Todd Mundt

At the Public Radio Program Director’s conference this morning, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting has announced a big initiative to find the best independent producers, support them, and encourage them to reinvent public radio’s sound. CPB Senior Vice President for Radio Bruce Theriault made the announcement during his address to the conference.

CPB and the Association of Independents in Radio (AIR) have announced the Public Radio Makers Quest 2.0 to disburse up to $400,000 in grants (each ranging from $20k-$40k) to producers who are “reshaping programming to fit new media.”

Ingrid Lakey, former PD at WETA in Washington and Executive Producer of Justice Talking, is the talent manager for the project.

This is exciting news and is another example of a growing commitment at CPB to “throwing open the doors” as Theriault said in his address this morning.