Three Tufts alums returned to the Hill yesterday to share their knowledge of public broadcasting in a program entitled "Problems and Promises: The Future of Public Broadcasting."
Neal Shapiro (LA '80), the president of PBS station 13/WNET New York City; Denise DiIanni (J '79), the executive in charge of local productions at WGBH's Boston Media Productions; and John Davidow (A '77), the news director and managing editor for Boston's WBUR, were all featured in the panel discussion moderated by Director of Communications and Media Studies Julie Dobrow.
All three speakers focused on their stations' efforts to survive in an age of technological expansion and talked about informing, entertaining, reaching and including their audiences in new ways.
"TV has changed a lot in the years I've been [with WGBH], and it's very difficult talking about my work without talking about new media and the sort of digital explosion we've experienced," DiIanni said.
In his experiences, Davidow, whose station is part of NPR, has found technology to be a means to reach new people.
"For a long time, [our Web site] was just reflecting what we put on air and not much else, but we're recognizing now that we need to take advantage of every platform we can," he said.
"We're doing it for a local audience, we're doing it for a national audience, and now we're doing it for an international audience."
Shapiro, the former president of NBC News, entered the world of public broadcasting in February. He explained how he has been able to apply what he learned working in commercial television to his new work.
"The difference is, in the commercial world, you see change happen from the top down," he said.
The panelists said that funding is a constant struggle for public broadcasting, and it is often difficult to raise enough money.
"Our viewership is mostly the same, but corporation sponsorship is way down because they no longer feel they have a civic imperative to [sponsor us]," Shapiro said.
DiIanni cited a lack of funds as one reason why PBS puts on British shows.
"Other programs are too expensive," she said. "We can't afford quality programming like that without the money available from the BBC and the UK."
According to Davidow, government grants have also decreased over the years, and sometimes shows are cut because stations can no longer afford them.
"While other [commercial] stations are much more concerned with serving stockholders, our mantra is, 'Are we serving our listeners?'" he said. "We're not driven by ratings."
Those listeners are unique. Public broadcasting is popular among the very young and the elderly, but virtually unwatched among five to 55 year olds.
Still, Shapiro believes this may change in the future.
"There's an interesting generational change that is happening," he said. "[The biggest supporters of PBS], members of the Greatest Generation, are joiners. Your generation are not joiners. You appear to be more interested in being donors. You tend to volunteer much more. So hopefully, you'll see public media as one thing you want to give to."
Davidow, however, disagreed with Shapiro's analysis.
"My perception of this generation is they are joiners, and they show they want to join a community when they join things like Facebook and MySpace," he said. "Maybe we're just not yet offering something that they want to join."
DiIanni came up with a compromise, deciding, "You're not joiners; you're networkers."
The audience responded well to the panelists' attempts to appeal to college students.
"I think they're addressing really important questions about the future of public broadcasting," senior Eleanor Heidkamp-Young said. "What was nice about the program was it was obvious that we are an audience that they are really trying to reach."
