Eagle Eyes on the Media

What’s the primary passion that fuels your work, and inspired you to go into the world of media?

Jim Dunford: Telling stories. “I took Broadcast Programming and Promotion with Professor Marilyn Matelski. Our final project was to read a novel and package it as a miniseries: the marketing, the casting, adapting the book. I thought, ‘If this is a career, this is what I want to do.’ I used that assignment when I taught the class as adjunct faculty.”

Kevin Allocca: Understanding audiences. “I’ve always been fascinated with understanding why people like the media they do, and dissecting how entertainment works. I wrote papers at BC about the impact of TV shows like CSI on actual juries. I believe that a lot of how society plays out is heavily influenced by the media we consume.”

What’s something your platform does that makes it unique in media and benefits audiences?

JD: Promotes common knowledge. “We want to give public media stations, which in many cases are the last locally owned media organizations in a community, the tools to be sustainable in a fractured media environment. I think our content allows them to bring people together, with everything from cooking and lifestyle shows to documentaries with local angles to stories.”

KA: Serves niche interests. “We run surveys with people in lots of different countries. More than half the people that we survey watch content that no one they know personally is interested in. That’s a funny modern phenomenon. It’s what makes this era of entertainment different, and YouTube distinct from the media that we grew up with.”

What’s an important quality your medium contributes to the world, that makes your work important?

JD: Authority. “Folks can rely on us. Over and over, year after year, in nationwide surveys public media is considered number one in trustworthiness. We’re in a time when people are looking for that. In many ways, this is the moment public media was made for. Our editorial standards are as strong as they’ve ever been. It’s not the time to not double down on that.”

KA: Innovation. “YouTube pioneered the creator economy, which has fundamentally changed all entertainment. For example, if you’re a singer and creators aren’t making stuff with your song, it probably won’t be successful. Plus, when distribution and marketing costs are zero, you can test anything. That means you can take risks that wouldn’t make sense for traditional media.”

What’s something you’re excited to accomplish through your platform going forward?

JD: Documenting history. “We want to keep doing what we’re doing: telling stories of value to communities. We’re spending a lot of time right now on America250 [the US semiquincentennial]. I’m excited to be working with about twenty stations on hyperlocal stories around that history we’re going to bundle for a collection.”

KA: Imagining futures. “Everybody is trying to understand the impact that AI tech is going to have. Virtual creators are a thing. On one hand, you’re like, ‘This is so weird. I thought this was a platform for authenticity.’ On the other hand, in a world where you can have an avatar, maybe that’s a truer version of yourself.” ◽