WXXI Public Media will need to “do more with less” in the wake of federal funding cuts that will claw back $1.9 million from the local nonprofit.
“This is where innovation comes in,” President and CEO Chris Hastings said.
And in his first major hire since taking the reins last fall, Hastings has named veteran media executive, entrepreneur, journalist and community advocate Julio Sáenz to help lead that transformation.
“WXXI is very much a traditional broadcaster,” Hastings said. “With Julio (Sáenz), I really do think we can do more with less using new technology and new methods of news gathering. We have been long overdue for modernization of how we do things at WXXI.”
The local NPR and PBS member station announced Sáenz’s hire last week. His first day on the job is Monday.
In the new role, Sáenz will work closely with Hastings and have a hand in WXXI operations from radio and television to CITY magazine and The Little Theatre.
He arrives at a time when federal cuts are spreading uncertainty to all corners of public media — punctuated Friday by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s announcement that it is shutting down. But Sáenz said he sees opportunity in the moment.
“Even that challenge to me is exciting,” he said.
Sáenz most recently has led communications at MVP Health Care, Common Ground Health, Avangrid and Ibero-American Action League. Before that, he founded a Spanish-language newspaper (ConXion) and helped start the radio station, Poder 97.1FM.
“I've always been very entrepreneurial,” Sáenz said, adding: “Being entrepreneurial has become a cool thing over the last few years to talk about and be. But it's really about finding a way.
“It's about finding a way,” he said, “when most people don't see a way.”
The public is not likely to see or hear any immediate changes, Hastings said. The initial work will be behind the scenes, he said, to be “even more community-focused in our reporting, and we want to try to expand the digital distribution of what we already do.”
In short, Hastings said, Sáenz is charged with helping “innovate to get all ‘our little pieces’ elevated in the right format for new audiences while serving our traditional audience.”
Creating a new executive-level position at a time of funding loss and potential cuts might seem counterintuitive. But the new position was in the works before the rescission vote.
“With or without the cut to CPB, we needed to make this hire,” Hastings said, calling it an investment in the future.
The hire coincides with the yet-to-be-publicly-announced retirements of two top-level executives. Sáenz will benefit from being able to tap into their institutional knowledge in the overlap, he said, while adding: “Losing two key longtime employees who have been here for about 50 years collectively allows us to make an investment in new leadership who can help inform our future.”
What follows is Morning Edition host Beth Adams’ interview with Sáenz as he prepared to start in his new role. It has been lightly edited for clarity.
Adams: WXXI Public Media's first chief content officer is starting on the job today. He is Julio Sáenz, whose past titles have included journalist, media executive, founder of a bilingual Latino publication, and more. And he is joining us at a pivotal time for WXXI and public media in general. Before he officially walks in the door here for his first day, Julio is joining us right now to talk about his new position. Welcome. Thank you so much for being here.
Sáenz: Oh, it's my pleasure. Thank you for having me.
Adams: When President and CEO Chris Hastings announced your appointment last week, he said you would be working closely with him to unify WXXI content strategy across all platforms. So I want to ask: How do you describe your new role as chief content officer?
Sáenz: I think it's really optimizing all the wonderful content that the family of WXXI produces, making sure that we're all working in the most efficient way together and sharing information across departments. And really giving us that ability to dig even deeper into the community, because we're doing that, we're working together, and we're really sharing content and repurposing it when possible. And in other cases, just being able to maybe extend a little bit further out.
Adams: Can you give an example of what some of that end-product might look like or sound like for our audiences?
Sáenz: I think we can hopefully grow in a couple different ways. One is within the communities we already serve. So expanding the content to other platforms — possibly new formats that let us tell stories at a different depth. For example, using digital. I know we've only recently started using YouTube more, but there's all these other wonderful digital platforms — podcasting, I'm a big fan of and have been involved with in the past, when I ran the Poder 97.1 radio station. And then I think also just geographically and within communities that we may not have shone as much of a light on, I think. So, you know, both expanding the channels that we use as well as the communities that we're reaching out to.
Adams: Yes, our CEO always reminds us this is not just a radio station. We're WXXI Public Media, we're all these things: the four TV stations, three radio stations, CITY magazine, The Little Theater. And as you alluded to, Julio, Chris Hastings had said that the goal here is to be hyper-local, representative and in service to all the communities that WXXI reaches. Can you say a little bit more about that?
Sáenz: Sure, I think it's so important to tell the stories of all the different parts of our community, because sooner or later, they impact each other. And so as much as we can dig in deeper, I believe a lot in not being miles wide and just a few feet deep. I think that with all the talent that's there at the station already and the great ties that already exist within the communities, the opportunity to dig in deeper and tell those really wonderful stories that exist in this community. And we already do that, but there's even more, I think, that can be reached. And I think one of the reasons I really, I'm excited about this position is I've worked in print, you know, I was publisher at a couple newspapers, and also have worked in radio and television, so as well as digital. So I think ... I'm going to enjoy using all those different parts of my brain and making sure that we're all finding new ways to work together.
Adams: As I mentioned earlier, you are starting this new role at WXXI at a very critical time for our organization, as we navigate a new world absent the federal funding that we have relied on for decades. What is the significance of this moment in terms of the work you will be leading as our chief content officer?
Sáenz: Yes, even that challenge to me is exciting. I've always been very entrepreneurial. The newspaper that I own, ConXion, was something, you know, I started with some friends on my own, and when I started the Poder radio station with Ibero, that was also from scratch. There's also a few things that I started and didn't work, you know. And I feel that that's the kind of entrepreneurial opportunity that this moment presents us. ... I think being entrepreneurial has become a cool thing over the last few years to talk about and be, but it's really about finding a way. It's about finding a way when most people don't see a way. And I do think we can have that sort of startup mentality in different areas and find new ways to find funding, to create new programming in ways that maybe weren't always available because they were so much more expensive. So that's the other thing, too. I think a lot of the production and opportunities that are available now because of technology still give us a lot of new ground that we can expand into.
Adams: Is there anything else you want our members and audiences to know about you ... or the job you're starting today?
Sáenz: Sure. Well, I feel like I'm starting to work for the Buffalo Bills. You know, I'm working for an organization that I've loved since I was a child. I grew up eating TV dinners and watching “Zoom” and Mr. Rogers, and graduated to British comedies and watching “Black Adder” and “Monty Python,” and then on to cooking shows and, and all kinds of science and public affairs shows and listening to the radio stations. And so ... you have a huge fan now, you know, in the building, along with all the other people that love what they do at the station, because I adore WXXI, and it's had an immense, immense impact in my life. I grew up right on Roth Street, off of Clinton, near Conkey, and even then, XXI was always just a source of information and knowledge that I think is irreplaceable in our community.
Adams: I couldn't have said it better. Thank you so much, Julio. I look forward to welcoming you in person here on your first day at the at the office, and I really look forward to working with you.
Sáenz: Thank you, same here.
Adams: That's Julio Sáenz, who is as of today ... WXXI Public Media's first chief content officer.
Disclosure: This story was reported and written by investigations and enterprise editor/business and development reporter Brian Sharp and Morning Edition host Beth Adams. It was edited by WXXI executive editor Denise Young. No WXXI corporate official reviewed this story before it was posted publicly.
