On this episode of Behind the Byline, host Jaden Jefferson chats with Marcus Harrison about the threat of national public media losing federal funding by executive order.
Harrison vows that public media “won’t go down without a fight. Right now, it’s [loss of financial funding] is just a threat, and a threat we’re taking very seriously.”
Harrison, director of marketing and communications for WGTE Public Media, recently returned to WGTE after a 20-year hiatus from the station. He was the the creative producer and supervisor for Buckeye Community Arts Network (BCAN).
“It’s good to be back in public media and it’s where I belong,” he told Jefferson. “It’s a space I’ve grown to love and definitely where I’m supposed to be.”
During this episode, Harrison talks about:
- public radio funding (federal, state and viewer support)
- the quality of programing in public media and how it makes a difference in local and national communities
- the power of local programming, including stories on the Toledo Ballet, the Old West End, the Mud Hens and Rethinking Jails and Justice.
- the original goals of public media: to inform, educate and inspire
- developing strategies to face financial and legal challenges
New episodes of the Behind the Byline audio news podcast drop every Wednesday on Pod Station.
Behind the Byline is a production of the Toledo Free Press.
