Communication is key to community, WQED leaders tell UPJ students

Joshua Byers, The Tribune-Democrat, Johnstown, Pa.
·2 min read

Nov. 10—JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — WQED leaders Jim Cunningham and Michael Waruszewski spoke on Thursday night at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown about their careers, as well as the importance of local media and public broadcasting.

Pitt-Johnstown senior Hannah Brehm said her biggest takeaway from Thursday's presentation to a crowd of community members and students at the John P. Murtha Center on the Richland Township campus was the public broadcasting group's dedication to community involvement.

"Them wanting to be involved in the community is a big thing," added Brehm's friend Geri Stadterman.

"Just hearing about the history of them, how they started and where they are now was super-cool," Brehm said.

The WQED-FM public radio station and the WQED PBS member TV station are sister stations based in Pittsburgh.

Cunningham is an award-winning broadcaster with more than 40 years of experience in the radio industry. He is most well-known for his orchestration of WQED-FM's classical program, of which he's the artistic director.

Waruszewski is the station's chief operating officer, with 20-plus years of experience. He worked his way up through the organization in accounting, business development and finances.

"What an amazing couple of people we have here to speak to us," Pitt-Johnstown President Jem Spectar said, adding that the school takes pride in bringing speakers to campus who can comment on the issues of the time.

Waruszewski focused primarily on the importance of local media and its role in building a more engaged citizenry. He said that local media outlets such as newspapers and TV stations preserve local culture and keep the community engaged and informed.

Waruszewski also stressed the importance of people communicating with one another.

"In the simplest terms, we need to listen to each other," he said.

Cunningham shared a similar message while discussing the variety of stories that WQED tells through community involvement.

"You must be a sponge," he said. "Everything is valuable."

Cunningham recognized that humans tend to gravitate toward more negative information, and although he said that is an aspect of staying informed because it helps foster respectful civic discourse, he also advised the crowd to seek out good news.

A short question-and-answer period followed the presentation. One of the audience members asked about how to keep an open mind when having a discussion, while another asked how WQED stays up to date with its listeners.

"Our signal can't be one way," Waruszewski said. "We have to be able to listen to the folks that we serve."

He and Cunningham also touched on the need to fact-check information and find a common thread in a conversation.