3 Community Building Lessons for Public Media: Create Connection, Not Just Content
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Public media’s mission hasn’t changed—but the job has. In this talk, Seth Resler explains why the future of public media is in community building. He explains that the internet’s real disruption wasn’t delivery (AM/FM/cable vs streaming) but the end of barriers to content creation, creating an attention crisis and breaking legacy revenue models built on scarcity. He shows how public media can win by providing what’s scarce now: genuine community and live local connection.
Seth’s speech at the Public Media Content Collective’s 2025 Content Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, includes examples from WYSO’s Community Voices, Radio Milwaukee’s Grace Weber’s Music Lab, WXPN’s “Losties,” KQED’s Forum Discord server, as well lessons from Vivek Murthy and Robert Putnam.
You’ll learn three secrets: (1) You can’t build community with content alone—create a space; (2) Cultivate that space as an ongoing act of co-creation with strong safety and norms; (3) Community drives loyalty, growth, and revenue—even intangible wins that strengthen democracy. Learn how to build community for your station.
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00:00 Mission of Public Media: Same Purpose, New Job
01:33 Attention Scarcity in the Digital Age
03:05 Competing for Eyeballs: Content Arms Race
04:38 Supply and Demand: Why Content Value Drops
06:08 From Sesame Street to Miss Rachel on YouTube
07:40 Research Shows: Americans Crave Community
09:13 Robert Putnam on Social Capital & Democracy
10:45 Saving Public Media, Saving America
12:16 Audience ≠ Community: Core Distinction
13:48 Introduction to Broadcasters Building Community
15:21 Events: In-Person vs Digital for Public Media
16:52 WYSO Community Voices: Democratizing Storytelling
18:26 Grace Weber’s Music Lab: Teen Community Through Music
19:57 WXPN “Losties”: A Community of Music Fans
21:30 Publishing vs Space-Building Tools (Facebook, Discord, Slack)
23:01 Concerts vs Social Events: Building Real Community
24:32 Designing Social Hours for Deeper Connection
26:04 Quality Connections Over Audience Size
27:36 KEXP: Personalities, Emotion, and Community Loyalty
29:09 Safe Community Spaces: Comfort and Belonging
30:40 Moderation & Rules: Keeping Public Media Spaces Safe
32:14 Exclusion in Community: Who Belongs, Who Doesn’t
33:44 Secret #1 Recap: Build a Space for Community
35:16 Secret #2: Co-Creation With Community Members
36:50 Feedback Loops: Iteration and Surveys in Public Media
38:20 Organic Leadership: Members Step Up as Ambassadors
39:52 Secret #3: Community Drives Loyalty & Identity
41:26 Word-of-Mouth Growth Without Big Advertising
42:57 Revenue, Sponsorship, and Membership Through Community
44:28 Intangible Wins: Belonging, Collaboration & Connection
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