Advice to pubmedia leaders: Build your own damn raft
Mike Janssen / Current
Dear Public Media Leader,
No one is coming to save you.
Not Congress. Not a foundation. Not a viral campaign or a visionary donor. Not even the next generation of journalists or producers — because they’re watching us now, wondering if we’ll show them how to lead or how to wait.
Too many in our system are standing at the shoreline, gazing out at a receding sea, holding on to a fading belief that some raft — a rescue, a fix, a lifeline — will suddenly appear.
But let’s imagine for a moment that it did. A perfect solution, a ready-made vessel. What would we even do with it? Who among us is prepared to navigate it, to steer through the storms ahead, to take the risks that leadership demands?
The very belief that something — or someone — will appear is why some should not be leading at all.
Leadership in this moment doesn’t wait. It builds.
Build your own raft. Out of wood, scrap, memory and mission. Stitch it together with the stories of your community. Patch it with truth, creativity, failure and vision. And when it’s ready, push off. Let others see you do it, not because you’re trying to be a hero, but because you’re refusing to disappear.
And to board members: This message is for you, too. You weren’t invited to serve simply to preserve the status quo. You are stewards of mission, not maintenance. Your role is not to keep the lights on but to light the way forward. Stop asking “What’s safe?” and start asking “What’s necessary?” The future of public media depends on your courage just as much as your leaders’.
Because this system we’ve inherited — it wasn’t built for this era. And that’s OK. Neither was the printing press, or the telegraph, or the early days of radio, TV and the internet. But someone, somewhere, always built the next thing. The bold thing.
You are that someone now.
The public needs media that doesn’t just inform — it inspires. Not just reports — but responds. Not just survives — but redefines.
So stop waiting.
Build your own damn raft.
The future is watching.
In solidarity,
Andrew Ramsammy
President, Vermont College of Fine Arts
Former Chief Impact Officer, Local Media Association
Fellow, Sulzberger Executive Leadership Program
Lifelong Believer in Public Media’s Unfinished Business
Thank you Andrew. You stand up for truth, justice and the American way; words meant for each and all of us, not just Superman.
Great call to action, Andrew. Personally, I would invite leaders and board members to examine themselves with honesty. If they conclude they are not right for raft-building, there is no shame in stepping down and making space for a leader who is. They might even consider helping in that transition.
Outstanding Andrew! That’s how we operate at PBS Reno, modeling this for the system. We operate with a sense of urgency.
Tough as they may sound, observations like these – and at this point they’re far from voices in the wilderness – should inspire us to get inventive and look for new ways to deliver on public media’s mission, leveraging existing resources and strategic partnerships between stations, producers and people who care about their communities. By deploying these limited resources effectively and cooperatively, we’ll have everything we need to show why public media matters.
If PBS (the organization, not the brand, so often mistaken for public television as a whole) wants to join in this effort, they should be welcomed and appreciated, but they should not be leading it. Same with Congress – like us, they answer to the people.
As someone who has been a public radio
professional for 57 years including 26
years as general manager of two listener
supported stations, I found Andrew
Ramsammy’s essay to be not only
useless but also insulting, demeaning
and disrespectful to anyone struggling
in this time of crisis to figure out how
to survive.