Media, in all of its forms, has immense power to shape ideas. Television, films and digital media can influence how we see others, and how we see ourselves. Accurate, authentic representation can break down barriers, open us to new ideas, create powerful role models, and even be a source of inspiration.
At WGBH, we value representation in all forms, and we highlight often unheard voices throughout the year in our programs. I am particularly excited that on July 15 we will be launching Molly of Denali, the first children’s program to feature an Alaska Native lead character. Molly Mabray is a resourceful 10-year-old Gwich’in/Koyukon/Dena’ina Athabascan girl who will take young viewers on adventures that introduce them to Native Alaskan culture while teaching literacy skills. We are immensely proud of this production and the inclusive approach taken by our Executive Producer Dorothea Gillim and Creative Producer Princess Daazhraii Johnson and their team working with Alaska Native partners at all levels of the series, on camera and off. Every Indigenous character is voiced by an Indigenous actor and we’re working together with Alaska Native screenwriters and producers to bring the series authentically to life. Live action segments feature local Alaskan children and activities.
Princess says she grew up not seeing anyone who looked like her represented in the media. Or if they were, it was a negative stereotype. But now, she says, “just having a young Native kid seeing another Native person on TV opens up so many doors that say, “I didn’t know we were allowed to be there.” By doing the show, she said her kids and other Native children can say “Oh, I can do that, too.”
It’s also important for girls interested in scientific exploration to see themselves in a field often represented by men. In 1965, Frances “Poppy” Northcutt was the only female engineer at NASA’s Houston Mission Control. As isolated as Northcutt felt in the historic control center, she was one of thousands of women who began their careers at NASA as human computers. Their calculations would ultimately be responsible for sending astronauts to the moon. To young girls studying STEM today, Poppy is a role model. Her story is told in this digital short from WGBH’s history series, American Experience and in their six-hour film Chasing the Moon , that premieres this week nationally on public television (and streaming online) as the anchor series for PBS’s Summer of Space, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Apollo moon landing.
Telling the stories of Molly and Poppy is the essence of public media. Visual media helps us see how the world works and our place in it. Everyone should be able to turn on a TV or stream a program and say “that person is just like me.
