Erin Bagatta joined WUWM as a community engagement & audience development coordinator in March 2024. Before joining WUWM, she served as creative marketing manager at Radio Milwaukee, where she oversaw creative direction, developed strategic marketing plans and managed the station’s volunteer program.
She spoke with WUWM’s president and general manager, David Lee, about the work she’ll be doing for WUWM and why she’s excited to join the team.
This interview has been edited for clarity.
David Lee: Can you tell us a little about yourself, your role here and where you came from?
Erin Bagatta: So, essentially, I help build relationships with both community members and organizations in Milwaukee. I also help the marketing team with different initiatives to make sure that the station's offerings are promoted and that we're reaching people with them. I program the weekly e-newsletter, and then I also help with design work as needed.
But before this job, I am no stranger to public media and Milwaukee. ... I used to work at Radio Milwaukee. I was there for about four and a half years, and I was their creative marketing manager, so I did similar work there. I guess the emphasis was more in graphic design and marketing when I was working there. But yeah, I'm so happy to be back in radio after I left Radio Milwaukee. I did work for Concordia University for about a year and I was doing program coordination for them and a bit of academic counseling. And that really satisfied the side of me that craves like relationships and speaking face to face with people. But I missed radio. I've missed broadcast media. So, I think that getting this job is honestly such a blessing because it combines my love for relationship building, but also my love for media.
Lee: What is your favorite thing about working here in the last two or three weeks?
Bagatta: My favorite thing is to watch how everyone works together, and I don't want that to come off as cheesy because it genuinely is my favorite thing. I'm a very observant person, and as a new person, my job right now is to listen and just kind of absorb as much knowledge as I can. And as I'm sitting in these meetings, I just love to see how effortlessly everyone collaborates and there's not a single person at that table that is of a higher rank than anyone else. It's a level playing field, and if you have an idea, there's a spot at the table for you.
If you wanna help out on a project, you're welcome to do that here. And that's so cool because everyone shows up and has their own ideas and their own experiences. And there's something, I guess, to gain from everyone. And I mean, it's really valued here and it shows. So that's really inspiring.
Lee: What's one thing that you're personally looking forward to this upcoming year?
Bagatta: Well, speaking on, I guess, the teamwork response that I had sitting in on these meetings, I'm privy to all these really cool ideas, and I'm so excited to be a part of those ideas. And I think that 2024 is a big year for Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and WUWM, and that's in part due to the political spotlight. But so I'm excited to see what we do for the RNC, for election coverage. And it's so cool that we have the platform that we do to help share information about that. But I'm also excited to see what we do in areas that aren't focused on politics. The different initiatives that we've been talking about in these meetings and these new creative ideas to basically storytelling and to amplify different voices. It's so cool to see an organization just constantly assess themselves. I see WUWM shape-shifting with the times. It's a changing climate, and WUWM is actively doing things to adapt to that.
