A New Way to Educate: Dr. Adam Fineske on Leading WGTE Public Media Into Its Next Chapter

After 26 years in public education and nearly a decade as a superintendent, Dr. Adam Fineske could have stayed on a path he already knew well.

Instead, he chose something new.

That decision led him to WGTE Public Media, where he now serves as President and CEO and has discovered that the mission of public media feels surprisingly familiar.

In this episode of Taylor Community Connection, Community Ambassador Tom Cole sits down with Adam to talk about the leap from schools to public media, the role WGTE plays throughout Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan, and why education remains at the center of everything he hopes to accomplish.

For Adam, the career change was not really a departure from education.

It was an opportunity to expand it.

Knowing When It Is Time for a New Challenge

Adam spent more than two decades building a career in public education.

His path included years in Sylvania before becoming superintendent of Ottawa Hills Local Schools, where he spent seven years leading a district he still describes with great affection.

He loved the work.

He loved the students.

He loved the community.

But over time, he began feeling ready for something different.

Adam says he spent more than a year thinking about what a next chapter might look like and talking with other leaders around the community about possibilities.

Then the President and CEO position at WGTE Public Media became available.

People connected to WGTE encouraged him to consider it.

The opportunity made sense almost immediately.

Adam was already a regular consumer of public media. He listened to Morning Edition, watched PBS programming, followed the news closely, and relied on communication as a major part of his work as a superintendent.

Public media had already become part of his everyday life.

What he had not yet realized was how closely it aligned with the work he had been doing all along.

“I was proud of myself that I took that leap,” Adam says.

After stepping into the role, he quickly felt he had made the right decision.

Education Beyond the Classroom

The connection between Adam’s two careers became clear almost immediately.

Public schools and public media may operate in very different ways, but Adam believes they share the same larger purpose.

A more educated, informed, and connected community is a stronger community.

At WGTE, that work happens through television, radio, podcasts, multimedia, and educational services.

The last part is something Adam says many people do not realize.

WGTE has an educational services department that works directly with preschool and early elementary educators throughout the region. The organization provides professional development and other resources that support teachers and young learners.

For Adam, that was an exciting discovery.

He had spent his career thinking about how to support students and educators inside school systems.

Now, he could continue that work while reaching a much larger audience.

Instead of serving one district, WGTE gives him an opportunity to help educate people throughout Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan.

Expanding the Reach of Education

WGTE’s reach stretches across a large portion of the region.

Adam talks about audiences extending toward Southeast Michigan, west toward the Indiana border, east toward Sandusky and Port Clinton, and south beyond Lima.

That geographic reach changed the way he thought about his impact as an educator.

At Ottawa Hills, Adam was responsible for a close knit school community.

At WGTE, educational content can reach hundreds of thousands of people across multiple communities.

And education does not have to look like a classroom lesson.

Someone may learn while listening to the radio on the way to work.

They may discover something through a television program.

They may hear a local story they knew nothing about.

They may find a podcast that introduces them to a different idea or perspective.

Adam points out that the “E” in WGTE stands for education, and he sees that mission running through everything the organization produces.

No matter the platform, he wants audiences to come away having learned or experienced something meaningful.

Telling More of Northwest Ohio’s Story

Adam also sees an important opportunity for WGTE to expand its local storytelling.

National and statewide stories can dominate the media landscape, but Adam believes public media has an important role to play closer to home.

He wants WGTE to tell more stories about the people, organizations, communities, and ideas shaping Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan.

That includes positive stories that remind people why this region can be a great place to live, work, and raise a family.

The organization is already looking at ways to expand local programming and make that kind of storytelling a larger part of its mission.

For Adam, local media can help people better understand their own community.

It can introduce neighbors who may never otherwise meet.

It can highlight work happening quietly across the region.

And it can create a stronger sense of connection in an environment where people are constantly exposed to national information.

Adam wants WGTE to remain educational, but he also wants it to feel unmistakably local.

Building the Next 75 Years

The timing of Adam’s arrival gives WGTE an important opportunity to look both backward and forward.

In 2027, WGTE Public Media will celebrate its 75th anniversary in Northwest Ohio.

Adam sees that milestone as much more than a birthday.

It is a chance to honor decades of programming and public service while also asking what the community needs from public media next.

WGTE is preparing to begin a new strategic planning process, with the goal of developing a plan that can help guide the organization into its next era.

Adam wants the community to be part of that conversation.

What should public media look like in the future?

What programming matters?

What services are most relevant?

Where can WGTE make the greatest impact?

Those questions will help shape the organization beyond its anniversary year.

Adam sees the 75th anniversary as a chance to celebrate the programs and memories people already associate with public media while using that attention to build excitement about what comes next.

Facing a New Financial Reality

That future also comes with a significant challenge.

Adam stepped into WGTE leadership at a time when public media organizations were adjusting to the loss of federal funding.

In the interview, he says WGTE lost approximately $1.2 million from its budget, creating an immediate financial challenge for the organization.

Adam knew when he accepted the position that he was not walking into an easy assignment.

In some ways, that was part of what attracted him to it.

He had been looking for a challenge.

Now the task is to find new partners, build stronger community relationships, and create a sustainable path forward while continuing the services audiences depend on.

Adam views the upcoming strategic plan and 75th anniversary as important parts of that process.

The organization will need community support, partnerships, and people willing to see public media as something worth investing in.

But Adam also believes the moment creates an opportunity to rethink what WGTE can become rather than simply trying to preserve what it has always been.

A Different Job With a Familiar Mission

Adam Fineske may have left public education, but he did not leave education behind.

Instead, he found another way to serve.

The classroom became television, radio, podcasts, and community programming.

The school district became an audience stretching across Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan.

And the goal remained much the same.

Help people learn.

Help them stay informed.

Help them feel more connected to the place they call home.

For Adam, that realization has made the career change feel less like leaving one profession and more like expanding the mission that guided his first 26 years.

Now, as WGTE approaches its 75th anniversary, he has an opportunity to help shape what that mission will look like for the next generation.

👉 Watch now to hear Dr. Adam Fineske share why he made the leap from public education to public media and how he hopes to expand WGTE’s role in educating, informing, and connecting Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan.