Public Media Supports America’s Civic Health
September 18, 2024
From left, CPB Senior Vice President Anne Brachman, PBS SoCal CEO Andrew Russell, PBS SoCal Chief Content Officer Tamara Gould and Jesus Trejo, host of "Roots of Comedy with Jesus Trejo," at the 2024 Public Media Thought Leader Forum in Pittsburgh. Photos by Autumn Johnson
The 2024 Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s (CPB) eighth Public Media Thought Leader Forum this week attracted more than 500 public media leaders, educators, and innovators, together in Pittsburgh, with hundreds more joining virtually, to affirm public media’s important role in strengthening the civic health of our nation.
“For more than 50 years, public media has been educating and informing generations of Americans about democracy, citizenship, and community,” said Patricia Harrison, president and CEO of CPB. “The prevalent narrative today is of a divided nation, but public media stations, which are all locally owned and operated, are uniquely positioned to tell another story – that of “We the People,” the millions of Americans who help one another every day without a political litmus test. They are all ages and backgrounds, in cities and rural areas, and working or volunteering in ways that make our country better.”
Harrison said that millions have responded affirmatively to public media icon Fred Rogers when he asked that profound question, “Won’t you be my neighbor?”
In fact, this year, the U.S. Census Bureau and AmeriCorps reported that during the height of the pandemic, when it was life-threatening to engage with one another in person, more than 185 million Americans ages 16 and older volunteered their time through organizations such as public media, or on their own to help their neighbors. This represents more than 4 billion hours of service with an estimated economic value of $123 billion.
A New Civic and Engagement Initiative
CPB, a member of America250 and a founding member of More Perfect, a partnership to renew democracy, will celebrate the 250th anniversary of the founding of our country through an initiative to support public media in sharing these stories of a nation of helpers.
CPB announced at the forum that it has selected PBS SoCal to lead the Civic Content and Engagement Initiative, a national short-form, digital-first, public media initiative that will collect and share the stories of Americans describing the defining moment or experience that made them realize that they could make a difference through public service and community engagement, their “civic spark.”
“This is a time when public media, which is locally based with strong ties to community, can show the value of our mission, our commitment to local storytelling and civil society, and to really show what we can do,” said PBS SoCal President and CEO Andrew Russell.
PBS SoCal Chief Content Officer Tamara Gould said PBS SoCal will work over the next eight months to partner with six pilot public radio and television stations in a range of communities to build content prototypes to go through rigorous evaluation to inform a strategic plan to roll out the initiative for all stations to participate. “This is public media’s moment. This is why we exist. We are positioned like no other to tell these stories about our own communities and underscore the ‘we’ and not the ‘they.’”
Stories from these communities will provide an alternative narrative to the one dominated by polarization and division.
Public Media Strengthens Community
The daylong forum began with Harrison welcoming her good friend Lidia Bastianich, acclaimed chef, restaurateur, and public television host for more than 25 years, for a conversation about connecting through food and cultural traditions.
Bastianich has been meeting with people from Appalachia to California to share ideas and effective practices related to food, culture, community, and wellness, featured in her upcoming PBS special “Lidia Celebrates America: Changemakers.” In sharing these stories and discussing her work, Lidia noted that “a lot of these people watch the show because public media is out there and reachable. That’s one of the reasons why I have stayed with public media for all these years.”
During lunch, bestselling author and columnist Amanda Ripley talked about the nature of conflict, how we can reimagine conflict and disagree better whether the context is inner city gang conflict or political discourse. Public media contributes to strengthening our civic health by making its processes transparent, being mindful of tonal delivery, and really listening: “Listening is the skeleton key of conflict,” she said.
Civic Engagement
An afternoon panel discussion brought together Dr. Joel Breakstone, co-founder of the Digital Inquiry Group, Aaron Augenblick, executive producer of the PBS KIDS show “City Island,” and Travis Mitchell, Maryland Public Television senior vice president and chief content officer, to talk about the importance of media literacy and engaging audiences of all ages to encourage more civic participation.
Together We Can
To close the day, Kay Wilson Stallings of Sesame Workshop showcased “Together We Can,” Sesame Workshop’s new series of civics-themed music videos, inspired by the Schoolhouse Rock music videos of the 1970s. Starting with the PBS KIDS educational framework, Sesame collaborated with award-winning songwriters working in a variety of musical styles to create messages on topics ranging from the importance of rules and rights, voting, symbols of democracy and our Constitution.
As a finale, Sesame Workshop young performers Jillian and Caleb described how they are involved with their communities and delivered a lively dance performance to a standing ovation.
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