KOIN 6 & uReport Level the Field for Portland High School Sports

PORTLAND, Ore. – May 01, 2026 – Local high school sports coverage is set for a dramatic transformation across the Portland metro area and southwestern Washington. KOIN 6 announced today a landmark partnership with DistrictWON's uReport, an initiative that promises to bring comprehensive sports reporting to every high school, regardless of its size or location. Through the partnership, KOIN will fully fund the deployment of the uReport platform, making professional-grade content creation tools accessible to all schools in the region at no cost.

This move signals a significant shift away from the traditional media model, which resource constraints often limit to covering only the largest schools or championship games. The new initiative aims to democratize media access, creating a dedicated digital space on KOIN.com for every single school to share its stories, scores, and highlights.

A New Playing Field for Community Coverage

For decades, smaller schools and less-mainstream sports have existed in the shadows of their larger, more prominent counterparts. This partnership directly addresses that disparity. By providing a unified, feature-rich platform, the collaboration aims to ensure that the achievements of a 1A swim team receive the same opportunity for exposure as a 6A football powerhouse.

"Local sports coverage has historically reached the biggest schools and the biggest games. uReport flips that. Every school in our market — from the 6A powerhouse to the 1A program with 80 kids — now has a dedicated platform on KOIN.com," said Tom Keeler, Vice President & General Manager of KOIN, in the announcement. The platform allows for unlimited uploads of photos and videos, enabling schools to create a rich, living archive of their athletic programs.

This initiative is not just about broadcasting scores; it is about fostering community. By empowering schools to tell their own stories, the program aims to strengthen the bond between schools, student-athletes, parents, and the wider local community. A free, fan-powered mobile app is also included, allowing community members to contribute updates in real-time, further deepening engagement.

Training the Next Generation with AI-Assisted Storytelling

Beyond its impact on sports coverage, the partnership represents a significant educational opportunity. uReport is described as a "human-powered, AI-assisted" platform, designed to provide students with real-world training in modern journalism. This hands-on experience is a core component of the program's value, preparing students for a media landscape where technology plays an increasingly central role.

The platform's AI functionalities are designed to act as a co-pilot for student creators, not a replacement. These tools can help automate time-consuming tasks such as drafting initial game summaries from scores and stats, generating headline suggestions, or tagging media assets, freeing up students to focus on higher-level journalistic work like conducting interviews, crafting compelling narratives, and producing creative video segments. The initiative explicitly includes training on the responsible use of AI in storytelling, a critical skill in an era of advancing technology.

The educational credibility of the platform is bolstered by its approval from the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), which has listed uReport in its vetted Learning Technology Directory. This endorsement signifies that the tool meets rigorous standards for supporting digital-age learning and pedagogical value, assuring educators of its quality.

KOIN's Strategic Investment in Hyperlocal Content

The decision by KOIN 6, part of Nexstar Media Group, to fully fund this ambitious project is a calculated strategic investment. In an increasingly fragmented media environment, local news outlets are seeking innovative ways to deepen community engagement, expand their digital footprint, and connect with younger audiences. This partnership achieves all three.

By providing the uReport platform for free, KOIN generates immense goodwill and positions itself as a central hub for valued community content. In return for its financial investment, the station gains access to a vast and continuous stream of hyperlocal sports stories, photos, and videos for its website, KOIN.com. This content would be prohibitively expensive to produce using a traditional reporting model. It effectively turns every school into a micro-correspondent, enriching the station's digital offerings and driving traffic to its online properties.

This model reflects a broader industry trend where local broadcasters are evolving beyond their traditional on-air presence to become multifaceted digital community platforms. By investing in the next generation of content creators and their stories, KOIN is also investing in its own future relevance and cultivating a relationship with an audience that may become loyal viewers and readers for years to come.

National Credibility Meets Local Implementation

While the implementation is local to Portland, the uReport platform arrives with a track record of national success and credibility. It is endorsed by key organizations like the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (NIAAA) and College Sports Communicators (CSC), which collectively represent thousands of educational institutions. These endorsements signal that the platform is a trusted and effective tool within the athletic and educational communities.

Schools in the region can begin signing up immediately to cover their spring sports events, with access continuing through the entire 2026–27 academic year. To facilitate adoption, KOIN is hosting a series of informational webinars for school administrators, teachers, and coaches. With full customer support and a proven system, the initiative is poised to quickly make its mark on the local sports scene, giving every athlete, team, and school their moment in the spotlight.