Financials/Public File

Nebraska Public Media is committed to complying with all regulations and making our information easily accessible to the public. Our public inspection files for television and radio are maintained, pursuant to FCC permission, at Nebraska Educational Telecommunications, 1800 N. 33rd Street, Lincoln, NE 68503. They are available for viewing to the general public during regular business hours 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday and printed copies are available. For more information call (800) 868-1868.

Persons with disabilities who need assistance or others with issues relating to the content of Nebraska Public Media's public inspection files should contact Nebraska Public Media Human Resources at JThomsen@nebraskapublicmedia.org or 402-470-6413.

Governance

Nebraska Public Media management is accountable to two governing entities. The Nebraska Educational Telecommunications Commission holds the license for the nine transmitters and five translators that comprise the Nebraska Public Media radio network. It also holds the license for eight of the nine television transmitters and for the 15 translators that comprise the Nebraska Public Media television network. The ninth transmitter, KUON-TV, is licensed to the University of Nebraska Board of Regents. Through a long-standing agreement with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the Board of Regents, KUON-TV operates as the flagship station for Nebraska Public Media television.

Open Meetings

Nebraska Educational Telecommunications Commission meetings and University of Nebraska Board of Regents meetings are open to the public per Nebraska Revised Satute 84-1409. Time is available at each meeting for public comments. Please visit the links above for a schedule of upcoming meetings and additional detail.

Financial, Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO), Content and Services Reports

The FCC and CPB require Nebraska Public Media to provide a number of reports pertaining to financial, EEO, local content and services. That information can be found in the following PDFs:

Nebraska Public Media 2023-24 Statement of Commitment to Diversity

Updated September 2023

Nebraska Public Media is a joint undertaking of the Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska and the State of Nebraska Educational Telecommunications Commission. The reputation of public media rests on trust from the public that Nebraska Public Media operates with the highest standards of honesty and integrity. To accomplish this in conjunction with our mission, vision, and values is maintaining a workplace environment and governing boards, which recognize and celebrate diversity, equity, and inclusion in accordance with University of Nebraska and/or State of Nebraska policies.

Nebraska Public Media recognizes that diversity comes in many forms, both apparent and sometimes invisible. At its heart, diversity speaks to the range of perspectives and ideas that come from a variety of individuals and their personal and cultural perspectives. We are steadfast in our dedication to fostering a diverse and inclusive media landscape that reflects the richness of the communities we serve. That means that we strive to produce content by and about a variety of people encompassing all forms of diversity: including, but not limited to, race, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, socioeconomic status, physical ability, national and geographic origin, marital status, and veteran status[RW1] . We believe each of these factors, and others, contributes to Nebraska Public Media’s ability to serve its communities across Nebraska and is important to our mission and work, Connecting and Empowering Every Nebraskan.

Nebraska Public Media is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate against individuals based on any characteristics protected by law. Recruiting and maintaining a diverse workforce, management team, and board membership is an organizational responsibility and goal. We are deliberate in all our employment practices to ensure that employment opportunities are widely advertised, and that policies and practices are administered in an unbiased and objective manner that meets applicable University, State and FCC guidelines.

The following are the 2023/2024 diversity guidelines and statistics for Nebraska Public Media. The guidelines are developed to show compliance with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Nebraska Public Media’s workforce is comprised of approximately 200 full-time and part-time employees that range in age from early twenties to early seventies. In 2023 39% of new hires were women, minorities, and veterans, and 50% of the total workforce represent women, minorities, and veterans. Also in 2023, 57% of the boards reflect women and minorities.

We have continued efforts to maintain and improve the diversity of the staff over the past two years. In 2022, 70% of new hires were women, minorities, and veterans, and 53% of the total workforce represent women, minorities, and veterans. In 2022, 62% of the boards reflected women and minorities. In 2021 The Educational Telecommunications Commission and Nebraska Public Media Foundation Board represented at 50% female and minorities opportunities across the organization including but not limited to: emerging media, broadcast production, news, radio, education, and development.

Nebraska Public Media remains committed to supporting students and internship opportunities. During the previous 12 months, Nebraska Public Media provided 13 students with paid educational experiences. Of the total students, 77% represent female and minorities.

In support of Nebraska Public Media initiatives from our 2022/2023 Statement of Commitment to Diversity, Nebraska Public Media confirms the following activities:

Nebraska Public Media continued our membership with NPR and other public media organizations from across the country as part of the public media recruiting efforts called Think Public Media. This partnership allows us access to the resume databases of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, National Association of Black Journalists, and the Asian American Journalist Association. Human Resources reviewed and will continue to review these databases for potential candidate recruitment opportunities.
Nebraska Public Media staff and board members again recorded a 100% completion for the annual CPB Workplace Harassment Prevention training for the previous year.
Human Resources attended CPB’s effective completion of Harassment and Bias prevention training in order to advance the benefits of this training required of all employees.
A review of Nebraska Public Media’s diversity email list, consisting of 50 organizations, was completed with no additions or deletions.
Nebraska Public Media employed a third party to complete an equity study to ensure fair and equitable pay for all employees. Our findings indicated that less females were undercompensated than males. We are currently taking steps to address identified inequities and evaluate the data.
Nebraska Public Media’s Community Engagement Manager, Maggie Berndt attended the 2023 NETA Conference and participated in the “Your Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Toolkit” training, “Adding the ‘A’ to your DEI Program: Improving the Accessibility of Your Organization”, as well as serving as a panelist for the “Creating Sustainable and Co-Collaborative Partnerships with Indigenous Communities” training.
Nebraska Public Media Chief Technology Officer, Ling Ling Sun and Chief Financial Officer, Randy Hansen participated in and completed the Public Media Diversity Leaders Initiative program fall of 2022 and spring of 2023. PMDLI’s virtual program curriculum incorporates collaborative exercises, scenario analyses and audio/visual tools that introduce strategic DEI frameworks to guide development of actionable plans.
10 employees of Nebraska Public Media attended the 2023 ICAN Women’s Leadership Conference.
In August 2022, we added a new television channel, FNX, First Nations Experience. It is a national broadcast television network exclusively devoted to Native American and World Indigenous content. KVCR, a PBS station in San Bernadino, Calif., owns and originates FNX from its studios. Through Native-produced and themed documentaries, dramas, nature, cooking, gardening, children’s, and arts programming, FNX works to accurately illustrate the lives and cultures of Native people.
We have diversity in our local content team, and we also seek strategic partnerships that share our diversity goals including America Amplified, a project designed to listen and amplify the voices of those in diverse communities across the nation leading up to the 2024 elections.
Nebraska Public Media also partnered with Firelight Media; a national nonprofit media company focused on supporting BIPOC filmmakers. Nebraska Public Media’s partnership with Firelight included mentorship, production support, outreach, and distribution of a short film by a Native American filmmaker.
Additionally, Nebraska Public Media partnered with WGBH and Vision Maker Media to produce two episodes of the national series "Stories from the Stage." These episodes, recorded in our studio, feature Native American storytellers.

Nebraska Public Media goals for the 2023/2024 year.

Nebraska Public Media will conduct research on diversity training for supervisors and employees to participate in that will build upon and enhance our organization’s DEI efforts.
In order to strengthen our diverse applicant pool, Human Resources will conduct an employee survey to potentially identify additional touchpoints of diverse applicant networks.
We will continue to work with students at the University of Nebraska and participate in scholarship programs designed to assist students interested in pursuing a career in broadcasting.
Nebraska Public Media will complete longer-term recruitment initiatives as required by FCC- EEO including participation in career fairs, internship programs and other educational institutions programs relating to broadcasting career opportunities. These efforts are reported in the FCC EEO Annual Report.

Closed Captioning

Nebraska Public Media certifies that, as standard practice, closed-captioned programming produced by Nebraska Public Media is in compliance with the Federal Communications Commission requirements set forth by including, but not limited to the “best practices” approach adopted in the FCC report and order on Feb. 20, 2014, in the matter of CG Docket No. 05-231.

For closed captioning concerns, please contact our captioning hotline:

Phone: 800-698-3426
Fax: 402-472-3540
Email: customerservice@nebraskapublicmedia.org

We will make every effort to respond or otherwise resolve your inquiry within 24 hours or one business day.

Written complaints regarding closed captioning should be directed to:

Nancy Finken
Chief Content Officer
Nebraska Public Media
1800 N 33rd St.
Lincoln, NE 68503

Phone: 402-470-6365

Email: nfinken@nebraskapublicmedia.org

Before sending a formal written complaint, we recommend you first contact our captioning hotline (800-698-3426). We may be able to resolve your problem immediately without the need for a formal complaint. In any event, we will respond to your complaint within 30 days. The above contact information applies to Stations KUON-TV, KHNE-TV, KLNE-TV, KMNE-TV, KPNE-TV, KRNE-TV, KTNE-TV, KXNE-TV, and KYNE-TV.

Donor Privacy

The Nebraska Public Media Foundation, or any person working on their behalf, shall not engage in the exchange, lease, loan, trade, rental, donation, sale or transfer of member or donor names for any purpose whatsoever. Charitable work on behalf of the Foundation shall be the sole exception to this policy.

The Foundation shall maintain active control of all membership and donor lists, and shall take all appropriate measures to ensure against unauthorized use of such lists.

The Foundation shall maintain complete and accurate records of all uses of membership and donor lists, including those for fundraising purposes, and shall furnish such records to members and donors for proper purposes on request.

The Foundation shall also maintain complete and accurate records by which they may be assured that they are in compliance with all applicable State and Federal laws and regulations, and with the eligibility requirements for public telecommunications entities as established by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) and other national agencies. The Foundation shall annually certify their continued compliance with CPB requirements as specified by CPB station grant procedures.

FCC Station Profiles & Public Inspection Files

Television

KMNE: Basset, Ch. 7
KPNE: North Platte, Ch. 9
KUON: Lincoln, Ch. 12
KRNE: Merriman, Ch.12
KTNE: Alliance, Ch.13
KYNE: Omaha, Ch.17
KXNE: Norfolk, Ch.19
KLNE: Lexington, Ch. 26
KHNE: Hastings, Ch. 28

Radio

KLNE: Lexington, Ch. 88.7
KHNE: Hastings, Ch. 89.1
KXNE: Norfolk, Ch. 89.3
KMNE: Basset, Ch. 90.3
KTNE: Alliance, Ch. 91.1
KUCV: Lincoln, Ch. 91.1
KRNE: Merriman, Ch. 91.5
KPNE: North Platte, Ch. 91.7
KCNE: Chadron, Ch.91.9
FCC Applications: FM Translators