MEDIA ALERT
Office of Communications, Tel: 305.749.8500
Giselle Reid, Email: greid@friendsofwlrn.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MIAMI, FL – MAY 9 2023 - WLRN, an award-winning Public Media organization serving South Florida through radio and television broadcast as well as other digital platforms, is partnering with PolitiFact, a Pulitzer Prize-winning fact checking media organization, to broadcast and publish PolitiFact content and share it with other public radio stations throughout Florida.
The two media outlets signed a two-year partnership agreement that began May 1.
“WLRN is thrilled to team up with PolitiFact because it shares our core principles of fact checking journalism: independence, transparency, fairness, thorough reporting and clear writing,” said WLRN CEO John LaBonia.
WLRN, a public radio station with more than 360,000 weekly listeners, serves a South Florida audience that extends from the Florida Keys to Palm Beach, and includes coverage of Miami and Fort Lauderdale. Its reporters cover politics, education, the environment, the Americas and local governments.
“It’s an ideal partnership for our WLRN audience on air and on the web because of PolitiFact’s strong journalistic reputation,” said WLRN Vice President for News Sergio Bustos.
PolitiFact reports on specific statements made by politicians and rates them for accuracy on its Truth-O-Meter. PolitiFact started in 2007 as an election-year project of the Tampa Bay Times (then named the St. Petersburg Times), Florida’s largest daily newspaper. It is now part of the Poynter Institute, a nonprofit that teaches journalists and journalism around the globe.
“PolitiFact’s Truth-O-Meter has been keeping Florida politicians and candidates honest since 2007. We are so excited that WLRN sees the same value in our work as we do, and that so many more Floridians will have access to high-quality information,” said PolitiFact Executive Director Aaron Sharockman.
PolitiFact has its main offices in St. Petersburg, Fla., and Washington, D.C., and partners with media organizations, including newspapers, radio stations and digital newsrooms, all over the country.
The partnership will help WLRN further it’s mission of providing unbiased quality journalism and its commitment to being the most trusted source of news and information in South Florida's diverse community.
ABOUT WLRN:
WLRN is Public Radio and Television for South Florida. Signed into effect in 1948 as a non-profit, non-commercial broadcast radio station licensed to the School Board of Dade County, WLRN-TV followed in 1962. Since then, WLRN has grown steadily to become an integral part of the community it serves, offering a rich and varied mix of news and information, arts and culture, childhood education and lifelong learning. A multifaceted media enterprise comprised of digital and traditional television, radio channels, cable services, and other digital platforms WLRN continues to provide quality public radio and television services to a combined weekly audience of well over a million people in South Florida, from Palm Beach to Key West. WLRN also provides media support to Miami-Dade County Public Schools.
Press Contact:
Giselle Reid
Senior Director of Marketing, WLRN
greid@friendsofwlrn.org