Michigan Radio Releases Strategic Plan

In a posting on the station website, Michigan Radio released details of their strategic plan to their listeners.  The process began in the fall of 2019 to develop a new strategic plan and articulating a refreshed vision, mission and values statements for the station. This was done to help guide the organization’s forward path and ensure the station’s relevance in the rapidly changing media and journalism landscape. A central focus was to develop a path to diversify the station’s audience to better represent the Michigan population that we serve, and help ensure the station’s long term financial stability.

The station retained Bridgeport Consulting of Ann Arbor to assist in this process. Bridgeport undertook an intensive staff engagement process designed to build a shared sense of commitment to the path forward. As part of this process, Bridgeport conducted 1:1 interviews with each member of the senior staff and also assembled a Core Team comprised of station staff. This eight-member Core Team, which did not include senior staff members, consisted of employees across a wide variety of station departments, including the content & on-air teams and the business operations & advancement teams. The Core Team was set up to help facilitate input from all staff in this process and helped develop concepts to be included in the strategic plan.

In March, 2020 Bridgeport Consulting conducted small focus group sessions open to all staff across the station, designed to gather feedback on the draft vision, mission, and values statements. Following these sessions, the station Senior Leadership and the Core Team met to build a shared understanding of the small group conversations with staff, and to confirm the vision, mission, and values statements. And finally, in early July, an All-Staff Meeting via Zoom was held which provided staff with an overview of the strategic planning process; confirmed approval of the outcomes and generated feedback on the plan’s key goals.

The result is a strategic plan that clearly articulates Michigan Radio’s vision, mission, and values as well as the goals that will guide the station in pursuing that mission. The culmination of this work is reflected in what follows.

Vision: An informed and engaged Michigan.

Mission: Uncovering the facts, sharing the stories, and creating the connections that give meaning to our complex world.

Values:

1. Earning trust. We report news and information with tireless dedication, and our programming is authentic, reliable, and relatable.
2. Acting independently. We operate with autonomy, answering only to our audiences, never to corporate interests.
3. Embracing diversity. We seek out and embrace varied perspectives and are committed to ensuring the station’s staffing composition reflects the diverse communities we serve.
4. Operating ethically. We adhere to the highest standard of journalistic integrity, and conduct our internal operations with sound, transparent practices.
5. Pursuing fairness. We recognize the innate biases that influence each of us, and work to overcome these in service of responsible reporting.

You can view Michigan Radio’s complete Strategic Plan dated October 2020 here.