DETROIT - American Public Media's Public Insight Network today announced the addition of WDET Detroit as its latest newsroom partner. The Public Insight Network, founded in 2003 and funded in part by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, is a groundbreaking model for journalistic audience engagement giving individuals a direct channel for sharing their knowledge, experience and insights with news reporters around the country. This in turn helps newsrooms improve journalistic context, depth and quality while forging deeper connections with the communities they cover.

"American Public Media's Public Insight Network is a unique point of leverage for stations like WDET, that are committed to a model of local service based on deep, authentic relationships," says J. Mikel Ellcessor, WDET's general manager. "Our audience is consistently observing and commenting on the ways Detroit is misrepresented in the national media. The Public Insight Network creates a new ground where the news maker and the news consumer can collaborate around the goal of the most accurate, representative coverage of the community and the issues that shape our lives."

WDET joins a growing number of leading news organizations utilizing the Public Insight Network, from WNYC in New York and Southern California Public Radio in Los Angeles, to Oregon Public Broadcasting and the St. Louis Beacon. In the last year alone, Network sources, which number more than 87,000 nationwide, informed or unearthed more than 700 stories for Minnesota Public Radio News, and for American Public Media's public radio programs "Marketplace" and "Speaking of Faith."

"WDET embodies the promise of the Public Insight Network, which is to transform the media's relationship with the public and fulfill the information needs of diverse communities," says Linda Fantin, director of networked journalism and innovation at American Public Media. "WDET is an important addition to the Public Insight Network, and we're thrilled to be working with them."

To learn more about American Public Media's Public Insight Network, visit PublicInsightNetwork.org.

For questions please contact Mikel Ellcessor at mellcessor@wdet.org or 313.577.4146