Meet the 1st Black woman to lead Arizona PBS
You can tell a lot about how Adrienne Fairwell feels about her mission as the general manager of Arizona PBS by her choice of words.
Or word, really.
Arizona PBS is best known to longtime Valley residents simply as Channel 8, or as the local public television station. But during a recent interview Fairwell never linked the words “public” and “television” together in a sentence.
Instead, it’s all about “public media.”
“We are really turning into a multiplatform organization,” Fairwell said with a Southern accent. “And what I mean by that is, we live here on TV and we thrive here on TV, but we also have to figure out that delicate balance on how to evolve our digital space, our website and our social platforms.”
Fairwell came to Arizona PBS from South Carolina Educational TV
Fairwell came to the station, which is part of the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University, from South Carolina Educational TV and Public Radio. She was the assistant general manager and vice president of marketing and community development.
She graduated from the University of South Carolina with a degree in journalism and mass communication. She has a master’s degree in human resource development from Webster University, also in South Carolina.
The job entails not only making programming decisions and overseeing the station’s operation, but also raising money. She started in April and moved to the Valley full-time in June. Yes, June. Ouch.
“My gosh,” she said. “We picked a very hot month, I’ll just say that.”
But Fairwell is used to working through challenges. She’s the first Black woman to work as the general manager in its 60-year history.
It’s not something she takes lightly. “It absolutely creates a level of responsibility that I quite frankly enjoy,” she said. “Diversity, equity and inclusion is something people throw around. I’m all about ‘show me with your actions, not your words.’ And I believe that Arizona State University did that, and I believe they’re doing that.”
But other factors played a part, as well.
“I took the job because Arizona PBS was also going through a digital transformation,” she said, “trying to evolve
its platforms to meet the people where they are.”
Indeed, three words popped up often during the conversation with Fairwell: “digital,” “data” and “local.” That’s not surprising — most media outlets are stressing those three things in an attempt to hold onto an audience that has so many options.
The station conducted a new mediamarket survey after she arrived because what it was using before was outdated, she said.
She’s clearly excited about the prospect of attracting an untapped audience, and using that data to go after it.
Viewership for the station is growing on digital platforms
Viewership on Arizona PBS Passport, an app where programming is available to contributors who give $5 a month or $60 a year to the station, was up 13% in October, she said — but up 43% over 2020. And the average time viewers watched on that platform increased by 34 minutes.
Fairwell pointed to “Playlist 48,” a new show that debuted in early November, showcasing musicians and bands with Arizona connections. Singer-songwriter Danielle Durack was the subject of the first show. Episodes include two original songs and an interview segment. A new episode is posted on the Arizona PBS website and Facebook page every Friday.
And in October the station also relaunched the popular “Check, Please! Arizona,” hosted by Phoenix chef Mark Tarbell. The show, which premiered in 2011, was canceled in 2018 and replaced by “Plate & Pour,” which ran for two seasons.
“It’s really about listening to what our communities need,” Fairwell said. “I’m just a big believer in ‘build the content and they will come.’ That’s really the model for us.”
The emphasis on digital media isn’t a signal that TV is declining in importance, Fairwell said.
“TV is one of our largest donor revenue generators. TV is not going away.”
Just to be sure, she’s reassured the TV side of things of that.
“I tell them all the time that it’s not an ‘either/or.’ It’s an ‘and.’ We can exist on all of these platforms.”
It’s a matter of prioritizing and being intentional, she said.
Inevitably, whether on a local or national stage, PBS becomes political. Big Bird, for instance, has been at the center of a political storm simply for telling children he’s vaccinated against COVID-19. The ensuring furor was as ridiculous as it is predictable.
Of that, Fairwell said only, “We love Big Bird.”
‘It’s a heavy load to carry’
“When it comes to politics, it’s not necessarily something that we jump into,” she said. “But it’s also something we don’t shy away from. We deal in truth and in accuracy. Telling the truth and being accurate and timely and relevant leads to good morals and allows me to be able to sleep at night.”
Fairwell is refreshingly forthright when she talks about her place in the station’s history. It’s a big deal, obviously, and she embraces that.
“I wake up every day with the responsibly on my shoulders that I don’t represent just a race, I represent a culture,” she said. “What I mean by that is this: Culture is so different from a race of people. I represent a culture of people of color who might be underrepresented, misunderstood, misrepresented, not represented at all to the level that each and every decision I make is based on that.”
Lack of representation is something Fairwell is familiar with.
“Growing up in this industry, I’ve had to be tough,” she said. “I’ve had to overcome obstacles, not just with race but because I’m a woman. At some times I was the only woman in the room when you’re talking to engineers and IT people.”
She learned from those experiences. She grew from them, and she hasn’t forgotten them.
“It’s a heavy load to carry,” Fairwell said, “but God chose me for this and I feel certain he’s going to provide the tools that I need to be successful.”