WUNC Joins PM4A

Connie Walker, President & General Manager of WUNC, offered the following about why they decided to participate.

“We’ve been talking about the need for more diversity in public media for a long time. We have varying degrees of understanding and sophistication about what that means. But many in public media say this is truly something we need to do and yet it hasn’t happened across the system in the past.  So now is the time to act on the current climate in society and just what has been needed all along. We need to make it so.

Will it be easy, no. Will we make mistakes, probably. Should it be all put on people of color to do it, absolutely not.

These are some reasons why WUNC radio has enthusiastically signed on to the Public Media for All pledge. We are committed to making even more change toward diversity, equity and inclusion, than we already have.

WUNC has established a staff committee to lead these efforts, but we see this as a responsibility of our entire staff. Our board is assisting and also supportive. I’m very proud of the strides we have already made.

There is a quote that is often attributed to Mahatma Gandhi: “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” ... Gandhi in fact said: “If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change.”  It resonates either way. WUNC is working on change, as are more and more other public media institutions.

WUNC serves about half the state of North Carolina with transmitters serving the region from Greensboro to the Outer Banks. The station is headquartered in Chapel Hill, with additional offices and studios in Durham, Raleigh, and Greensboro.”

WUWM Joins PM4A

John Hess, Director and General Manager of WUWM, offered the following about why they decided to participate.

“Milwaukee is a minority-majority community and one of the most segregated cities in the United States. One of WUWM’s main strategic objectives is to transform our organization and the content that we broadcast to present an accurate reflection of everyday life in our community for all citizens, not just those who might fit a desired demographic. One of the first steps in this journey is to work towards providing a more inclusive and equitable workplace.

WUWM is proud to join the Public Media For All initiative and we support the diversity, equity and inclusion action items associated with this initiative.”

Chicago Public Media Joins PM4A

Chicago Public Media, home of WBEZ Chicago and Vocalo, is thrilled to sign on to Public Media for All as 2021 begins. In recent months, Chicago Public Media has reinvigorated its diversity, equity and inclusion efforts through the formation of a 20-person DEI Council. Our DEI Council aligned to a purpose statement as follows: 

The DEI Council is a staff-led, leadership-supported advisory and resource group that will create a comprehensive DEI strategy and action plan for Chicago Public Media. The council will partner with CPM leadership to oversee the implementation of that strategy, hold management accountable for transparent and measurable progress, and provide additional recommendations to create a more equitable, diverse and rich culture at CPM. 

Our long-term priorities at Chicago Public Media include recruiting, hiring and retaining a diverse staff at all levels; cultivating a culture of inclusivity and opportunity; and enhancing our content and audience.  

Joining Public Media for All is a key step in supporting these goals at the organizational level. Our membership in the group is a sign of our internal and external commitment to our DEI priorities. It will help hold us accountable and act with transparency in our efforts for our staff and our broader community. We look forward to gaining knowledge and insights from colleagues at other participating organizations who also are undertaking this important work in public media. 

NHPR Joins PM4A

Jim Schachter, President & CEO of New Hampshire Public Radio, offered the following about why they decided to participate.

“Signing onto the Public Media For All initiative is one more way for New Hampshire Public Radio to hold itself accountable to the public commitments we’ve made to embrace the principles and practices of inclusion, diversity and equity in every aspect of our journalism and our operations. 

We published those commitments at NHPR.org during the summer. We update our progress regularly to our staff and to our board of trustees, and we plan to report periodically to our community of users, as well.

The staff and leadership of NHPR understand that this work is imperative, both as a matter of ethics and a matter of our future success as public media for an increasingly diverse state.”

CoastAlaska Joins PM4A

Mollie Kabler, Executive Director of CoastAlaska, offered the following about why they decided to participate.

“CoastAlaska, Inc recognizes the need to address institutional racism within public media. We commit to having our work and workplaces reflect the truly diverse people who rely on public media, often the only source of news available in rural Alaska. Indigenous reporters, stories and voices should be mainstream in our media. We need to overcome our fear of getting it wrong and to work positively for a local reckoning with racism that requires sensitivity to the history of exploitation of native people and lands in Alaska. Public media has three ways to support change; as individuals, as institutions and as conveners of the stories that need to be told.”

CoastAlaska was started in 1994, and incorporated in 1997 as a service organization for public radio stations in Alaska. CoastAlaska currently serves public media organizations in the communities of Juneau, Sitka, Petersburg, Wrangell, Ketchikan and the Aleutians. Started as an informal alliance, CoastAlaska is a fully independent non-profit.