MARCH 5, 2026
BLACK PUBLIC MEDIA
WEEKLY DISPATCH
By Leslie Fields-Cruz
Last week, I was honored to sit on the 2026 international INPUT selection committee. We met in Warsaw, Poland. In this role, I had a chance to see a lot of different types of programs from around the world — all made by public media, public service stations and independent media makers. I was in a room with people from every continent except Africa. It was interesting and I had a really good time. The experienced reinforced my belief that public media must and will continue, despite its current challenges. Of course, in the midst of this really wonderful opportunity to connect with people internationally, I suffered the indignity of watching my own country drop bombs on Iran.
Standing Up to Brutes
I understand that the Iranian government has committed heinous crimes against his own people as well as people abroad. And I support Iranians who opposed this tyranny, especially those who were and are being murdered simply for standing in protest of their government. But I have big problems with our commander in chief’s decision to circumvent the Constitution to bomb another country without getting permission from or even bothering to explain his actions to the American people. Imagine how upsetting it was for me and the other two Americans to be in a space where everyone was talking about the media’s role in bringing people together around complex issues, while our own country was blowing up another nation.
Somehow, I still had a great week. Warsaw is a beautiful city with wonderful people. I had a chance to visit a couple museums, walk around Old Town, which had to be completely rebuilt after World War II. I learned a bit more about Polish history and visited the studios of the public television station in Warsaw. They have a huge campus that produces narrative, lifestyle and current affairs content. I even got to join a panel during the station’s daily morning show. Polish public media is different from ours because it offers a wide array of programming, ranging from sitcoms and dramas to morning shows, news and documentaries.
The Case for Public Media
I’m excited about the upcoming INPUT in Bogota, Colombia (May 3-7). Anybody who can attend, should attend. It’s refreshing to see the types of programs that are out there in the world, even though public service media is struggling everywhere. That’s a problem because commercial media is driven by what makes money. I their world, programs that don’t turn a profit don’t get made. Besides, if we move everything to commercial media, I fear we’re gonna spend MUCH more time looking at commercials than we will looking at programmed content.
I wish our world was in a better place. I am saddened by recent events, but I have to remain optimistic because my experiences last week remind me that there are so many more people in the world who truly appreciate about learning about others and are seeking to find common ground in all of our diverse experences. This is time when public service media, in particular, can play a role. We need to continue making and distributing content that shows the world as it truly is. We must produce stories that prompt dialogue and speak truth to power. When people stop talking through their differences and fail to see the humanity in their adversaries, violence usually follows. It took Warsaw decades to emerge from the annihilation they experienced during WWII. Public media can and must play a role in avoiding the repetition of that tragic history.