During August, WFHB Community Radio (98.1 and 91.3 FM) will air four special programs that take an in-depth look at some of the biggest issues facing Bloomington and the surrounding area.

"At the Mic: Bloomington Close-Up" will run on Thursdays at 11 a.m. and explore the issues of homelessness and hunger, prison overcrowding and rehabilitation, outsourcing and health care and insurance.

For several months, students in the IU School of Journalism's Community Journalism Seminar researched and reported on these topics, with help from WFHB's news and public affairs department.

"These are things that really do affect our community in a big way," said Elle Lissitzyn, an IU student and the program's co-producer. "They aren't issues that make daily headlines."

Co-producer Erica Ballard agreed.

"You hear a lot in the news about jail overcrowding and the raising costs of health insurance," she said. "But rarely do you hear a piece on how these things affect the sheriff's job, the prisoner's stay or the person's life. These stories helped us realize how much these issues really affect the community and those in it."

The class worked on the project as part of the Community Journalism Seminar under the direction of IU School of Journalism Assistant Professor Mike Conway. The seminar received grant funding from Indiana Campus Compact and support from IU's Community Outreach and Partnerships in Service Learning (COPSL).

Each of the four 30-minute shows covers an important issue affecting the Bloomington community.

The first installment reports on the issues facing Bloomington's homeless and hungry and informs listeners about what area food banks and soup kitchens are doing to keep up with the increasing demand for meals.

The next looks at the Monroe County Jail's overcrowding and rehabilitation problems and reports on what is being done to decrease recidivism.

The third covers the issue of IU's outsourcing and details its effect on Bloomington's workforce.

The last segment examines why some in the community live without health insurance and discuss the funding problems facing our developmentally disabled ciizens.

"These are stories about people you may not read about in newspapers or hear about on TV. ... They encourage people to think compassionately and critically," said Chad Carrothers, executive producer of WFHB News.

"It ceased being a class," said IU School of Journalism Assistant Professor Mike Conway. "It turned out to be journalists digging into some really important stories."

This integration of the Bloomington community and IU was not lost on the class.

"These pieces are an excellent example of the synthesis between the university and community" said Lissitzyn. "On At the Mic: Bloomington Close-Up, the class moves beyond just being students to being members of the community. IU may be huge, but when you actually get off campus and become a part of Bloomington its incredible how much more there is out there."