Description

As social media and artificial intelligence reshape how we access information, the relationship between media and democracy is changing, too. How do we know what to trust, and what does it take to sustain an informed public?

On Wednesday, November 11, join the Los Angeles World Affairs Council for Democracy in the Information Age: Media, Trust & the Future, featuring Paula Kerger, President and Chief Executive Officer of PBS, the nation’s largest non-commercial media organization, representing more than 330 member stations throughout the country.

Dwane Brown, an Emmy Award-winning newscaster heard on NPR’s All Things Considered on weekday afternoons, will moderate the conversation. As one of NPR’s network newscasters based at NPR West, Brown brings extensive experience across radio and television journalism to a discussion about how citizens find and trust information, how technology is transforming the public square, and how media institutions and citizens can strengthen informed civic participation.

After the discussion, join Paula, Dwane, other media experts, and fellow Los Angeles World Affairs Council members for a networking reception with elevated hors d’oeuvres and hosted cocktails overlooking the Los Angeles skyline at City Club LA.

Tickets: 
Members: $80
Non-Members: $95

City National Plaza Building - Valet Parking is available (enter on Flower St.). Parking is $8 for the first three hours with validation, so please have your ticket validated by City Club upon arrival to the 51st floor.

Register now to join us for this timely conversation on media, trust, and the future of democracy. 

Paula A. Kerger is president and chief executive officer of PBS, the nation’s largest non-commercial media organization representing more than 330 member stations throughout the country. She is the longest-serving president and CEO in PBS history.

Since 2006, Kerger has led the transformation of PBS from a broadcaster to a multiplatform digital media organization which delivers on public television’s essential mission of education, inspiration and service to the American public. Each year, 67% of U.S. television households watch PBS, and each month, PBS reaches over 42 million adults on linear primetime television, more than 15 million users on PBS-owned streaming platforms, and 56 million people view PBS content on social media. Programs on PBS are consistently recognized with the industry's most prestigious honors, including Peabody, Emmy and Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University awards.

Under Kerger’s leadership, PBS has deepened its impact, from providing universal access to early learning resources through the PBS KIDS broadcast and streaming channels, to empowering educators with digital resources through PBS LearningMedia. In the 2021-22 school year, more than 15 million users visited PBS LearningMedia – averaging over 1.5 million users per month. Kerger also serves as president of the PBS Foundation, which provides a significant source of revenue for projects that benefit the entire public television system.

Kerger is a frequentspeaker on issuesaround media, culture,education and technology. She has been a featured speaker at the Aspen Ideas Festival, Chautauqua Institution, Detroit Economic Club, CODE Conference, SXSW, BANFF Media Conference and the Milken Institute Global Conference, among other high-profile events.

Kerger has been honored with the Giants of Broadcasting Award; the Advancing American Democracy Award from the Benjamin Harris Presidential Site; the Woman of Achievement Award from Women in Development, New York; the National Education Association Friend of Education Award; Promax/BDA, B&C and Multichannel News Brand Builder Award; and the Realscreen Hall of Fame Award. Since 2010, she has been regularlyincluded in the HollywoodReporter’s “Women in Entertainment Power 100,” and she is regularly featured in Washingtonian Magazine’s “Most Powerful Women in Washington.”

Prior to joining PBS, Kerger served for more than a decade at the Educational Broadcasting Corporation (EBC), the parent company of Thirteen/WNET and WLIW21 New York, where her ultimate position was executive vice president and chief operating officer. She also held roles at the Metropolitan Opera, International House and U.S. Committee for UNICEF.

Kerger received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Baltimore, where she serves on the President’s Council. She has received honorary doctorates from Washington University in St. Louis, Grand Valley State University, Allegheny College, Northeastern University and the University of Miami.  She receivedthe Chancellor’s Medallion from University of North Carolina Asheville. She served as a DC Fellow at the Darden School, University of Virginia.

She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Women’s Forum. She is a board member of the Dana Foundation and the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History where she formerly served as Chair. She is a director of the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and was a director of the Meredith Corporation.

Dwane Brown is an Emmy-award-winning newscaster whose smooth-as-silk delivery and authentic writing style are heard during NPR'S All Things Considered on weekday afternoons. He is the first network newscaster to regularly anchor from NPR West and occasionally hosts. 

A San Francisco native, Dwane started his career in San Diego, doing morning drive radio for XHRM from a remote studio in Tijuana, Mexico. He was promoted to News and Public Affairs Director in less than a year. 

To enhance his journalism skills, he moved to CBS Radio and WCBS-TV in New York, where he gained substantial experience as a producer, editor, and fill-in reporter. Dwane then returned to his California roots and worked in San Francisco at KOIT as News and Public Affairs Director, and KGO, KCBS, KRON, KTVU, and KNTV for about ten years before returning to KPBS in San Diego in 2005 as a primary anchor and reporter. 

Throughout his career, Dwane has excelled at producing innovative people stories that often pull at the heartstrings - engaging audiences on multiple platforms, television, radio, and the world wide web.

His most memorable adventure was being one of the first broadcasters to live-stream in the early days of the internet, covering all things "dot.com" and interviewing hundreds of chief executives, including Jeff Bezos of Amazon, who likened the pending tech stock bust of 2001 to the Cambrian Era. As Bezos put it, when multiple species exploded on the earth, "the strong devoured the weak."  This showcased Dwane's disarming yet probing interview style, which gave us an early peek at Bezos's leadership approach and business strategy.

Dwane has always felt an obligation to give back to the communities he serves. He is a Toastmaster and highly sought-after public speaker who has served as a Master of Ceremonies, headlining events for the American Red Cross, the Urban League, the VA Medical Center, Meals on Wheels, the San Diego Office of Emergency Services, and many other service organizations and foundations.

He has helped prepare & coach Chief Executives to respond to the media, and provided voice-over narration for numerous film, television, and digital projects and is now focusing on the Next Big Thing: Artificial Intelligence.

Dwane graduated with a Fast Trac degree from U.C. Berkeley's Haas School of Business. He also earned degrees in English and journalism from San Diego State University.