Joseph Tovares is a veteran public media professional with high-level experience at national organizations, major producing stations, and small and medium-sized stations. 

Joseph began his public media career as a studio camera operator for KET. He later worked as a freelance documentary camera person, advanced to producing and writing, and eventually to management positions. He has seen the public media system from many points of view, including as an independent producer, a local station producer, a member of the editorial team of a national television series, and as part of the leadership team at a national public media organization. Tovares is committed to a public media model focused on strengthening communities through content and services that educate, inform, convene, and lead.

Joseph is currently a consultant and independent producer. He is the co-executive producer of the 5-part human rights short documentary series Legal Lens which premiered on the Boston Globe and aired on the World Channel. From April 2019 to August 2021, he served as Chief Content and Engagement Officer at WMHT Public Media in the Hudson Valley. From August 2017 to April 2019, Joseph worked as an independent producer and media consultant. Among his clients in 2018 were The Boston Globe and Harvard University. At the Globe, Joseph brought together podcast powerhouse Wondery and the Spotlight investigative team to produce Gladiator: Aaron Hernandez and Football Inc. The podcast was rated number one on iTunes the week of its release, increased digital subscriptions, and generated a lucrative television and film option. In addition, Joseph was instrumental in the launch of Love Letters, the highly successful podcast by Globe columnist Meredith Goldstein.

 From March 2009 until June 2018, Joseph worked at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. He was named Sr. Vice President & Chief Content Officer in 2015. His portfolio included television, radio, multimedia, engagement, and professional development projects. He also served as Sr. Vice President for Diversity and Innovation.

 Joseph served as part of the executive team at CPB and provided strategic guidance to the company. He oversaw a team of vice-presidents, directors, project managers, coordinators, and administrative assistants who managed support for content, professional development, and engagement projects. Projects supported under Tovares’s leadership include the PBS Children’s and Primetime Programming block, the Independent Television Service, Veterans Coming Home, Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution, All The Difference, TED TALKS: War and Peace, and many other specials.

 Before CPB, Joseph worked as a producer and executive producer.  He produced, directed, and wrote Zoot Suit Riots, a film on the youth culture of 1940s Los Angeles, and Remember the Alamo, a film about the Mexican families living in San Antonio during the epic battle. Tovares has presented at industry events and has represented U.S. public media at conferences in Europe and Latin America. For seven years, he was part of the editorial team at The American Experience, the history series on PBS, and created The American Experience Online.

 Employment History

Independent Producer, 2021-2024

Producer Heroin, Blood, and Money, a history podcast about San Antonio and Texas in the early 1970s.

Executive Producer Legal Lens, the intersection of journalism and documentary. Five short films produced collaboratively with independent producers and Harvard Law students that premiered on the Boston Globe.

Chief Content and Engagement Officer, WMHT Telecommunications, 2019 - 2021

Oversaw a staff of broadcast and digital producers, 4 channels of programming, two sound stages and a production services team.

Independent Producer & Media Consultant, 2017 – 2019

Client list included The Boston Globe, WNET, and Harvard University.

 Sr. Vice President & Chief Content Officer, 2015 – 2017, Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Washington, DC

Successfully executed support for high-profile, innovative, projects including: The Graduates, TED Talks Specials, On Two Fronts: Latinos and Vietnam, the Veterans Coming Home digital initiative, Firelight Media Documentary Lab, and Next Generation Leadership Project

Sr. Vice President, Diversity and Innovation, 2009 - 2015, Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Washington, DC

Managed a 7million dollar a year fund that brought diversity and innovation to the PBS primetime and children’s schedule resulting in increased African and Latino viewership

Established initial support for the World Channel, a digital multicast channel focused on documentaries and public affairs now in markets across the country

Producer, Executive Producer, 2000 - 2009 WGBH, Boston

Editorial oversight of Emmy award-winning, documentary and studio television team at the nation’s leading public media station

National Productions, 1994 - 2000, The American Experience, WGBH, Boston

Wrote, directed and produced the nationally televised film Remember the Alamo

Wrote, directed and produced the nationally televised film Zoot Suit Riots

Member, editorial team of the award-winning history The American Experience

Created and oversaw the award-winning digital unit, The American Experience Online

Presentations, Publications, Awards, Honors

2021 – New York State Broadcasting Award, Martin Luther King special.

2018 – Presenter, De-Colonizing the Documentary, International Documentary Association, Los Angeles, CA

2016 - New York State Writers Institute, Screening and Discussion, Zoot Suit Riots

2016 - Keynote, PBS SoCal Community Councils Annual Meeting

2015 - Presenter, Primer Festival del Cine Documental Chicano/Latino, Mexico City

2014 - U.S. Public Media Presenter, Mexico City, World Bank

2013 - Imagen Foundation, 50 Most Powerful and Influential Latinos in Entertainment

2012 - U.S. Public Media Presenter, Chilean Senate, Inter-American Development Bank

2011 - U.S. Public Media Presenter, El Salvador, World Bank

2011 - Imagen Foundation, 50 Most Powerful & Influential Latinos in Entertainment

2008 - New England Emmy, María Hinojosa: One-On-One

2008 - LEF Foundation Documentary Fellowship

2003 - New England Emmy, Last Chance DNA

2003 - New England Emmy, Conversations with Ilan Stavans

2003 - New England Emmy, Far from Cuba

2002 - New England Emmy, Blind and On Her Own

2002 - New England Emmy, Getting to Fenway

2001 - “Mojado Like Me,” Social Construction of Race and Ethnicity in the United States, 2nd Edition, Joan Ferrante, Prince Brown, eds. (Pearson, 2001)

 Education

MA: Radio, Television, Film, University of Texas, 1987

BS: Broadcasting and Film, Boston University, 1979

Memberships, Civic Involvement

Member, Board of Directors, Maine Media + College, Rockport, ME, 2022 – Present

Member, Board of Directors, Education Week, Washington, D.C., 2014 - 2022

Member, Association of Hispanic Journalist, 2014 - Present

Member, Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, Los Angeles, CA, 2016 - Present

Member, Writers Guild East, NYC – Lifetime member