Diversity, equity and inclusion at WITF

The integrity of WITF’s journalism and programs are strengthened by incorporating varied viewpoints and lived experiences into our work. As WITF continues to review and reflect on how we can better serve our communities, we strive to do the following:

• The newsroom will continue to meet monthly to review breadth of coverage and evolving issues around race and identity. This will include diversity of sources, language use and editorial approach to particular topics. 
• WITF will continue to work toward broad implementation of this tool so that we can ensure we are seeking out viewpoints reflective of the people in our region. Our journalism team will review that data annually. 
• In knowing who we highlight and who we miss, we will be mindful to present more well-rounded discussions, stories, and programs. 
• We will seek training opportunities for staff in our newsroom to help them better understand how their coverage area intersects with different communities. 

Staff bring with them their own understanding of the content they produce. But mindful, considerate, and responsible journalism and programming requires staff to consistently learn beyond their lived experiences.

WITF welcomes diverse audiences to the Public Media Center and community events. The work we do within our community highlights our commitment to opening our doors and reaching out to people of all ages, backgrounds, races, abilities, and religions.

Over the next year, WITF will do the following to continue efforts to be an inclusive resource for the community we serve: 

• Increase number of Black, Hispanic/Latino and Asian TV viewers from 10% to 12% 
• Explore opportunities to evolve Toward Racial Justice. It was originally created as a virtual event series. As we make the transition back to in-person events, we will strategically plan how the series will continue to evolve in 2022.
• Develop community relationships—broadly across the entire organization
  • Continue to evolve emphasis and commitment to Community Engagement. Build new partnerships and strengthen existing ones with regional Black, Hispanic & Latino, LGBTQ+ community organizations. Partnerships will enable us to reach out beyond our existing core audience and donors. We can be more inclusive in our reporting and storytelling to better reflect the diversity of our region.
  • Examples include:
    • Sankofa African American Film Festival 
    • One More Moment
    • Play & Learn partnerships Family Play and Learn | WITF
    • Path to Kindergarten community partnerships
• Our goal is to make our journalism and storytelling better. To accomplish that we’ll invite community members to a series of Listening Sessions centered around key upcoming coverage areas such as racial justice, mental health, arts & culture, and rural PA.Rather than reporting on issues we think are important to people, we want our audience to help shape the conversation from the very beginning.  We’re inviting people into our journalism process and asking them about the things they value and the issues that are important to them.
  • Host a minimum of (2) listening sessions through the remainder of FY22
    • Work with Digital Services to aggregate, analyze and present demographic information from General Audience post event survey results
    • Add demographic questions to children & family post event surveys 
• A representative from the Diversity & Inclusion Committee will participate in two Community Advisory Board meetings and report out on WITF’s DEI work 
• Continuation of Explore in the Classroom (EITC). Currently focusing on Harrisburg, York, and Lancaster school districts for 2021-2022 school year

• Create new educational tools that represent the diverse communities we serve such as: 
  • Continue providing one Spanish bilingual book to EITC classrooms o Continue to provide Spanish bilingual family letters to EITC students
  • Explore other languages to provide resources in
• Education events
  • Provide Spanish bilingual books (when possible) and promotional materials at children & family events
  • Provide a “quiet play space” for neuro-diverse learners within WITF’s Public Media Center
• Continue partnerships with the PA Department of Education, intermediate units and local school districts to support teachers and connect learners of all ages to standard aligned PBS resources through Your Learning Neighborhood
  • Continue providing weekly bilingual educational activity guides paired with PBS KIDS shows for pre-K and early learners.
  • Provide access to career awareness on air through Family Night programs
• Expand access to News Media Literacy events to middle school and high school learners through virtual experiences
• Funding for education efforts
  • Initiate conversations about funding sources/sponsorship for children and family events in urban, diverse locations and communities with limited means
• Continue working with various regional and state partners on developing programs such as Datacasting so that learners of all ages will have adequate connectivity and/or technology in accessing on-line services no matter where they live.

WITF continues to strive to be a diverse, equitable, and inclusive organization. The D&I Committee will continue to work with the Director of HR along with senior management to foster and employee experience that is rooted in DEI principles by setting the following goals:

• Recruitment Resources – The Director of Human Resources will work with the D&I Committee to identify and utilize at least 2 new recruitment resources for us in the current and future recruitment of employees and interns.
• Applicant Demographics – From FY2018-2021 the percentage of racially diverse candidates who applied to WITF’s open positions averaged 20%. Over the next 3 years, our goal is to increase that number to 26%. Progress will be monitored annually in the Diversity Statement. The past statistics have been collected through our applicant tracking system.