KUOW sounds different, and it’s because, today, we are an organization fundamentally
transformed by listener investment and participation. In a single day, we have a
photojournalist out in the community, reporters dedicated to investigating listener
questions, stories being told and retold on air, online and through social media and
smart speakers, producers and editors measuring our diversity of sources, and you, our
listeners, participating in more ways than ever before.
I look around, and I see our community firing on all cylinders in pursuit of our
mission to create and serve a more informed public. It’s an incredibly exciting time.
And yet, it’s a difficult time too. This year will also be remembered for its
particularly disconcerting news cycle—one that threatens to create as much apathy as
outrage, as much exhaustion as energy. What keeps me up at night is the fear that
we’ll lose the ability to listen—not just to public radio and KUOW, but to each other.
I’ll leave you with this thought. When we truly listen, we make a conscious choice
to take down our shields and open ourselves up to empathy and to disagreement, to
concern and to inspiration. Tuning out is easy. Listening takes work. But the better
future we believe in is not possible without it. It starts with listening.
Thank you for your support. Thank you for actively choosing to listen day in and
out. You make a difference, and we hope you hear it too.
Yours in gratitude,
Caryn G. Mathes
President and General Manager
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