Don't Go Chasing Watersheds Viewers Like Us

In the decades-long struggle toward an equitable public media system, what will it take to move from mere talk to actionable change?

As you’ve heard throughout the series, countless BIPOC creators have dedicated themselves for decades to keeping PBS’s mission and relevance on track. Many people working within the system have done the same. With so many wanting to see PBS thrive, what's holding it back? In our fifth episode, we dig into two essential components for delivering on long-overdue change in public media: data transparency and accountability. We speak to Dacia Mitchell, Director of Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion at San Francisco’s KQED, about the necessity of white leaders and media makers moving through their fear and discomfort in order to actively dismantle systemic racism. We hear from Representative Joaquin Castro on why public TV has to be front and center in terms of combating cultural exclusion in media. Darnell Hunt, Dean of Social Sciences at UCLA, shares some revealing data about PBS scripted dramas. Richard Jean So, a professor at McGill University who’s studied racial inequities in the publishing industry, guides us on taking data collection into our own hands. Plus, we embark on our own not-so-scientific study using an official PBS publication: the Shop PBS catalog.

Explore show notes, episode transcript and more at: https://viewerslikeus.com/podcast/episode-5-dont-go-chasing-watersheds/