NETA Webinars
NETA webinars allow our members to participate in engaging discussions on a variety of topics to increase skills and strengthen the long-term commitment to public media's education mission. We work closely with thought leaders throughout the system, including our PLC Executive Committees, to produce timely and content-rich online events.
Archived NETA webinars and all associating materials can be found on publicmedialearns.org.
Fill out this form if you're interested in hosting a webinar, or contact us with any questions you may have.
Join the NETA Community Engagement PLC every other month for an online open forum focused on advancing community engagement in public media. These sessions provide a collaborative space to discuss upcoming programs, share strategies for engagement, explore challenges and successes and exchange best practices. Designed to strengthen professional support networks and foster impactful initiatives, these open forums are a valuable opportunity to connect with peers across the country. Let's learn, innovate and build community together!
Join us Thursday, December 11 at 3 PM ET / noon PT.
Join members of the Fred Rogers Productions team to learn about Many Ways to Show You Care, a multiplatform content initiative for children ages 2-6, their families, and caregivers. The initiative shows that caregiving is part of a loving family. The project includes documentary shorts, a Fred Rogers-inspired music video, educator lesson plans, and family activities. Now available on pbskids.org, the PBS KIDS for Parents YouTube channel, and PBS LearningMedia, the series is a child-focused companion piece to Caregiving, the general audience primetime PBS documentary, which premiered in June and was produced by Lea Pictures and WETA Washington, D.C., in association with Ark Media.
In the documentary shorts, families will be introduced to three children who take part in helping family members in a variety of ways. Each piece is hosted by beloved PBS KIDS characters, including Daniel Tiger from Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, Donkey Hodie from Donkey Hodie, and Alma Rivera from Alma’s Way. The characters connect the initiative’s caregiving themes to the intentional and trusted content made by Fred Rogers Productions.
Hear from Ellen Doherty, FRP’s chief creative officer and executive producer of Many Ways to Show You Care, who will provide insight into how this unique initiative began; Margaret Cavalier, producer for the project, who will give context and background to the documentary shorts; Mallory Mbalia, director of learning and education, who will share how the lesson plans and educational materials can be put to use in and outside the classroom; and Brittany Smith, director of community engagement, as she speaks on the caregiving-focused activities developed for kids and families. Featuring a Q&A with panelists and attendees, the session will also provide insight into how Many Ways to Show You Care came to be, how it continues to build on the legacy of Fred Rogers, and more.
Learning Goals / Key Takeaways:
- Hear how the FRP team was inspired to create a joy-filled multiplatform content initiative highlighting caregiving as a natural part of family life in age-appropriate stories.
- Learn about lesson plans for classrooms and informal education spaces along with turn-key resources for families and community engagements.
Join your peers across public media for an open conversation about how stations are rethinking their content strategies for the year ahead. From programming priorities to platform choices and audience engagement, this session will explore how stations are adapting to new realities and opportunities.
This will not be a presentation, it’s a peer exchange. We’ll invite several stations to share their current approaches, lessons learned, and what’s shaping their decisions for the future. Whether your station has a formal content strategy or is still finding its footing, you’ll walk away with practical ideas and new perspectives on what’s working (and what’s not) across the system.
Learning Goals / Key Takeaways:
- Gain insight into how different stations are developing and executing content strategies that reflect audience needs, mission, and resources.
- Identify emerging trends and opportunities shaping local, regional, and digital content priorities.
- Leave with actionable ideas and models to strengthen your own station’s content planning and cross-department collaboration.
Join us for an insightful webinar designed for public media professionals navigating the complex world of rights and clearances. This session offers a practical overview of how Rights & Clearances (R&C) staff support producers in acquiring the necessary permissions for their content—whether it's a nationally broadcast series or a short-form digital piece.
Led by Joseph T. Basile, former director of rights and clearances at WNET, the presentation will break down key terminology, explore real-world examples, and provide actionable advice to strengthen your organization’s rights infrastructure. If you create or manage content for distribution, this webinar will help you better understand the essential role of R&C in content creation and delivery as well as rights management.
Learning Goals / Key Takeaways:
- Understand the standard terminology used in R&C
- Learn how even short clips can involve complex rights issues'
- Explore the three core categories of rights clearances
- Discover practical distinctions that simplify the clearance process
- Get tips to enhance your organization’s R&C capabilities
- Gain insights into additional ways this R&C professional can support your team
Archived Webinars
Join the Education PLC for an EdCamp-style meetup designed to spark collaboration, connection, and creativity among public media education colleagues. This informal, participant-driven gathering is all about supporting one another, sharing resources, and exploring solutions together. When you RSVP, you’ll have the chance to suggest topics that matter most to you and your station. During the session, we’ll form breakout groups based on your input. Let’s learn from each other and build stronger networks for everyone working in public media education!
Sharing our local value and identity is more important than ever for public media stations! Join the NETA Marketing and Communications Peer Learning Community for a meetup aimed at sharing value and image spots that you and your peers have created to inspire others with your creativity, messaging, and approach to sharing your unique local identity, value, and impact with the communities you serve every day!
Have a spot or two you'd like to share with your peers? Let us know in the question when you register for this meetup!
Every leader knows the struggle: departments with shared goals but disconnected workflows. In this interactive session with Tailwind Collective, a NETA Knowledge Network partner, we’ll explore how culture, systems, and leadership all play a role in building sustainable cross-team collaboration. Come with questions, leave with real examples and fresh ideas to try at your own station.
Learning Goals / Key Takeaways:
Join your peers for an open, candid conversation about how station organizational structures are evolving in response to recent funding cuts and shifting audience expectations. We’ll explore how teams are adapting roles, workflows, and cross-department collaboration to stay nimble, creative, and resilient. This is not a presentation. This session is a peer exchange where folks can share real-world org charts, discuss lessons learned, and imagine what the “station of the future” could look like.
Join public media professionals from across the system for our continued conversation about where we go from here. This session will serve as a space to reflect, regroup, and re-imagine the road ahead.
Join your peers across the system for an open conversation about where we go from here. With the rescission vote behind us, and final appropriations decisions months away, this session will serve as a space to reflect, regroup, and re-imagine the road ahead.
In a time of shrinking resources, evolving technologies, and rising community needs, public media professionals face unprecedented challenges. How do we balance innovation with sustainability? How do we lead project teams with clarity and care when uncertainty clouds our system?
In 2026, America will celebrate the 250th anniversary of our founding as a nation. In preparation for this semiquincentennial, GBH is launching America’s Awesome Kids, an initiative that seeks to capture and showcase a wide range of kids (ages 8-10) and their unique geographies, customs, interests, skills, and experiences. GBH is looking to partner with local public media stations to find real kids – one in 25 different states – to feature in 3-5 minute videos that will be distributed on PBS KIDS platforms.
Join NETA and public media organizations across the country for PD Day 2025! Block your calendars now for Tuesday, June 24 for three hours of national public media professional development, beginning at 1 PM ET / 10 AM PT.
Opportunities will include live sessions, on-demand courses, the best of NETA Webinar archives, recommended reading, and more! Learning tracks will include:
The value stations bring to children's educational spaces is widely known, but do your audiences understand the resources your station provides for adult learners? Now more than ever, it is imperative to show public media's value for all citizens.