DEEPENING DEMOCRACY
“An enlightened citizenry is indispensable for the proper functioning of a republic.” -Thomas Jefferson
Message from the WGBH President and Chair
Knowledge. Community. Accountability. The principles that guide WGBH’s work
are rooted in the principles that also guide our democracy.
At a time in our nation when we are struggling to hear one another, community-based public media is a steadying force,
holding true to our founding principles by sharing content that educates, fosters citizen participation and builds
understanding and trust.
WGBH makes an impact because we create programs of enduring social value that share knowledge freely, making it
accessible to all. WGBH’s TV and radio broadcasts have enormous local and national reach, but with ever-expanding
digital opportunities, we now consider broadcast just the beginning. Our production teams are reimagining our content
for audiences using tablets, apps, online streams, smart phones and smart speakers. With our Emerging Platforms
Initiative, WGBH is tapping the promise of social media to build our storytelling and engagement with the next
generation of citizens, creating community in new ways.
Amid this changing and fragmented media landscape, our public media mission matters more than ever. We are committed to
remaining a forum for stories that may not find their way into the mainstream, being a voice for those who otherwise would not be heard.
As the last locally owned, operated and governed media in the country, public media is everyone’s
resource, accountable to the public, and we make sure it’s available wherever and whenever audiences seek it.
And through our forums, WGBH creates an environment in which our leaders and the public can directly engage to better
understand one another. We provide this crucial connection every month in our studio at the Boston Public Library, a
collaboration aligned in common purpose and mission of making knowledge free to all.
Thomas Jefferson considered the enlightenment of citizens to be indispensable to the success of our nation. In
following that framework, public media strengthens our society and deepens our democracy.
Jonathan C. Abbott
President and CEO
Richard M. Burnes, Jr.
Chair
Truth and Transparency
A free and independent press is one of the hallmarks of democracy, and it is a core tenet of WGBH's approach to journalism. From our inclusive examination of local issues on Greater Boston, Boston Public Radio and Under the Radar to our extensive coverage of candidates and ballot questions on WGBH News and Basic Black to our deep investigative reporting on FRONTLINE, WGBH is a recognized source of accurate, trustworthy information.
Empowering citizens to make informed decisions and hold leaders accountable is at the heart of our mission. WGBH News shined a light on issues across the Commonwealth with an unprecedented 12 debates last fall, broadcast and streamed on multiple platforms, allowing voters access to their potential representatives for city, state and national offices. The value and impact of that kind of openness is tangible—in a statewide UMASS poll, WGBH was cited as the most trusted news source for political information in the state.
Some of the most pressing issues facing our democracy came to the fore through the in-depth work of our investigative documentary series FRONTLINE. The two-part series Documenting Hate, in partnership with ProPublica, revealed the resurgence of violent white supremacy in our country, and ultimately led to arrests and indictments of participants in the fatal Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville.
Another threat to democracy was exposed in FRONTLINE's powerful documentary The Facebook Dilemma, which delved into the social media giant, exposing its vast surveillance capabilities. As Facebook was under scrutiny by the US Congress, this two-part film was television's most in-depth investigation of the social media platform's impact on privacy and democracy in the US and around the world and was viewed by over 4 million people.
Science in the Public Interest
Climate change. The opioid crisis. These enormous challenges facing our country affect us all. How can we as individuals understand such complex issues? How do our policymakers find solutions? The answer is often rooted in science. Demystifying scientific information and making it accessible for all is the driving force behind NOVA.
There is great public recognition of climate change but a greater need for understanding. In NOVA's two-hour documentary Decoding the Weather Machine, we learned from scientists around the world who explained the workings of weather and climate, and identified ways humans can be resilient, even thrive, in the face of enormous change. The documentary reached more than 5 million viewers, cutting through the confusion and sparking discussion among educators, faith groups and communities across the country.
NOVA's film Addiction took an unflinching look at the opioid crisis, presenting the latest information from neuroscientists on what is now known to be a treatable brain disorder, not a moral failing.
Opioid addiction affects people at all levels of our society. Understanding the science of addiction is essential to enacting effective policies and science-based solutions. NOVA traveled the country to meet with researchers, affected families and practitioners, including those here at Massachusetts General Hospital, to learn what the science of addiction can tell us about how we might resolve this dire social issue.
These issues and more at the crossroads of science, technology, education and business are explored each week with some of today's most creative thinkers on Innovation Hub, our national radio series.
Educating our Youngest Citizens
Eleanor Roosevelt said that the true purpose of education in a democracy is to produce citizens. Because education is at the very heart of public media, we consider that part of our purpose as well. Many children do not have access to a good education, but everyone has access to public media, and we embrace the opportunity to support learners of every age.
For our youngest citizens, we tap their innate curiosity and creativity to introduce foundational skills across literacy, science, technology, engineering, art and math that will be critical for their future success. This year we launched an original new animated series Pinkalicious & Peterrific, a comprehensive pre-school program designed to encourage young children to explore the arts. We're transforming WGBH's original TV production PEEP and the Big Wide World with new digital resources. Our PEEP Family Science offers a series of free apps in English and Spanish that combine animated stories with hands-on science activities that encourage parents to engage with their children through simple science exploration. WGBH is working with partners in low-income areas throughout the country to support parents by pairing them with educators so that together they foster healthy learning and development.
Knowledge of other cultures gives students perspective on their own role as citizens in a society. WGBH has created a unique learning opportunity with Design Squad Global, a multiplatform project that connects 10 to 13-year-olds with peers from around the world. As they tackle global engineering challenges, they build cross-cultural understanding and collaborate on projects that meet a real need in their communities. Design Squad Global has connected more than 8,000 young people across 40 countries.
A Town Square
The freedom of expression found in art, music and drama…the insights offered by history…the understanding gained from sharing stories and experiences. WGBH creates a place for these essential elements of our democracy, serving as a town square in which the mosaic of cultures across our society come together and are celebrated.
Perhaps no form of entertainment has captured the imagination of Americans across cultural and economic boundaries more than the traveling circus. Against the backdrop of the Industrial Revolution, our American Experience history series took us under the big top in The Circus, revealing how this innovative and influential spectacle stitched together disconnected communities, and offered promise and possibility for ordinary and marginalized citizens alike.
Such reminders of our shared humanity are vividly brought to life through the compelling drama of Masterpiece, which this year centered on New England with Little Women, or through the global storytelling on WORLD Channel that gives context to diverse cultures. And our innovative Studio Six team taps universal themes across its popular cooking and lifestyle productions. Whether convening audiences in our own studios, or amplifying the work of musicians and artists across the region on 99.5 Classical Radio Boston and on our weekly television series Open Studio, WGBH offers its own big tent, providing our visitors, viewers and listeners access to both local and national emerging and world-class talent.
The enormous body of work created by WGBH, together with public media stations across the country, comprise an American anthology, in many ways the collective social and cultural history of our nation. We are preserving these programs for coming generations through our American Archive of Public Broadcasting, a collaboration between WGBH and the Library of Congress, now in its fifth year. It is our intent that the knowledge we gather and present each year, with the support of the public, will be used to inform and enlighten the citizens of tomorrow.
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