Joyce Foundation Supports New WBEZ Series on Great Lakes Region

CHICAGO, June 20, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- With full support from The Joyce Foundation, Chicago Public Media is presenting Front and Center, a new series of in-depth reporting on critical issues impacting the Great Lakes region.

Front and Center will begin several weeks of coverage on Monday, June 20 with reports airing during Morning Edition and Eight Forty-Eight and "Beneath the Surface: Great Lakes in Peril," a discussion starting at 1 p.m. central with a panel of experts, policy makers, and region-wide callers about the threats facing the Great Lakes' signature waterways. The multi-platform reporting will air on WBEZ 91.5 and appear on wbez.org/frontandcenter.

Following the launch, the water series will continue to document issues facing the region's waterways and water quality with investigations into cleanup efforts in Lake Erie and the Cuyahoga and Maumee rivers; the impact of the Great Lakes Compact; and a mini-series examining the Chicago River and St. Lawrence Seaway.

"The Joyce Foundation is proud to partner with Chicago Public Media to help raise awareness of the critical issues facing the Great Lakes region," said Joyce President Ellen S. Alberding. "Through the immersion-style reporting that's become a staple of Chicago Public Media programming, Front and Center will help do exactly that."

The second installment of Front and Center will resume in November, when it will focus on regional employment and labor issues.

Front and Center will be made available to public radio stations and other news organizations nationwide in an effort to bring national attention to Great Lakes issues. Chicago Public Media is also working with other news organizations to showcase important work being done on issues affecting the region's communities and will be highlighting that work on its website.

Cecilia Vaisman, a veteran public radio producer known for her work on multi-part, thematic series for national news programs, serves as the program's editor. WBEZ's managing editor, Sally Eisele, is the project's executive producer.

Based in Chicago, the Joyce Foundation supports efforts to protect the Great Lakes, to reduce poverty and violence in the region, and to ensure its residents good schools, decent jobs, a strong democracy, and a diverse and thriving culture. Learn more at www.joycefdn.org.

SOURCE The Joyce Foundation