COLUMBUS, OHIO, APRIL 15, 2020 – WOSU Public Media is collecting and publishing stories documenting Central Ohioans’ day-to-day lives during the coronavirus pandemic in its Letters from Home initiative. WOSU producers curate these stories and post them on WOSU’s various formats (radio, TV and digital).
“Each voice helps us process what’s happening right now, as we all are living through it,” said Cindy Gaillard, director of local content for WOSU TV. “Our goal is to help build connections that draw us more closely together in a time of social distancing.”
WOSU brings Letters from Home in partnership with the Columbus Museum of Art. Participants are encouraged to contribute often, and WOSU will provide weekly prompts to help inspire submissions. First posted question: What have you learned about yourself during this time?
“I really do feel that there are deeper things happening beneath the surface. … It’s almost like I found an unlabeled packet of seeds in my shed and planted them … ”
-Amy Oblinger, Columbus, Ohio“My arms still ache from want of hugging her. I don’t know when I will be able to hug my daughter again.”
-Robert Hardin-Leeth, Columbus, Ohio“At times, I feel sadness and flop onto the bed, face down to cry for a few minutes.”
-Janice Dunham, Worthington, Ohio
Historically, letters from everyday people who lived in exceptional times have been an invaluable resource for historians, social researchers and families. Inspired by World War II Wartime Diaries and manuscripts from the Federal Writers’ Project, Letters from Home captures the ordinary and the extraordinary – the personal stories of coping, reflection, new realities, family, physical health and mental health as the entire world grapples with a public health crisis unprecedented in modern times.
WOSU Classroom has provided a lesson guide that parents and teachers can use as part of at-home learning to help students in grades Pre-K–12 process the impact of the pandemic on their daily lives.
During the coronavirus pandemic, WOSU Public Media is responding in service to the community in a variety of ways providing critical news, educational opportunities for students and teachers and escape via radio, tv and digital programming. For a summary, view our WOSU Community Impact Update: COVID-19 Pandemic at wosu.org.
About WOSU Public Media
The mission of WOSU Public Media is to engage, inform and inspire our diverse community. An NPR and PBS affiliate, WOSU is a noncommercial multimedia organization serving over two million citizens in Central Ohio through broadcast, digital, programming, events and education experiences. A licensee of The Ohio State University, member-supported WOSU Public Media moves its headquarters and studios to the new 15+HIGH District on campus in 2021. Learn more at wosu.org.
CONTACT:
Amy Tillinghast
Senior Director of Marketing and Communications
2400 Olentangy River Road | Columbus, OH 43210
614-688-2166 | amy.tillinghast@wosu.org