NETA elects leadership, ‘Hamilton’ creator will be PBS host, and other comings and goings in public media

The National Educational Telecommunications Association has elected its executive committee for fiscal year 2017.

Ronnie Agnew, executive director of Mississippi Public Broadcasting, is board chair. Tom Rieland, g.m. at WOSU Public Media in Columbus, Ohio, is vice chair and chair-elect.

Treasurer is Glen Cerny, director of broadcasting at KRWG in Las Cruces, N.M. Molly Phillips, executive director and g.m. of Iowa Public Television, is secretary.

Committee members at large are Mary Anne Alhadeff, president, KERA, Dallas; and Gene Purcell, executive director of the Wisconsin Educational Communications Board in Madison. JoAnn Urofsky, g.m. of WUSF Public Media in Tampa, Fla., is the immediate past chair.

NETA is a professional association of 94 public broadcasters. The Columbia, S.C.–based organization assists public stations by providing content, professional development resources, management support and national representation.

Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda will host this year’s PBS Arts Fall Festival, airing Friday nights beginning Oct. 21.

In a statement, Miranda said that he is “such a huge fan of PBS. For my entire life it’s been our window into a world of the arts that isn’t available anywhere else on TV.”

The festival includes Hamilton’s America, a documentary going behind the scenes during the three years leading up to the Broadway opening of the show, which won 11 Tony Awards and the Pulitzer Prize.

Content

Larissa Anderson, executive producer of American Public Media’s Dinner Party Download, is joining Gimlet Media as senior producer of Afterward, a new narrative nonfiction podcast about the recent past. Anderson was also co-creator and senior producer of Wits, the public radio music and comedy program from Minnesota Public Radio.

Planet Money, NPR’s program and podcast about the economy, has hired Bryant Urstadt as senior editor. Previously Urstadt worked as features editor at Bloomberg Businessweek magazine.

Julia Mitric, former producer at Capital Public Radio in Sacramento, Calif., has taken over the food and sustainability beat at the station. She’ll cover challenges facing the global food system as well as food’s connection to culture and community. Most recently, Mitric contributed to CPR’s The View From Here documentary series as a freelancer, looking at food insecurity in overlooked local neighborhoods. Earlier in her career she worked on the National Desk at NPR in Washington, D.C., and as a field producer.

Capital Public Radio’s new morning host is Kevin Doherty, who is also a professional opera performer. Doherty will host classical music weekday mornings, providing interesting facts and anecdotes about the music and musicians. Previously he hosted and produced the weekend Early Morning Concert at WUOT in Knoxville, Tenn.

Ebone Monet is now a host and reporter for KPBS Evening Edition, the San Diego station’s weeknight local newscast. Monet previously Monet reported for ABC affiliate RTV6 in Indianapolis on stories including the Indy 500 and Super Bowl XLVI, and for KTHV, CBS in Little Rock, Ark.

Claire Aguilar steps down at the end of August as director of programming and industry engagement at Sheffield Doc/Fest. Before joining the British film festival staff in December 2014, Aguilar spent 10 years with the Independent Television Service as former executive content adviser and programming v.p. “I look forward to new adventures in the world of media and documentary,” she said in a statement.

Development

Dora Zúñiga is the new development director for Wisconsin Public Radio in Madison. Previously she led two local nonprofits, Centro Hispano and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Dane County. She also directed leadership giving at United Way of Dane County. In 2014 Zúñiga was named Hispanic Woman of the year by United Migrant Opportunity Services, which assists Hispanic seasonal workers and their families.

Tom Hurley, a founding partner in the development consulting and direct-response fundraising service DMW Fundraising, has sold his interest and formed Hurley Consulting. The 43-year system veteran began work in development in 1973 at WMHT in Troy, N.Y., where one of his first assignments was hosting live pledge breaks during Watergate hearings. Through 1984 he also worked at Michigan stations WKAR in East Lansing and WGVU, Kalamazoo.

Sales

Maryland Public Television has hired Megan Miley as a corporate support account executive. She’ll secure corporate sponsorships and partnerships for programming and initiatives at the Owings Mills station. Her previous experience includes working as an account executive at BridgeStreet, a commercial property management firm in Baltimore.

Nevada Public Radio has promoted Favian Perez to corporate support manager, effective Aug. 1. Perez will develop and implement sales strategies while managing a staff of seven. He joined the Las Vegas station in 2013.

Academia

Public broadcasting veteran Burr Beard is entering the Public Media Masters program at Ohio University in Athens, the yearlong graduate program jointly administered by the School of Media Arts and Studies and WOUB Public Media. Beard began his radio career at WYEP-FM in Pittsburgh in 1978. He worked as a program director and station manager at radio stations in Pennsylvania, Virginia and North Carolina.

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