“More than just a station.” That's how Chris Hastings described WXXI Public Media in a meet-and-greet session with staffers on Tuesday.
Hastings, an executive producer and editor-in-chief of the World Channel at GBH, a major public media organization based in Boston, will take the leadership reins as WXXI's president and CEO in November.
He will succeed Norm Silverstein, who has held that role for more than 28 years.
In an interview with WXXI News, Hastings talked about the need for public media to serve their communities with reliable information.
“When we think about how public media has been funded and how it was originally funded, it was about making sure that you are connecting with those people who are out in the community,” Hastings said.
Hastings also hopes that public media like WXXI can help to connect diverse communities.
“Public media is a huge umbrella, right? It's got to be inclusive of everybody,” he said. “Sometimes, with commercial media, they only serve certain sects. But I think public media has an obligation to really serve all communities in unique ways.”
Hastings began his journalism career at Black Entertainment Television as part of the original team behind the award-winning news talk show “BET Tonight.”
After BET, Hastings joined GBH in Boston, where he spent more than 20 years in various roles, including working on programs that worked to address the needs and interests of local communities.
Hastings also led the WGBH Lab, a platform designed to experiment with new forms of storytelling and engage with audiences in creative ways.
“Chris is an extraordinary leader whose career reflects a profound dedication to public media and its role in serving all communities,” David Tang, chair of the WXXI Board of Trustees, said in a statement. “His extensive experience, from his early days at BET to his dynamic leadership at GBH, uniquely positions him to lead WXXI with vision, integrity, and a deep commitment to diversity.”
Hastings' work has earned numerous awards, including the Peabody Award, the duPont-Columbia Award, the News & Documentary Emmy Award, and the International Documentary Association Award. Beyond his professional achievements, Hastings is a champion of independent film distribution through the public media system.
Many public media and commercial media organizations have felt financial pressures in recent years, and Hastings said he realizes that developing the resources needed to fund the operation is an important task in the years ahead.
“We have an election that's going to happen in November, and we don't know what the economy is going to be like in the next six months, but we do know we got good people,” Hastings said. “We do know that we make strong content. We know there's an audience that needs us, and we're here to serve them, so we're going to take some time and understand what they need, and then we'll figure out how to finance it.”
Hastings said he’s also looking forward to working with the different platforms operated by WXXI, which include the radio and TV operations, the Little Theatre and CITY Magazine.
He starts his new role on Nov. 11.
