GBH exists to serve our community. And this month as we mark the one-year anniversary of the COVID-19 state of emergency in the Commonwealth, it is fitting that we look back at a year like no other.
I am happy to share our 2021 digital annual report, Reinventing Community. This annual report documents 2020, a year of GBH working to fulfill the needs we all have in common: to be heard and seen, to have a voice and to be connected.
The social distancing challenges of 2020 demanded a new kind of creativity to connect and engage with our community. As the year unfolded, GBH listened and looked for what was missing and worked hard to help reinvent ways to share experiences together.
Within days of the pandemic lockdown, GBH began to create new engagement with our communities:
- For parents, teachers and students, we launched distance learning resources online, and on air for those without broadband access.
- Across all our platforms and programming, we addressed systemic racism, polarization and disinformation, recognizing that inequities are deep and we need to do even more.
- We created programs that put trust in science and scientific inquiry to help people understand our changing world.
- We provided new and reinvented opportunities to experience performances, music and art on air and online.
Now more than ever, GBH is redoubling efforts to represent diverse voices and tell everyone’s stories. We continue to use our local programs, educational resources and national reach to deepen understanding, foster dialogue and create shared experiences. Our commitment is unequivocal: to be a public media organization that responds to, represents and includes the diversity of our community so that we all can grow. For GBH, it’s not just the work we do, it’s also how we do it. We are striving for even greater diversity among our staff, our vendors and our storytellers — those on both sides of the cameras and microphones.
No matter what challenges we face, GBH holds true to its mission, connecting people when we need it the most.
