Chad Johnston

Chad Johnston is a community media executive, producer, and organizer whose work connects public access television with media justice, nonprofit leadership, and cultural change. His path into the field began early, making videos as a teenager, and deepened at Antioch College, where he studied theater and media arts and learned to use media as a tool for social change. That foundation shaped the leadership roles that followed, including his work with The Peoples Channel and Durham Community Media in North Carolina, Saint Paul Neighborhood Network in Minnesota, and CreaTV San Jose in California.

Across those stations, Chad has been part of the bridge generation carrying community media from cable-era access into a broader civic and digital future. In San Jose, his leadership helped align CreaTV's public access mission with Open San Jose, an expanded community hub for media, technology, arts, nonprofit collaboration, storytelling, and civic engagement. That work reflects a larger shift in the field: community media centers becoming not only channels and studios, but convening spaces where residents and organizations can build voice, capacity, and public connection.

Chad has also served the wider field through the Alliance for Community Media board and media justice networks. In 2023, he received the ACM's Dirk Koning-George Stoney Award for Humanistic Communication, recognizing work that connects community media, social justice, organizational leadership, and public voice. His contribution reflects a leadership path grounded in access values and the continuing effort to make community media relevant to new generations, new technologies, and new civic needs.