A note from our President & CEO

We at OPB and KMHD believe deeply in independent, fact-based storytelling, freely accessible to everyone. We seek to strengthen the communities we serve across Oregon and the Pacific Northwest by leading with meaningful programs and reporting that inform important conversations and offer you a place to stay curious and connected to one another. That means ensuring the stories we share reflect the world around us.

As demographics shift in our region, we are at our strongest when we convey the rich variety of identities, geographies and experiences of all the people who live here. In doing so, we ensure that our reporting is not only inclusive but also insightful and accurate. Only then can we capture the complex challenges, needs and aspirations that knit us together.

Through partnerships with other news and community organizations, we strive to connect with people who might not otherwise encounter us. We seek to build relationships and trust through a sustained presence across Oregon and southwest Washington, through listening with humility and empathy, and through accuracy and transparency in our reporting.

We believe in the power of journalism to lift the voices of those who otherwise would not be heard and hold powerful people and institutions accountable. We believe in journalism that challenges our thinking and assumptions. We believe in offering the information you need to make your own choices.

Here, you’ll learn more about our core values at OPB and KMHD, and how they shape our public service. You’ll see how we are continuing to build a workplace where all people feel welcome, and how that translates into better journalism. You’ll also find information about how we engage with the broader community, foster partnerships to expand our coverage and ensure our editorial content reflects the region’s voices.

We’re committed to this journey because we know an OPB where everyone feels they belong is a stronger organization that can better serve our region. We are constantly listening, learning and improving. We invite you to join us in this work as we strive to embody our commitment to serve.

- Rachel Smolkin, President and CEO of Oregon Public Broadcasting

Public media’s founding values

OPB’s dedication to equity and accessibility is rooted in the founding vision of the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, which championed free, noncommercial educational programming that reflects a diversity of voices. The Act states that “it is in the public interest to encourage the development of programming that involves creative risks and that addresses the needs of unserved and underserved audiences, particularly children and minorities.” At OPB, we bring this vision to life every day, guided by our mission, vision and values.

OPB’s values

Our values are the heart of our identity. They guide how we as an organization work together to achieve our goals. Our commitment to inclusivity and community representation is embedded in all of our core values.

In our community

OPB and KMHD work with a Community Advisory Board (CAB) that represents the diverse communities of Oregon and Southwest Washington. Our CAB members bring a wide range of experiences, perspectives, backgrounds and subject matter expertise. The CAB offers valuable insights and feedback on community issues, as well as OPB and KMHD’s storytelling and public service initiatives.

OPB and KMHD are deeply rooted in the communities we serve, and we work alongside partners to bring our storytelling to new and underserved audiences. Through meaningful collaborations, we strive to engage our communities with care and respect, ensuring our work reflects and uplifts all the voices of our region. Below are just a few examples of how we show up in our communities and the people and partnerships that make it possible.

Celebrating rural performing arts at the OK Theatre

The Oregon Art Beat team partnered with the OK Theatre in Enterprise, Oregon, to organize a showcase of Oregon Art Beat episodes about artists in the region, including a documentary about the OK Theatre’s history and restoration. In addition to screening the OAB episode, the event included food and beer from local vendors and performances by local musicians. Through the storytelling process and the in-person event, OPB developed trust with a community that can sometimes feel disconnected from OPB. And, through the power of shared stories, the event helped to narrow the urban-rural divide that Oregonians have long felt.

Honoring Oregon’s Chicano history

In ‘The Living Legacy of Colegio César Chávez’, our Oregon Experience team shares the story of the first and only independent accredited Chicano university in the United States. Around the same time as the premiere of ‘The Living Legacy of Colegio César Chávez’, Oregon Historical Society held an exhibit about the history of the university. We partnered with Poder, Oregon’s Latino Leadership Network, to host a screening of the episode and panel discussion with the leaders featured in the film at the Oregon Historical Society. The standing-room-only event was bilingual in English and Spanish and sparked an intergenerational dialogue about the past and future of Oregon’s Chicano community.

Leveraging partnerships for greater accountability to our region’s Native communities

ProPublica and OPB collaborated on an investigation detailing the disappearance of salmon from the Pacific Northwest. The reporting also revealed levels of toxic chemicals in Columbia River salmon that state health agencies deem unsafe when consumed at the quantities that many of the region’s 68,000-plus tribal people consume. As part of the series we produced a documentary film “Wy-Kan-Ush-Pum (Salmon People): A Native Fishing Family’s Fight to Preserve a Way of Life,” which gives a firsthand look at the plight of the salmon of the Columbia River and the Native people whose lives revolve around them. We hosted a screening and panel discussion with the individuals who helped bring the film to life at the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center & Museum.

Our commitment to building an inclusive workplace

Our ability to serve all communities of Oregon and southern Washington starts by representing a range of experiences and perspectives at OPB. We prioritize this in our hiring and recruitment practices by posting every job opening on job boards and associations that reach many different communities, using hiring panels that complete anti-bias training before every recruitment and partnering with initiatives like Think Public Media to build a presence at major professional associations that are focused on journalists who are underrepresented in public media.

Our internships and fellowships contribute to the pipeline of diverse talent for the future of public service journalism. We participate in projects like NPR’s NextGenRadio, whose graduates often go on to work at public media stations, including OPB.

We also recognize that recruiting staff who bring a variety of lived experiences is just the beginning. What is equally important is building a workplace culture where people from different backgrounds are all valued and supported. We support several employee-led committees and resource groups that provide spaces of connection and belonging within our organization, celebrate the cultural diversity of our staff and the communities we serve, and advocate for practices and professional development opportunities that support a workplace culture where all OPB employees feel they belong and can do their best work.

Members, foundations and sponsors

As a predominantly member-supported organization, we have a responsibility to reflect the people and communities who make our mission possible.

Through robust community support from members, foundations, and local sponsorship from companies and non-profits, our public service is freely accessible to all. Our community support model upholds our independence as a non-profit, public service media organization and has enabled OPB to invest in growing our capacity for journalism and storytelling in the public interest that reflects voices, perspectives and life experiences of people from across the region.

Community support helps us find and develop the talent we need to provide our best public service journalism, to create and curate valued programs and meet our audiences where they are. We have invested in ongoing learning and growth to foster an environment of support and respect, as that in turn strengthens the journalism our audiences experience. Your contributions ensure we are present in communities to listen and amplify stories that expand our collective sense of place and what it means to live in this part of the Northwest.

Your contributions ensure we carry out this work for you and your community, guided by and accountable to our organizational values and the public we serve together.

Take a concrete action now and join as a Sustaining member with an ongoing monthly contribution to help ensure this important work thrives today and into the future.