Featured Session: Trusted, Valued, Essential: Why PBS is Here to Stay, With or Without Federal Funding

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      "details": "Evan Smith is managing director of events at The Atlantic, overseeing live journalism and other public programming produced by the award-winning 169-year-old magazine. He’s also a senior advisor at Emerson Collective, working closely with journalists and funders around the country to support local news. Previously he spent more than thirteen years at The Texas Tribune, which he co-founded and led as CEO, and nearly eighteen years at Texas Monthly, including nine years as editor in chief and a year as president. Evan is a professor of practice at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin, where he teaches a graduate-level course on the politics and issues of the moment, and is the host of “Overheard with Evan Smith,” a weekly half-hour interview program that airs on PBS stations from coast to coast.",
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      "details": "Paula A. Kerger is president and chief executive officer of PBS, the nation’s largest non-commercial media organization representing more than 330 member stations throughout the country. She is the longest-serving president and CEO in PBS history. \r \rOver 19 years, Kerger has led the transformation of PBS from a broadcaster to a multiplatform digital media organization which delivers on public television’s essential mission of education, inspiration and service to the American public. Each year, 58% of U.S. television households watch PBS, and each month, PBS reaches over 36 million adults on linear primetime television, more than 15 million users on PBS-owned streaming platforms, and garners nearly 43 million impressions on social media. Programs on PBS are consistently recognized with the industry's most prestigious honors, including Peabody, Emmy and Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University awards. \r \rUnder Kerger’s leadership, PBS has deepened its impact, from providing universal access to early learning resources through the PBS KIDS broadcast and streaming channels, to empowering educators with digital resources through PBS LearningMedia. In the 2023-24 school year, 17 million users visited PBS LearningMedia – averaging 1.7 million users per month. Kerger also serves as president of the PBS Foundation, which provides a significant source of revenue for projects that benefit the entire public television system. ",
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  "description": "Last summer, Congress went against the will of the American people by taking back dedicated federal funding for public television that helped PBS and member stations provide a unique and vital service to America. It was a big blow for the entire public television system that simultaneously forced PBS and member stations to make stark decisions and led to communities across the country stepping up to support the programming they know and love. For perhaps the first time, Congressional action showed the country that public television could be taken away — something viewers realized they wanted to protect. In this fireside chat, hear directly from Paula Kerger, the longest-serving president and CEO in PBS history, about how PBS offers what the commercial media can’t, and why that means the service is here to stay.",
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  "long_description": "Last summer, Congress went against the will of the American people by taking back dedicated federal funding for public television that helped PBS and member stations provide a unique and vital service to America. It was a big blow for the entire public television system that simultaneously forced PBS and member stations to make stark decisions and led to communities across the country stepping up to support the programming they know and love. For perhaps the first time, Congressional action showed the country that public television could be taken away — something viewers realized they wanted to protect. In this fireside chat, hear directly from Paula Kerger, the longest-serving president and CEO in PBS history, about how PBS offers what the commercial media can’t, and why that means the service is here to stay.",
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