A Q&A with FāVS News Executive Director Tracy Simmons: New partnership with Northwest Public Broadcasting

By FāVS News Staff

FāVS News Executive Director Tracy Simmons discusses the newsroom’s collaboration with NWPB and why partnerships are vital for expanding local religion journalism.

1. Talk about your new partnership with Northwest Public Radio. Who are they and why is this important for FāVS? 

Northwest Public Broadcasting reaches listeners all across the region — communities we care deeply about but don’t always have the bandwidth to serve directly. The two-way format means it’s not just our stories getting distribution; it’s me in conversation with a host, unpacking the reporting in real time. That kind of exchange brings context and texture that a headline can’t. It reaches people who rely on public radio as their primary news source — and it puts a human voice behind the journalism, which matters.

2. How does partnering with a public broadcasting organization help expand the reach of FāVS News?

NWPB will be bringing me on air for two-way conversations — where their hosts and I talk through a FāVS story that’s relevant to their listeners. So it won’t just be a headline or a summary; it’ll be a deeper conversation about why a story matters, what we found and what it means for communities across the region. Listeners can expect topics like how congregations are navigating post-pandemic recovery, the uptick in Christian nationalism and much more. Religion is rarely just about religion — and those conversations tend to be rich ones.

3. Why are collaborations like this important in journalism? 

No single newsroom can do it all — and the communities we serve are better off when we stop pretending otherwise. Local news is facing real resource constraints, and collaboration is one of the most honest responses to that reality. When a digital newsroom like FāVS partners with a public broadcaster like NWPB, we’re combining different strengths: deep beat expertise with broad distribution, text-based storytelling with audio. The result is more people getting quality, community-rooted journalism.

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