Broadcasting Hope Public Media Grant
Florida Humanities’ Broadcasting Hope Media Grant provides funding to Florida public media stations and nonprofit, cultural organizations to support media projects rooted in the humanities. Supported projects are intended to produce impactful and inspirational public media programming (whether through television, radio broadcasts, podcasts, digital platforms, and other community engagement activities) which showcase local Florida communities coming together to inspire hope, broaden perspectives, and foster unity.
All Projects Must:
- Demonstrate a key message of unity and hope for communities
- Deepen public understanding of significant humanities questions and inspire constructive dialogue with the public.
- Approach a subject analytically, presenting a variety of perspectives
- Involve humanities scholar(s) and other subject-area experts in all phases of development and production
- Actively engage the general public through accessible program formats, and be free or not cost prohibitive.
Funding Details:
Broadcasting Hope Media Grants offers two levels of funding: Development and Production. Applicants may apply for either Development of Production grants, but cannot apply for or receive both. Applicants are not required to obtain a Development award before applying for a Production award. Please refer to the Guidelines for descriptions of each.
- Development award – up to $25,000
- Production award – up to $50,000
Funding Eligibility:
This funding opportunity is open to Florida public media stations, both TV and Radio, as well as private nonprofit organizations, institutions of higher education, state and local governmental agencies, and federally recognized Native American tribal governments. Organizations that apply for funding must be constituted for nonprofit purposes.
Eligible applicants may only submit one grant proposal for consideration each cycle. Applicants may not currently have a Broadcasting Hope Media Grant open, but may have hold another Florida Humanities grant or program (i.e. Community Project Grant, Greater Good: Humanities in Academia, Florida Talks, etc.), so long as the funds are not directed at the same project.
2021 Broadcasting Hope Awardees
Hover over map to learn more.
Looking for inspiration? Florida Humanities awarded $75,000 to four Florida public media stations in August 2021 through the Broadcasting Hope Public Media Grant. Explore these awardees and follow along with their programming!
WGCU – Florida Gulf Coast University Foundation (Fort Myers, FL)
“With a Made Up Mind” – $20,000
WGCU will create a half-hour documentary that explores the history of voter suppression among African Americans in Southwest Florida, and will draw on the voices of community leaders and humanities scholars to address how those historical inequalities are being addressed today to empower African American voters.
WPBT – South Florida PBS (Boynton Beach, FL)
“Wade in the Water: A Community Conversation” – $15,000
WPBT will host a public engagement event featuring filmmaker Cathleen Dean on the film, Wade in the Water: Drowning in Racism. The project will include a film screening and community “Town Hall” conversation funded by Florida Humanities as well as the production of three short profile segments that address the issue of drowning prevention and water safety, specifically among the African American community.
WUFT FM – University of Florida (Gainesville, FL)
“Evoking the Complexity of Black Experiences in Florida through Afrofuturism” – $20,000
WUFT will produce six 30-minute podcast series complemented by six three-minute animated vignettes along with multimedia open educational resources, with the purpose of engaging underserved communities to reimagine Florida history and collaboratively create representations of its future. Each episode will be paired with a community listening event located at spaces historically significant to the African American community.
WUSF – University of South Florida (Tampa, FL)
“WUSF – The History of Now: Through Our Voices” – $20,000
WUSF will document the COVID-19 experience from the viewpoint of BIPOC Florida residents, giving a historical perspective to the pandemic and post-pandemic recovery, and then produce a series of two to 10 audio oral histories and an episode of Florida Matters on the topic to air in March 2022.
Special Thanks
Florida Humanities recognizes the critical work of public media stations across the Sunshine State in connecting communities, sharing stories, and creating engaging humanities-based educational programming.
A special thanks to the following organizations for their support:
