The past year allowed KBIA to expand its coverage into documentary journalism, additional multimedia offerings and a second season of its national Murrow-winning news series The Next Harvest. The newsroom also leaned into more Planet Money-style explanatory pieces of journalism, to help our audience make sense of complex topics in a fun and informative way.
For months leading up to the beginning of 2025, three KBIA reporters spent time at the Room at the Inn overnight homeless shelter in a Columbia, Missouri church. This was initially done without recording equipment, as a means of gaining the trust of the unhoused population and not being extractive with our work. The end result was a half-hour documentary called "A Night at the Inn," in which the reporters spent a full day traveling the city with unhoused Missourians as they navigated cold winter weather, all the while seeing and hearing first-hand the challenges faced by this often-demonized group of people.
(0:00-4:55) A Night at the Inn
As the second Trump administration dawned, KBIA reporters watched as changed made at the federal level impacted mid-Missouri. KBIA reporter Harshawn Ratanpal built sources at a local office in the Department of Interior, the Columbia Environmental Research Center, which has spent decades keeping tabs on local streams and the species that call them home. Working through sources not wanting to be identified for fear of reprisals, Harshawn crafted stories such as the one below which put a human (and, sometimes, fishy) face on the changes wrought by the newly-created Department of Government Efficiency.
(4:56-8:55) CERC might close if Trump’s budget proposal goes through. What happens if it does?
KBIA's governmental coverage also uncovered some longstanding issues in mid-Missouri. Health reporter Anna Spidel learned that the local Veteran's Affairs clinic regularly had the highest rate of patient seclusion — where patients are removed from the general population and placed in a featureless room by themselves — of any VA clinic in the nation.
(8:55-13:37) Data shows high rates of seclusion at Columbia's VA Hospital
It was just one of several months-long investigations the station did in 2025. Nearly six months were spent on learning how and why 14 million pounds of toxic waste had been dumped in a warehouse in the small town of Berger, Missouri. Reporters Harshawn Ratanpal and Ceilidh Kern were nearly ready to give up in their quest to tell this whodunit story when they cold-called an Ohio number and a key player in the story picked up — and then sent them 11 pounds of legal paperwork he'd kept for years (including court documents showing why he went to prison for his role in the case).
(13:37-21:30) Dumped in Berger
KBIA also tried to find new ways to do explanatory journalism making dense topics understandable. A seemingly simple question — why are utility companies allowed to operate as monopolies? — helped give a backdrop to stories KBIA had been doing about utility rate cases and the seeming inability of state overseers to turn down rate increase requests. It also allowed for synergizing between KBIA's energy and governmental reporting desks.
(21:30-25:25) Why are utility companies monopolies?
The history of utilities wasn't the only piece to take both a look back and a look forward. Reporters Rebecca Smith and Katelynn McIlwain told the story of a small Missouri town that celebrated Juneteenth for the 25th time — even though it had only been a federal holiday since 2021. The story melds rich sound with the town's troubled past. As the town holds gospel music concerts and Black cowboys on horseback stride down city streets each June, they're continually trying to reclaim a place once known as "Little Dixie."
(25:25-29:20) From 'quirky small-town people' to pioneers: Fayette marks 25 years of Juneteenth celebrations
Reporter Jana Rose Schleis produced a second season of her national Murrow-winning series The Next Harvest, which looks at the challenges facing regenerative agriculture. In 2025, the series focused on new technologies available to farmers, as well as the roadblocks and hurdles they've faced trying to implement them in an industry that's heavy on traditional methods of doing business.
(29:20-33:19) The Next Harvest
When a winter storm hit mid-Missouri just as many people were set to go back to work or school, KBIA's newsroom was there providing updates in morning newscasts. The station went beyond the normal school closings to explain how the storm was affecting airports, road conditions and the city's salt supply. This reporting has since led to stories being produced even now which show Columbia residents are unhappy with the city's approach to plowing snow and keeping its streets safe and free of wintry hazards.
(33:19-36:01) January 6 morning newscast
Finally, from breaking news to news that's certain to come, but at an uncertain time. KBIA's three-part series on the town of New Madrid — namesake of an earthquake fault in the same portion of Southeast Missouri - exposes how, even though the town trades on the lore of a quake more than 200 years ago (that caused the Mississippi River to run backward for a time), the area seems unprepared for the next big temblor, which scientists say is overdue to happen.
(36:01-39:59) Many New Madrid school buildings could crumble in an earthquake
