Our Director of Special Projects Cathy Droz presented at the annual Public Broadcasters International (PBI) Conference in Kyoto, Japan last month. PBI is an annual forum for public broadcasters from around the world to share their common concerns and exchange information.  This year’s conference brought together more than 120 people from 40 countries from Thailand to France, from Bhutan to Portugal.

PBI focused the conference on the challenges facing public broadcasters around the world in response to global economic challenges, as well as the convergence of broadcasting and new media. NHK, the public broadcasting service of Japan, this year’s PBI host, wanted the participants from around the globe to learn from the more than forty-year partnership of Family Communications and the Public Broadcasting Service of the United States.

Although much has changed in public broadcasting over these many years, much has remained the same. Cathy spoke about how Family Communications and PBS have worked together to stay true to our missions as we have adapted to changes in the media landscape. The inspirational messages of Fred Rogers resonated deeply with those in attendance, many of whom are working to create meaningful children’s media of their own. 

The international audience was even more intrigued when Cathy showcased our unique cross media initiatives in our recently relaunched Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood website on PBSKids, as well as the release of our first Mister Rogers iphone app. With the support of PBS, these initiatives have given us the opportunity to use today’s technologies to extend and enhance the core Neighborhood messages for today’s children and parents.

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