CapRadio Sets An Example

Following is an memo that was shared with CapRadio staff earlier this month from Jun Reina, Executive Vice President & General Manager. We applaud CapRadio for their transparency and desire for accountability.

11.16.2020

Jun's Station Update

Happy Monday Team! Last Tuesday, Nov 10 was the first of, what I hope, will become an annual tradition of Public Media For All (PM4A). When I first reported that CapRadio signed on as a supporting organization, there were 4 other public media organizations signed up. Today, there are 21. We marked the day with Insight featuring Sachi Kobayashi and Ernesto Aguilar, two of the founders of PM4A. Race and Equity Reporter, Sarah Mizes-Tan and I also joined Randol White in conversation regarding our affinity group and CapRadio’s participation in the movement. Several staff participated in PM4A’s A Day of Action and Education webinar. Later in the week, your Station Equity Team (Zoro, Sarah, Helga, Victoria, Kris, Jennifer R., Lisa, Patti, Devin, Mark, and myself) met with Dr. Carolee Tran to discuss next steps on the station’s DEI efforts. And I’d like to thank, ME for News, Nick Miller, for proactively convening a space for all CapRadio staff to talk about issues such as whiteness and anti-racism last Friday. Building safe spaces like this is essential to moving us forward. Dr. Tran recently shared an article with the equity team about having such conversations called Speaking Up Without Tearing Down which I think you’ll all find valuable.

So why did we join PM4A?
In one word…. Accountability. We’ve always recognized the need for greater diversity both in public media in general and within CapRadio in particular. Achieving greater diversity in terms of staff, board composition, and audience have always been goals in the years that I’ve been here. As sincere and well-intentioned as the goals might have been, there’s been little to no follow through. What we’ve had instead was an acceptance or resignation that our industry’s audience was predominantly white, college-educated, and affluent. Well, therein lies the problem. Building diversity isn’t a spectator sport. As an industry, we can’t stand on the sidelines and hope for diversity to walk in the door. It requires commitment, hard work, and an authentic desire to cast a wider net and expand our reach. PM4A doesn’t provide all the answers but it does provide a practical and potentially impactful roadmap. The list of action items we’ve committed to perform is what we’ll be aspiring to and it’s what I expect you and our Board of Directors to hold me accountable to. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me directly if you’d like to discuss this.