WASHINGTON, D.C. — Baltimore-headquartered broadcast TV station owner and ATSC 3.0 champion Sinclair Inc. has partnered with the nation’s leading children’s literacy non-profit organization to launch a nationwide campaign that seeks to create awareness around children’s literacy challenges.
Sinclair Cares: Supporting Children’s Literacy sees the company led by CEO Chris Ripley link up with Reading Is Fundamental (RIF). To help get books into the hands of children across the U.S., a virtual book drive is being promoted. A $4 donation can help get a new book to a child in the nation’s most under-resourced communities.
“A recent study conducted by the National Institute for Literacy found that twenty percent of Americans read below the level needed to earn a living wage,” said Rob Weisbord, Chief Operating Officer and President of Local Media at Sinclair. “Our goal is to help ensure all children can become proficient readers, improving their future, and helping them to reach their full potential.”
The children’s literacy campaign will run across March, which is National Reading Month, and will be supported through public service campaigns across Sinclair’s television stations.
For the next two weeks, on-air talent from Sinclair’s local stations across the U.S. will be reading to students in schools and libraries in their respective markets in support of an associated “Read Across America” effort.
Additionally, Sinclair and RIF will team up to produce content to air on Sinclair-owned stations throughout March. Sinclair will also produce a 30-minute special to raise awareness around the issue. This broadcast will focus on the state of children’s literacy in the U.S., and feature interviews from RIF executives, literacy experts, educators and local students. The broadcast window for this special is March 21-March 31.
Sinclair’s TV stations will also stream a 60-minute version of the special on their respective websites.
National Assessment of Educational Progress scores for 2022 show that one in three children entering kindergarten lack the basic skills they need to learn to read, while two-thirds of U.S fourth graders do not read at grade level.
While the pandemic had much to do with current educational attainment levels of American youth, RIF dates to 1966 and has provided nearly 430 million books and reading resources to over 160 million children.
As Sinclair Inc. encourages support and awareness across its TV channels, the Sinclair Cares: Supporting Children’s Literacy campaign will also be supported by a $25,000 donation from the company.
For more information on Sinclair Cares: Supporting Children’s Literacy or to make a donation to the virtual book fair, please visit https://sinclaircares.com/.