WKU News

David Brinkley, director of WKU Public Broadcasting, has been named to a 14-member working group to support professional development in public media.

The professional development working group is part of a new partnership between Public Television’s Affinity Group Coalition (AGC) and the National Educational Telecommunications Association (NETA) announced Wednesday at the 2019 NETA Conference and CPB Public Media Thought Leader Forum in Salt Lake City.

“It is important for WKU students to see secondary professional involvement through service and contribution to the sustainability of any industry,” Brinkley said. “I’m honored to have been selected to collaborate in this effort to develop professional development and leadership pathways for our industry.”

The AGC and NETA partnership will be dedicated to addressing the needs of the public media system through multiple channels. It will develop an online learning ecosystem, in-person training opportunities, webinars, peer networks and other tools. The partnership will focus on several areas of need including management, public media 101, discipline specific training, leadership development and more.

“As representatives of our system, the members of the Affinity Group Coalition recently affirmed their desire to support system wide professional development,” said AGC Chair Franz Joachim. “We are looking forward to what this working group will create to support our entire system.”

“A cornerstone of the NETA Strategic Plan is supporting your professional development and career advancement,” NETA President Eric Hyyppa said. “It’s a tall order and we’re excited for the challenge.”

To begin this process, AGC and NETA are forming a professional development working group. The 14-member working group will be led by Molly Phillips, Chair of the NETA Board of Directors and the chair of the AGC’s new Professional Development Committee. Phillips will be supported by Timothy Eernisse, vice president, education at NETA.

The working group members are a representation of public media including general managers, information technology, content, community engagement,  and education  from the Small Station Association, the Organization of State Broadcasting Executives, the University Licensee Association, the Joint Licensee Group, the Public Television Major Market Group, and the Independent Public Television Stations Association, working together over the next year to build a sustainable structure in support of Public Media Professional Development.

“In strategizing together with AGC, we believe the time is right to combine our efforts and announce a new partnership in support of public media professional development,” said Phillips. “I am honored to lead this group. We will work together to envision the future of professional development to support everyone in public media.”

About NETA: NETA is a professional association of public television licensees created in 1997 from members of the original Southern Educational Communications Association (SECA, incorporated in 1967) and the Pacific Mountain Network (PMN, chartered in 1978) to serve and support public television licensees and public media’s education mission.  The organization has members in 46 states, the District of Columbia, and the Virgin Islands. See NETAonline.org for more information on NETA, its mission, and its services. Follow NETA on Twitter and on Facebook.

About the AGC:  The Affinity Group Coalition (AGC) was founded to serve as a forum for addressing system-wide issues of interest to public television stations.  It is a station-led coalition of two representatives each from public television’s major affinity groups – member organizations that represent public television stations based on licensee type, community size and service profile. The AGC’s ultimate goal is to strengthen America’s public television stations, individually and as a whole, in order to better serve the American public.

Contact: David Brinkley, (270) 745-2400