resources
using WKU-PBS or NPR’s contacts or clients to the detriment of the organization
competing with WKU-PBS or NPR
representing a conflict of interest with outside parties.

WKU has an annual self-reporting process of disclosure that may (after the fact) cover many staff and situations. It is our individual responsibility to consult with supervisors if there is any possibility that such work may represent a conflict with WKU-PBS or NPR interests.

Journalists have special obligations regarding outside work and those considerations are covered in various professional guidelines.

Corporate Board Memberships

Staff may serve on corporate boards with the same guidelines noted above. Journalists must be very cautious about such service as WKU-PBS and WKU-NPR programming may at times present information that is counter to the interests of various corporate entities. Journalists and senior executives should generally avoid service on corporate boards and must review prospective service with their supervisor.

Personal Use of Social Media

Social networking sites, such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter have become an integral part of everyday life for millions of people around the world. The line between private and public activity has been blurred by these tools; information from your Facebook page, your blog entries, and your tweets - even if you intend them to be personal messages to your friends or family - can be circulated beyond your intended audience. This content, therefore, represents you and WKU-PBS and WKU-NPR to the outside world as much as a news story or talk show does. As in all of your work, the guidelines described in this document should guide you in your use of social media.

Recognize that everything you write or receive on a social media site is public. Any blog, comment, or "Facebook like" may be widely seen. Anyone with access to the web can get access to your activity on social media sites. And regardless of how careful you are online, your professional and your personal life overlap.

As noted above, some activities may be especially problematic for senior executives and employees with responsibility for editorial content-- particularly politically charged content- where fairness and the perception of independence and fairness are required. First and foremost we should do nothing that could undermine our credibility with the public, damage WKU-PBS or WKU-NPR’s standing as an impartial source of information, or otherwise jeopardize our reputation.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The Code of Editorial Integrity is part of a larger initiative to advance principles, policies and practices of editorial integrity throughout public media.

In developing the Code we have drawn upon:

Association of Fundraising Professionals "Donor Bill of Rights" BBC, "Editorial Guidelines"
The Center for Journalism Ethics, School of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of

Wisconsin- Madison

Communications Act of 1934, as amended
Development Exchange ,Inc. (DEl) "Gift Acceptance Policy" Maryland Nonprofits ,"Standards for Excellence Code" National Public Radio "NPR Code of Ethics"
Public Broadcasting Service, "PBS Editorial Standards and Policies" Society of Professional Journalists "Code of Ethics"

Discussion papers, sample editorial guidelines, and additional project documents are available at http://pmintegrity.org

The guidelines for WKU-PBS and WKU-NPR expand on the guidelines related to employees of WKU-PBS and WKU-NPR and our unique status as providers of electronic media and multi-platforms. These guidelines were gathered using the University of Wisconsin guidelines as a source. These guidelines can be found at:

UWEX guidelines http://www.uwex.edu/secretary/policies/section7/chapter8.pgf

UWEX Chapter 8/code of ethics, see 8.03 (1) (a) and 8.03 (1) (b)

UW system guidelines http://www.legis.state.wi.us/rsb/code/uws/ uws.html

UW System Code of Ethics; click on Chapter 8, then scroll to UWS 8.03(1) (b) G:\WPT lnfoshare\Ethics Policies

http://www.wpr.org/intranet/

We are grateful for support of the Editorial Integrity Project by The Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

SOURCES/Acknowledgements:

Media Guidelines

National Public Radio ethics policy http://ethics.npr.org/

PBS Editorial and Funding Standards

CPB Regulations

Principles of Editorial Integrity