Kansas City’s public radio station, KCUR 89.3 FM, with support from America Amplified – a national public media coalition funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to provide election coverage for 2020 – is working to flatten the curve with its new Spanish-translated COVID-19 blog.
KCUR announced its America Amplified initiative in partnership with eight other public media networks across the country as part of its $1.9 million Election 2020 grant from the Corporation of Public Broadcasting to cover the presidential race. With the fast outbreak of the novel coronavirus, the program made a shift to cover the global pandemic.
“We realize that we have a substantial Hispanic community in Kansas City with a large Spanish-speaking population,” said Director of Broadcast Operations Ron Jones. “This is a great opportunity to provide a public service and ensure that everyone is informed about the pandemic.”
The station is also partnering with Kansas City Hispanic News on a 60-day agreement to help spread the word about its new initiative to keep the community informed. In turn, the paper will gain access to the station’s English digital content and publish a print a translated version for its readers
Kansas City Hispanic News reaches a market of nearly 200,000 Hispanic residents expanding from the greater Kansas City metropolitan area to Topeka, Emporia and Wichita, Kansas. The paper has an average readership of 35,000 each week.
KCUR will be regularly updating its Spanish coverage of the coronavirus in Kansas City through its FAQ and live blog pages. The station is operated as an editorially independent community service of the University of Missouri-Kansas City.