The Stories That Connect Us

Long before Carla McCabe became a media executive, she was watching history unfold outside her front door.

Carla grew up in Belfast during the Troubles, when soldiers on the streets, bomb scares and curfews were part of everyday life.

She also witnessed something very different: the beginnings of peace.

Those experiences would follow Carla into a career built around telling stories and understanding the people behind them.

On this episode of HarmonyTALK, host Greg Frigoletto talks with the President and CEO of WVIA, Northeast and Central Pennsylvania’s affiliate station for PBS and NPR, about a journey that began in Northern Ireland, took her to the BBC and independent television production, brought her across the Atlantic to American public media and ultimately led her to Northeastern Pennsylvania.

Carla didn’t set out to work in television.

A temporary job at the BBC changed that.

There, she saw television examine conflict, reconciliation and history through the experiences of the people who had lived it.

One documentary would make that work deeply personal.

After losing her brother to suicide, Carla helped produce Breaking the Silence, telling the stories of families affected by suicide with a deliberate focus on respect rather than sensationalism.

Watching the finished film alongside those families changed the way Carla thought about media.

Storytelling could have impact.

That belief now shapes her leadership at WVIA.

With local newsrooms shrinking and public media facing enormous change, Carla has pushed WVIA deeper into local journalism and community storytelling. Reporters spend time in the communities they cover. They build trust. They follow stories rather than simply moving on to the next headline.

And they make room for different perspectives, giving audiences the information to decide what they think for themselves.

From Belfast to the BBC to WVIA, Carla has seen what can happen when people are divided.

She has also seen what can happen when we listen.