‘The Pub’ #100: Why stations should help employees relocate

Print More

Mueller

A radio reporter who recently accepted a new job paid for the move by launching a GoFundMe campaign — and not for the first time.

Should public media be offering more help to its greener employees to avoid creating a class barrier? On this episode of The Pub, we talk to the people most affected by these decisions: the employees.

Sarah Mueller, a reporter for Delaware Public Media in Dover, started her GoFundMe campaign in August to help fund her move from Tallahassee, Fla. “To have to ask people for money, you feel ashamed,” Mueller said. “You feel like, ‘If I was doing better in my career, then I would have all this money saved and have all the expenses being covered without having to ask other people.’”

I also bring in Lakeidra Chavis of Chicago’s WBEZ for an opposing narrative: the story of several stations across the country (both urban and rural, with lots of resources and without) who went above and beyond to help their new hire feel comfortable.

Also, here’s how you can donate to help get Puerto Rico’s public media stations back on the air.

And it’s the 100th episode of The Pub! Thanks to our loyal listeners for taking an interest in nerdy public media topics. Here’s to 100 more!

Please subscribe to The Pub in iTunes or your favorite podcast app and leave us a rating and a comment! That will help boost our search results and allow people to find the show more easily.

We welcome your feedback on the show: You can reach me on Twitter; Current’s digital editor, Mike Janssen, is at [email protected]; and you can contact Current generally at [email protected] or on Twitter.

If you’d like to offer a comment to be used in the program, please send on-mic tape (recorded in a studio, with a kit, a smartphone, anything) to [email protected] either as an attachment or through Google Drive. Please keep it short!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *