Q. What do you believe WXXI must prioritize in the next decade to remain essential to the communities it serves?
A. To remain essential, we must invest in innovation, diversify revenue streams, build operational sustainability, expand production services and partnerships, and reinforce the station’s role as a vital community connector for Rochester. We’re always going to be a nonprofit; public media will always be part of our mission, and we’re going to continue to serve our community with our content. But now we need to treat ourselves more like a ‘traditional’ business, while we hold on to valuable public media mission. And we can do that by leveraging our production services to creatives that will help bring in new revenue.
Q. How do you envision the balance between traditional broadcasting and emerging digital formats evolving in the years ahead?
A. There are still many people who consume linear TV and radio, but digital media consumption is growing at an incredible rate. More and more people are getting their information through podcasts and digital media like YouTube and Instagram. And we know that to stay relevant, we need to meet people where they are, whether it’s on-air or online, appointment viewing or on demand and in person events. That’s why Connections with Evan Dawson, our talk show, which is heard live on FM 105.9, also streams on WXXInews.org and on WXXI News’ YouTube channel, and is available as a podcast and on the road! This way of rolling out content will serve as a model for future WXXI projects.
Q. What role do you see WXXI playing in strengthening local news ecosystems, and how will you ensure sustainability in an era of shrinking newsrooms nationwide?
A. I have said this many times – I want WXXI to be seen as the standard-bearer for good journalism in the Rochester area, both maintaining and growing community trust in its reporting. Our news team consists of an award-winning group of public media journalists, hosts, and editors covering Rochester and the Finger Lakes region. They are dedicated to telling the stories of diverse communities.
To ensure sustainability, we need to think big while staying nimble. One way we are doing this is by being part of the New York Public News Network, which is a collaborative statewide alliance of public media newsrooms across the state. Formed to share reporting resources and reduce duplicated coverage, the network coordinates regional and state-level journalism. WXXI News was also selected to join Report for America, a project designed to fill critical news gaps in our community with talented, next-generation journalists, which enabled us to recently hire a Latino communities reporter.
We are also looking to expand the use of independent journalists who contribute to our coverage to help us be more inclusive of the many communities we serve.
Q. Collaboration has become essential in public media. What partnerships do you believe will be most critical for WXXI’s growth over the next 10 years?
A. I would start with independent creators (filmmakers, journalists, podcasters, musicians, artists, and educators). I often come back to my “Mister Rogers” example. Fred Rogers was an independent creator who found a home at a local public television station in Pittsburg, WQED. WQED helped him build something that started locally and ultimately reached the nation through PBS. I think public media needs to get back to being that kind of place.
For all we know, the next Mister Rogers may be in Rochester! I want WXXI to be the place where creators can find a trusted partner, production support, community connections, and distribution.
That also means strong partnerships with cultural institutions, universities, community organizations, other public media stations, and digital platforms. Over the next decade, our growth will come from building an ecosystem that helps great creators and great ideas travel further.
Q. If you could describe your vision for WXXI at its 70th anniversary, what would you hope the station becomes?
A. Through WXXI Studios, we are building pathways that can take an artist’s work from creation to distribution to engagement with audiences. Through WXXI News and CITY Magazine, we are investing in journalism rooted in this community. Through The Little Theatre, our music services, education work, events, and digital platforms, we can bring people together in ways that few organizations can. Put all of those pieces together and I believe WXXI will be the center of Rochester’s creative economy: a place where stories are created, artists and journalists are supported, young people discover possibilities, ideas are exchanged, and our community can see and hear itself.
That’s my vision for WXXI. Not an institution simply trying to preserve what it has been, but one becoming even more vital to the community it serves.
Q. You have said you grew up as a PBS KID, how does that shape the work of your education team?
A. I was a PBS KID, and public media was part of how I discovered the world. I grew up with a learning disability, and programs like Sesame Street, Mister Rogers and Reading Rainbow weren’t simply television shows. They enhanced my learning and helped prepare me for the classroom. That experience shapes how I think about WXXI’s education work today. Our children’s content isn’t simply a set of PBS KIDS programs that we distribute. Our education team looks at the entire ecosystem around a child — their family, caregivers, teachers, neighborhoods and community organizations — and asks how WXXI can be a trusted partner and resource.
For the kids of today, and those who will come after them, I want WXXI to create content and experiences for kids who may need another way into learning, another resource, or simply a little more support. Public media can provide things families often can’t find in commercial media: trusted resources built around children rather than around selling something to them.
At its core, I want our education team to create the same thing public media gave me: access, curiosity and possibility. I want a young person in Rochester to encounter something through WXXI that helps them learn, gives them confidence, or makes them think, “I didn’t know that existed. Maybe that could be me.”
That is the power of public media. I experienced it myself, and that is why this work is so personal to me.