In partnership with the Indiana Public Broadcasting Stations (IPBS), Lakeshore Public Radio and Lakeshore PBS will broadcast the ongoing updates from Gov. Holcomb and other state and health officials live from Indianapolis on Wednesdays at 1:30pm.
“As with many parts of the country, Indiana has seen an increase of Coronavirus cases during this outbreak,” said Lakeshore Public Media President and CEO James A. Muhammad. “It’s now more important than ever to let our fellow Hoosiers know what their government is doing to address the issues we face.”
Lakeshore Public Radio and Lakeshore PBS had been airing Gov. Holcomb’s addresses to Hoosiers about the Coronavirus pandemic, including his statewide stay-at-home announcement on March 23 and the ongoing updates from Gov. Holcomb and other state and health officials broadcast on weekdays at 1:30pm.
By mid-May, the briefings were cut back to three times a week. As the state progressed through different stages of reopening, Gov. Holcomb reduced his addresses to once a week in June and eliminated his televised addresses at the end of September. Updates continued on Facebook and online, with Indiana state health commissioner Dr. Kristina Box leading the weekly addresses.
In mid-November, Gov. Holcomb reinstated some Coronavirus restrictions after several weeks of sharp increases in COVID-19 positivity rate, hospitalizations and deaths. "We are in the midst of a second surge," Gov. Holcomb said. "There's only so many tools that we have to use to bend the trajectory down."
“We are in trying times now,” said Muhammad. “There is no telling how long this crisis will continue, but Lakeshore Public Media is here to continue our efforts to educate and inform listeners and viewers about the Coronavirus outbreak.”
Operating out of its Merrillville studios, the community-license public media organization is the Northwest Indiana member of the Indiana Public Broadcasting Stations, serving Indiana’s second largest urban area through their Lakeshore PBS and Lakeshore Public Radio service. Other IPBS TV and radio stations are located in Bloomington, Evansville, Fort Wayne, Indianapolis, Muncie, South Bend, Elkhart and Vincennes.
Lakeshore Public Radio can be heard on 89.1 FM and streaming online at lakeshorepublicradio.org. Lakeshore PBS broadcasts its main channel over the air on 56, on Comcast on 17 or 21 (HD Channel 239), on Dish Network HD Channel 6320, AT&T U-verse HD Channel 1056 and DirecTV on 56 and online at lakeshorepbs.org.
The digital team at Lakeshore Public Media has compiled a landing page for information gathered by its staff and partners, including IPB News, NPR, the Associated Press, the CDC and the state of Indiana and Illinois. The information is available online at www.lakeshorepbs.org/covid19.
Lakeshore Public Media provides quality local and original programming that educates, enlightens, and informs. Lakeshore Public Media chooses the best of NPR and PBS and other public media providers, broadcasting to millions of homes throughout Northwest Indiana, Chicago and its surrounding suburbs. Lakeshore Public Radio can be heard on 89.1fm. Lakeshore PBS broadcasts its main channel over the air on 56, on Comcast on 17 or 21 (HD Channel 239), on Dish Network (HD Channel 6320), AT&T U-verse (HD Channel 1056) and DirecTV on 56.