Program explores disparities, challenges, and successes in communities of color.
PITTSBURGH – WQED Multimedia will premiere A Matter of Trust: Reflections on a Pandemic on Thursday, March 8, 2023 at 8 p.m., with an encore broadcast on Monday, March 12 at 7:30 p.m. The program will be available online following the broadcast at www.wqed.org/vaccine.
The 30-minute documentary takes a deep dive into the historic impact and lessons learned around COVID-19, the virus that changed the world. Reflections examines the Pittsburgh region’s response to the pandemic, the people it affected and the health care disparities it exposed.
In early 2021, as the COVID-19 pandemic gripped Southwestern Pennsylvania, WQED partnered with POISE Foundation and the Black Equity Coalition to launch a public awareness campaign to inform and educate the people of the region, especially the region’s communities of color.
“POISE Foundation and the Black Equity Coalition believe WQED was the perfect partner to capture and tell the stories of how the pandemic impacted the lives of some of our most vulnerable community members, as well as understanding the path it takes to build trust in an environment where lack of trust is often the norm,” says Mark S. Lewis, President and CEO, POISE Foundation.
Titled, A Matter of Trust: COVID-19 Vaccines, the two-year project was highlighted by a series of short informational videos distributed on TV, social media, and other platforms. The PSA campaign was recognized with a Pennsylvania Association of Broadcasters (PAB) Award, and a Mid-Atlantic Emmy® nomination for Outstanding Community Service.
Drawing from the campaign’s library of impactful videos, the new documentary follows the journey from raising community awareness, to education on the effectiveness of vaccines, to the establishment of safe healthcare practices. Visits to neighborhood clinics, health care providers, and places of worship take viewers to the frontlines in the battle to save lives and dispel misinformation. Through thoughtful conversation, informative interviews and expert, community-based advice, we follow the campaign and its impact.
Multiple Mid-Atlantic Emmy® Award winner Iris Samson produced the new documentary and led the A Matter of Trust awareness campaign. “This was probably the most momentous health crisis of our time, and I was honored to tell the story of the people who responded, many times putting their own lives at risk, to serve their communities,” says Samson.
A Matter of Trust: Reflections on a Pandemic was made possible with funding from POISE Foundation, The Pittsburgh Foundation, Hillman Family Foundations and Giant Eagle, produced in collaboration with the Black Equity Coalition.
About WQED
WQED was an experiment in educational community-supported television that was the forerunner to PBS. Today, WQED is a multimedia powerhouse that is as much a part of Pittsburgh as the three rivers. WQED is WQED-TV (PBS); WQED World; WQED Create; WQED Showcase; WQED PBS KIDS Channel; Classical WQED-FM 89.3/Pittsburgh; Classical WQEJ-FM 89.7/Johnstown; the Pittsburgh Concert Channel at WQED-HD2 (89.3-2FM) and online; streaming and apps, and WQED Interactive.
WQED is a premier leader in broadcast and digital video production, producing socially relevant, historical, arts, entertainment and educational programming resources. WQED’s Learning Neighborhood model creates an education continuum dedicated to serving our youngest neighbors through Ready To Learn programming, while engaging high school students learning filmmaking and exploring employment opportunities through the WQED Film Academy.