Public media belongs to all of us, and few of GBH’s recent initiatives demonstrate this more powerfully than the Forum Network’s community conversation series, GBH Amplifies. The premise of the series is simple: GBH invites leading voices from across Boston and the Commonwealth to the GBH Boston Public Library Studio to host a conversation with panelists of their choosing in front of a live audience, illuminating the culture, concerns, and people from their distinct communities.
Annie Shreffler, a senior digital producer for GBH Forum Network, worked with GBH News Executive Editor Lee Hill and GBH’s Managing Director of Community and Government Relations Sandra López Burke, to launch the program.
“We’re blessed with a community rich in culture, joy, and diverse perspectives,” says López Burke, “and we wanted to use our platform to lift these voices to a studio audience and online for greater reach.”
It started as a pilot program featuring James Hills, a Dorchester-based host of the community talk show Java with Jimmy. Next, Liz Cheng, GBH’s General Manager for Television, helped the team broaden the scope of the series to make room for a rotating cohort of hosts who interview their guests in front of a studio audience.
“It was an idea that really captured everyone’s imagination,” says Cheng. “From Annie and Lee to Sandra, who oversees all programming at the GBH Boston Public Library Studio. But it was Susan Goldberg [GBH President and CEO] who was really electrified by the idea of connecting with audiences in deeper ways by inviting local community leaders to host important conversations.”
To supplement the resources provided by the GBH Forum Network, Goldberg secured additional funding for GBH Amplifies from the Barr Foundation, which proved critical in the making of the series.
“One thing that quickly became apparent in the community listening sessions we conducted from 2021 to 2023 is that people in different neighborhoods are often talking about the same issues and have unique solutions to share,” says Shreffler. “When GBH Amplifies started to come into focus, I knew it would be sustainable because I had seen myself the potential for this series to reach across Boston and Massachusetts, revealing the common threads between communities.”
The team began identifying hosts from communities throughout Greater Boston, having worked with a number of them before and studied the media they produce. Empowered to direct the conversation as they see fit, the hosts introduce “guests and ideas that we likely wouldn’t have known or considered, creating this community exchange that doesn’t have GBH’s fingerprints all over it,” says Cheng. “And they can delve into the particulars of local issues in a way that’s more difficult for us, as a news organization.”
GBH Amplifies Hosts
Ron Mitchell, Editor & Publisher of The Bay State Banner in Dorchester
Alberto Vasallo III from El Mundo Boston
GBH Amplifies Guest Hosts
Ron Bell, host of the Dorchester-based podcast “Dunk the Vote”
Mai Du, owner of Wah Lum Kung Fu & Tai Chi Academy and community leader
Ben Hires, Executive Director of the Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center
Malia Lazu, head of The Urban Labs, focused on workplace equity
M’Shairi McKenzie, co-host of “Show and Tell Boston” in Roxbury
Reggie Ramos, bringing transportation talks to build community MA
“I’m reminded of a conversation with Ron Mitchell, Editor and Publisher of The Bay State Banner,” says Shreffler. “Discussing who to have on the series as a guest, he mentioned Representative Ayanna Pressley. I said, ‘GBH has access to politicians like her; we have them on the air all the time.’ And he corrected me, saying, ‘But you don’t ask her the questions I’m going to ask. She comes from my community; I can ask her questions you can’t.’”
“It’s exciting to be one of the first hosts to participate in GBH Amplifies, working with the GBH team to bring even more dialogue and attention to the important issues in our community,” Mitchell says. “This is a great opportunity for us to build on The Banner’s news reporting and community outreach.”
For Cheng and Shreffler, the necessity of a series like this was brought into stark relief on two occasions. “One of the most dramatic moments was during a GBH Amplifies event with Alberto Vasallo III, the day after ICE agents were seen in front of a Market Basket in Chelsea. He showed footage he’d taken for El Mundo Boston from that same store – completely devoid of customers,” says Cheng. “Anyone in Greater Boston can appreciate what an unusual sight that was, underscoring to the wider GBH audience exactly what was going on in the community.”
“As a follow-up,” Shreffler adds, “Vasallo brought Gladys Vega [CEO and President of La Colaborativa, a social services organization in Chelsea supporting Latinx immigrants] to the GBH Boston Public Library Studio stage to talk about the threats she was receiving for the work she does.”
“When she showed us backstage the death threats she’d been receiving, I called the newsroom and said, ‘I think you need to listen to this and report on it now. They sent a reporter to interview her and a story went out later that day.’”
“I really want to give credit to our hosts for being incredibly talented, and so in touch with what matters in their own community,” says Shreffler. “I’m so grateful that people have been willing to come in and talk honestly and openly about the most pressing issues.”
GBH Amplifies has given me the opportunity to highlight the many, many inspiring faces and voices of my community. I look forward to a dose of positive energy every time we roll the cameras in such a fun and entertaining setting. The GBH Studio at the Boston Public Library is the perfect venue as it also incorporates live audience participation. Come on down and join us!Alberto Vasallo III
Having completed 22 events from November to June, GBH Amplifies will go on a short hiatus before returning in September with the intention of hosting events on a regular basis from September to June.
Long term, Shreffler and Cheng’s goals for the series are three-fold: “We publish as a video on YouTube, but GBH Amplifies is a live event in its own right at the GBH Studio in the BPL. It took a while for us to get people to understand that we want them in the library, participating in this event that’s happening right now. So I want to see the library filled for these events,” says Shreffler.
“Second, I want to see the videos shared more widely and become something that’s known as a resource for different communities. I think that could have a significant impact.”
“And then, third, I’d love for the hosts to feel like they’re part of something together. They have a relationship with us, but I would really like to see them start to support and work with each other. I’d love to see this become a real network.”
“Absolutely,” says Cheng. “I think there are opportunities for communities to discover commonalities – of purpose, challenges, resources, and solutions. And I hope it starts conversations on the important issues we need to address together in this city and beyond.”
Check out the GBH Boston Public Library Studio Calendar for upcoming GBH Amplifies, read more information about the series, and watch videos of all past events on YouTube.
