# William F. Baker (television)

William Franklin Baker (born September 20, 1942) is an American broadcaster, author, academic, and explorer.
Baker directs the Bernard L. Schwartz Center for Media, Education, and Public Policy at Fordham University, where he is also a Journalist in Residence and a professor in the Graduate School of Education. He is also Distinguished Professor of Media & Entertainment at IESE Business School, Barcelona, Spain, and President Emeritus of WNET (New York's public television station). He teaches a business class at the Juilliard School in New York City.

## Career

In 1972, while at WEWS in Cleveland, Ohio, Baker, along with the station's general manager Don Perris, created The Morning Exchange, an easygoing morning show program that offered news and weather updates at the top and bottom of each hour, and filled the remaining time discussing general-interest and entertainment topics.
During his 21-year tenure as president of WNET in New York, Baker developed one of the first and largest endowments in the history of public broadcasting.
Baker was president of Westinghouse Broadcasting and chairman of their cable and programming companies. At Westinghouse, Baker introduced Oprah Winfrey as a talk show host, and PM Magazine became a top-rated syndicated program in the 1980s. Baker was involved in the early stages of launching the Discovery Channel and the Disney Channel.
Baker established WNET's Educational Resources Center, which trained people in multimedia teaching techniques. He also founded the Bernard L. Schwartz Center for Media, Education, & Public Policy at Fordham University.

## Publications and productions

Baker is co-author of several books, including:
* The World's Your Stage: How Performing Artists Can Make a Living While Still Doing What They Love (AMACOM, 2016)
* Every Leader is an Artist
* Leading with Kindness: How Good People Consistently Get Superior Results
* Down the Tube: An Insider's Account of the Failure of American Television
* Lighthouse Island: Our Family Escape
As executive producer, his notable works include:
* The Face: Jesus in Art (Emmy-winning documentary)
* Sacred (2017 documentary)
* Leading with Kindness (2008 PBS documentary)

## Awards

Baker has received seven Emmy Awards and is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He has been inducted into the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) Management Hall of Fame and received the Mark Schubart award from the Lincoln Center Institute. He has also been inducted into the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame and the New York State Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame. He received two Columbia DuPont Journalism Awards and was honored in 2016 by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center for his work in the performing arts.
Baker has also received the Gabriel Personal Achievement Award, two Alfred I. duPont–Columbia University Award and the 1987 Trustees Emmy Award.

## Personal

Baker holds a B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. in Communications Sciences and Organizational Behavior from Case Western Reserve University. He is a former chairman of the National Parks System Advisory Board and serves on the board of Rodale, Inc. in Emmaus, Pennsylvania. In cooperation with Fordham University, he teaches Juilliard's only business course, The Business of the Performing Arts.