URBANA — Moss Bresnahan has led Illinois Public Media for over a decade as Executive Director.
During that time, the Urbana-based, radio and television not-for-profit incorporated digital news content into its work, launched a statewide talk show and created Illinois Soul, a unique, Black-run public radio station.
“When he talks to you, he does not just say hi. He’s really trying to learn about what you are interested in and your concerns,” said longtime donor Kanittha Fay.
On Tuesday, the College of Media at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign announced by email that the dean was removing Bresnahan from his leadership role at the public radio and TV station.
Bresnahan will become the special advisor to the dean on public media at the college, and two department heads are being promoted from within to take on the executive director role, which they will assume on Sunday.
College of Media Dean Tracy Sulkin declined an interview and said the university does not comment publicly on personnel matters. She said by email that the dean only decides who the executive leadership is, not what they do.
IPM News’ Emily Hays spoke to Bresnahan about his removal from his leadership role at the station.
This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.
EMILY HAYS: How did this decision happen? How much were you involved in making the decision to leave?
MOSS BRESNAHAN: Illinois Public Media is part of the College of Media, and so the dean there is entitled to have ideas on its future.
I’ll hear more about that soon. I respect her position as the dean and where we are in the organization, and so now I’m looking forward to my new role.
HAYS: When did you hear about this decision?
BRESNAHAN: I don’t know the date … about week and a half ago. Two weeks ago.
HAYS: Do you think this is a money-saving measure [given Congress’ vote this summer to end federal support for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, NPR and PBS], cutting the person with the highest salary at the organization?
BRESNAHAN: You’d have to ask the College if that their motivation. That’s not anything that I’m aware of.
HAYS: You have opposed more layoffs at IPM beyond the two we’ve announced. Why is that?
BRESNAHAN: For context, I don’t think I’d say I oppose them. I think with the cuts to CPB, we certainly had to make a lot of difficult decisions.
We eliminated a number of open positions and had to introduce a reduction in workforce. We had to cut back on a lot of our part-time staff and some of our programs. I think we’re in a pretty good place considering, but we don’t know what the future will bring.
Overall, I think given our budget and where we are with our fundraising, I think the station is in good financial condition.
HAYS: Have you been getting pressure to do more layoffs than what’s happened from the college media?
BRESNAHAN: No. We have had ongoing discussions about budgets, but I wouldn’t say there’s been pressure.
HAYS: So what reason were you given for the change, of taking you out of IPM?
BRESNAHAN: Well, because the station is operating very well, and viewership is strong, the programming is strong. I think primarily it has to do with just a difference in vision and that happens all the time. So I look forward to working in the college in my new capacity and helping out in any way I can.
HAYS: What exactly is this new position? Was it created for you?
BRESNAHAN: I believe, yes, it is a new position, and after 30 years at various PBS and NPR stations, I think it’s an interesting opportunity to do some research and study on public media and on public media’s future to interest students in becoming public media professionals in the future. And I hope to continue to assist Illinois Public Media in any way. It is a new position, but I think it suits me well, and looking forward to doing my best in it.
HAYS: You have served as executive director of Illinois Public Media for over a decade since 2014. What are some of the accomplishments you are proudest of?
BRESNAHAN: Well, as the executive director, you know, one of my priorities is the good fiscal health of the station. It’s always was always very important to me. So I’m very happy we’ve always had a balanced budget and our fundraising has grown from year-to-year.
So very happy with the connections and we’ve made to the to the community in that way. And as much as I love PBS and NPR, I really love our local programming. The 21st is my favorite public radio program. Prairie Fire is my favorite TV programs. I listen to IPM every morning. You know, State of Change was a new series I was able to help introduce.
So overall, I think I’m really proud of the quality of the original content under the Illinois Public Media. It’s every bit as good as anything you’ll find in St. Louis or Chicago.
And I’d have to add the founding of the Illinois Student Newsroom might be among my favorites. It’s just very, very encouraging to see the journalists of the future doing great work as students, and some of our students have gone on to great jobs and have won national awards, so that’s very gratifying.
HAYS: Is there anything else that you want to talk about?
MOSS BRESNAHAN: Well, just it’s a very challenging time for public media with the elimination of the corporation public broadcasting. You know, that’s going to be felt for many years in the whole public media system. It’s going to impact the future of programs and PBS, the next generation of programs for PBS kids.
And so, you know, and the transition from broadcast to digital is accelerating, and so that’s going to change how public media operates. And so it’s more important than ever that public media really transform itself to serve the public and to survive.
And the other thing is just the necessity for independent voices like independent fact-based journalism is under result and local public radio newsrooms are just vital to the health of our community. So public media is more important than ever, and I know it’s going to find a way to continue and to and to thrive thanks to the support of this very generous community.
HAYS: Thank you Moss Bresnahan for talking with me and for being our executive director for a decade.
BRESNAHAN: My pleasure, thanks Emily.
Editor’s Note: No member of upper management or any news executive reviewed this story under IPM’s internal reporting guidelines.