KMOS PBS Named Finalist for NETA Public Media Awards

WARRENSBURG, MO – KMOS PBS , the University of Central Missouri’s public television station, has been  named a finalist in two categories of the National Education Telecommunications Association (NETA) Public Media Awards program planned for Jan. 25, 2022. The KMOS PBS initiative titled “The Story of Us: A KMOS American Portrait Special” was named a finalist in the category of Content: Cultural Documentary and in the category of Marketing/Communications: Integrated Media Campaign. 

KMOS PBS applied for and was awarded a $15,000 grant from PBS for the PBS American Portrait project. With this grant, KMOS PBS promoted the national American Portrait initiative, and worked with West-Central Independent Living Solutions (WILS) of Warrensburg, and Services for Independent Living (SIL) of Columbia and with local community partners to produce “The Story of Us: A KMOS American Portrait Special.” This locally produced program sought to highlight and tell the story of individuals in our communities who are living with disabilities and show that they are important members of our society and are part of the rich tapestry that makes up America. 

For this initiative, a robust and multi-faceted promotion and community engagement campaign was developed that included use of social media, email, traditional media, print, web, along with community engagement to  not only promote the project, but to solicit for submissions of content to create dialog and discussion around  how our communities are serving and living with individuals with disabilities. 

"It was an honor for WILS consumers to be able to share their stories and we are so thankful to KMOS for allowing us to play a small part in this project. Having a disability is just one aspect of human diversity. The American Portrait Project allowed WILS consumers the opportunity to share more about themselves," said
Amy Jenkins, director of strategy and communications at WILS.

More information about, and to watch online “The Story of Us: A KMOS American Portrait Special” can be found on the KMOS PBS website.

About KMOS PBS 
KMOS serves the citizens of 38 central Missouri counties with high-quality, educational content and experiences online, over-the-air and in our communities. The station is integral to engaged learning as a professional learning lab for students from a variety of disciplines at the University of Central Missouri. KMOS PBS broadcasts programming on four channels throughout the region with programs for all ages on 6.1, lifestyle and how-to programs on 6.2, news, dramas and more on 6.3, and a full schedule of kid’s programming to fit the schedule of every busy family on 6.4. 

About NETA 
The National Educational Telecommunications Association (NETA) is a professional association representing 279 member stations in 47 states, the Virgin Islands and the District of Columbia. NETA provides leadership, general audience content, educational services, professional development and trusted financial management services, including human resources and benefits administration, to individual public media licensees, their affinity groups and public media as a whole, visit netaonline.org.