The National Federation of Community Broadcasters today launches a new campaign to protect public media, with a radio veteran leading the charge.
The Community Counts Coalition is headed by NFCB, in alliance with partner organizations, to educate the nation about the value of media diversity. Brian DeShazor has been selected to guide its effort.
An award-winning public radio broadcaster, DeShazor brings to his role of campaign coordinator 20 years of experience in the public media field. From 1999 to 2016, DeShazor served as director of the Pacifica Radio Archives in Los Angeles, leading the preservation and access project at the advent of the digital age. He offers an intimate knowledge of the importance of public funding for the arts and broadcasting, as DeShazor managed past grant projects from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission at the U.S. National Archives, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Ford Foundation, the GRAMMY Foundation and others. In addition, DeShazor produced and hosted over 500 public radio programs, including NFCB Golden Reel Award recipients The Quentin Crisp Memorial Program (1999) and John Hersey’s Hiroshima (2004). DeShazor received the Michael Bader Award in 2010 for his contributions to public broadcasting.
“We must protect community and public media and ensure its survival, as it is a vital and vibrant part of communities both small and large,” DeShazor said. “Decades of broadcasts from the radio in your car, home or workplace have taught us about ourselves as no other medium in history.
“I look forward to working with the team at NFCB and the larger landscape of public media professionals.”
DeShazor will direct the Community Counts Coalition’s online engagement to bring the collective voice to local and national policy tables; to secure Net Neutrality protections; to maintain and expand Corporation for Public Broadcasting funding for community media organizations, and to convey the importance of cultural and regional diversity in media.
“Brian has been a respected colleague for many years. Our team here at NFCB and our partners in this advocacy effort are delighted to welcome him aboard,” NFCB Chief Executive Officer Sally Kane said. “Community media organizations and supporters across the country will soon feel the benefit of Brian’s creative genius, strong work ethic, and deep knowledge of the the value and power of community media.”
The National Federation of Community Broadcasters provides services that advance public media organizations to best serve their communities. NFCB believes that the nation must be informed and entertained by robust, local media that provide significant public service. Since 1978, NFCB has served a diverse range of non-commercial media organizations, including Native American, rural, HBCU and Latino community media outlets.
DeShazor begins his leadership work, effective immediately.
