Preserving Democracy

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Preserving Democracy
Preserving democracy.png
Basic facts
Location:New York
Type:Project
Top official:Neal Shapiro, President and Chief Executive Officer
Website:Official website


Preserving Democracy is a multi-platform public media initiative produced by The WNET Group, a nonprofit public media producer based in New York, New York.[1] According to its website, "The initiative supports, coordinates, and disseminates innovative reporting from public media across all platforms on a national level, tracking efforts both to limit and to protect voter participation at all levels of government."[2]

Background

In 2022, WNET broadcast a documentary titled Preserving Democracy: Pursuing a More Perfect Union, describing it as "[exploring] the ideals and flaws of democracy, recurring cycles of civil rights progress and backlash, shifting voter rights and rules, and the role of civics curricula in fostering engaged and informed citizens."[3]

The Preserving Democracy initiative "supports, coordinates, and disseminates innovative reporting from public media across all platforms on a national level, tracking efforts both to limit and to protect voter participation at all levels of government." and "aims to facilitate an unprecedented level of collaboration and partnership among PBS programs and platforms, and perhaps most importantly, to build collaboration, capacity and infrastructure among member stations to facilitate local reporting, encourage local engagement across the political spectrum and stimulate dialogue among diverse voices."[2]

Leadership

As of September 2025, the following individuals held leadership positions at the WNET Group:[4]

  • Neal Shapiro, president and chief executive officer
  • Tamisha M. Chestnut, vice president for people & culture
  • Caroline C. Croen, vice president, chief financial officer, and treasurer
  • Jen Danielson, vice president for distribution
  • Robert A. Feinberg, vice president and chief legal officer
  • Diane Masciale, vice president of the WNET Station Group
  • Stephen Segaller, vice president for programming
  • Kellie Castruita Specter, chief marketing & communications officer
  • Vanessa Wise, vice president for advancement, chief strategy officer

Work and activities

According to its website, "Preserving Democracy aims to facilitate an unprecedented level of collaboration and partnership among PBS programs and platforms, and perhaps most importantly, to build collaboration, capacity and infrastructure among member stations to facilitate local reporting, encourage local engagement across the political spectrum and stimulate dialogue among diverse voices."[2]

Films and video

As of August 2023, the Preserving Democracy initiative had released four films:[5]

Preserving Democracy also produces shorter-form video content on select topics.

News, resources, and tools

The Preserving Democracy initiative aggregates select news and opinion stories related to issues of elections and democracy and provides links to external resources, such as research reports, on these same topics. The initiative also publishes a newsletter, the States of Democracy podcast, and an online tool that provides news stories and voting information on a state-by-state basis.

Finances

The following is a breakdown of WNET's revenues and expenses from 2009 to 2024. The information comes from ProPublica.

WNET financial data 2009-2024
Year Revenue Expenses
2009 $3.3 million $21.7 million
2010 $15.9 million $27.1 million
2011 $27.9 million $44.1 million
2012 $27.0 million $41.5 million
2013 $19.9 million $40.2 million
2014 $144.4 million $127.1 million
2015 $148.0 million $128.1 million
2016 $118.6 million $114.6 million
2017 $140.9 million $122.4 million
2018 $153.1 million $116.5 million
2019 $119.0 million $132.6 million
2020 $130.5 million $123.7 million
2021 $138.0 million $115.7 million
2022 $152.9 million $131.8 million
2023 $111.1 million $133.3 million
2024 $138.4 million $131.4 million

Preserving Democracy project funding

According to its website, the initiative received principal funding from the Chang K. Park Foundation and major funding from:[2]

  • William Ackman and Neri Oxman
  • Ronnie and Lawrence D. Ackman
  • The Dorothy Y. Pacella Fund
  • The Anderson Family Charitable Fund
  • Janet Prindle Seidler

See also

External links

Footnotes