Johanna Zorn will leave the Third Coast International Audio Festival this fall.
Zorn, executive director of the audio storytelling festival, co-founded it in 2000 as a project of Chicago Public Media. It became an independent nonprofit in 2009. This year’s Third Coast conference will end with a speech by Zorn.
“An entire generation of audio producers have been inspired, encouraged and supported by the Third Coast Festival, thanks to Johanna’s bold, founding vision and steady stewardship over the past twenty years,” said Third Coast co-founder Julie Shapiro in a release. “It’s hard to measure, but Third Coast’s lasting impact can certainly be heard across countless feeds, queues, stations and shows around the world, and witnessed in the Festival’s amazing, ever-expanding community.”
“What will I do come September? I’m excited to consider the options,” Zorn said in a letter. “It might be in audio storytelling, it might be in arts non-profits, it might be something completely new.”
The board and staff of Third Coast will initiate a public search to replace Zorn, with the intention of filling the role by fall.
NPR added a reporter to its Washington desk.
The new addition is Claudia Grisales, now a Hill reporter for Stars and Stripes. She has also reported for the Austin American-Statesman. Grisales starts June 10.
“Claudia came to our attention when she was booked on Morning Edition in March to talk about Sen. Martha McSally’s dramatic revelation that she had been a victim of sexual assault,” wrote NPR Senior Washington Editor Beth Donovan and Deputy Washington Editor Shirley Henry in a note to news staff. “Claudia’s warmth on the air and knowledge of her beat made for a good listen. Thanks for spotting her, ME!”
Meanwhile, Scott Detrow is moving to full-time campaign coverage. Detrow and Asma Khalid, returning from family leave in July, will be NPR’s lead reporters covering the Democratic contenders for president over the next 18 months.
Two longtime employees of the National Educational Telecommunications Association will retire in September.
The organization will bid farewell to senior internal administrator Maryanne Schuessler and Gayle Loeber, the organization’s first VP, content.
Loeber joined NETA as director of programming and information in 1997, when it was known as the Southern Educational Communications Association. She had previously worked as director of broadcast marketing and promotion for the Independent Television Service and also held positions at several public TV stations. Her television career began in Lincoln at the Nebraska ETV Network in the late 1970s.
“Gayle brought to NETA and the system her passion for nurturing independent voices and a belief in the power of great storytelling,” said Eric Hyyppa, NETA president. “We are so proud of the vast body of work she and her staff have brought to public television stations and the American people.”
Schuessler will retire Friday the 13th of September, 50 years to the day after her first air shift at a college radio station. She has worked at NETA since 1995. During her tenure she worked in programming and information and in the NETA Business Center; she also served as a support liaison for NETA’s board of directors, the Organization of State Broadcasting Executives and the Digital Convergence Alliance.
Earlier in her career she scheduled live satellite feeds at PBS Broadcast Operations, including PBS’ first international transmission of HDTV in 1987. Schuessler’s roots are in central New York, where she was a producer/director and then traffic/continuity manager for WCNY-TV and FM in the 1970s.
Stitcher, the New York City–based podcast company, announced two hires with pubmedia experience.
Sarah van Mosel joined the company as chief revenue officer. Van Mosel most recently was chief podcast sales and strategy officer at Market Enginuity, managing sales for podcasts in PRX’s Radiotopia network. She has also worked at New York Public Radio.
And Daisy Rosario is now an EP at Stitcher, overseeing podcasts under the company’s Stitcher Original label. Rosario mostly recently was managing producer of podcasts at WAMU in Washington, D.C. She also hosted Current’s podcast Made Possible By.
HR
Carrie Storer joined NPR May 13 as chief HR officer. She was previously SVP for global employment law and deputy transformation officer for Discovery Inc., where her responsibilities included overseeing the workforce transformation planning around Discovery’s acquisition of Scripps Networks Interactive. Before joining Discovery in 2008, she led the labor, employment and benefits legal group for The Dow Chemical Co.
Content
Jenn White will host a new two-hour midday show on WBEZ in Chicago starting this fall. White joined the station in 2016 and became host of The Morning Shift in January. That show and Worldview, which has aired on WBEZ for 25 years, will end as the station shifts to producing the new midday show. Worldview host Jerome McDonnell will transition to reporting on energy and the environment.
Meanwhile, WBEZ’s Max Green has joined Frontline as a producer for its podcast, The Frontline Dispatch. He was previously a reporter and producer at the Chicago station.
WBUR in Boston added two staffers to its newsroom. Adrian Ma joins the station as a reporter for BostonomiX, the WBUR reporting unit devoted to the Boston area’s innovation economy. Ma was previously a business reporter for ideastream in Cleveland and a regular correspondent for Marketplace. And Angus Chen will be a producer/reporter for the station’s CommonHealth unit. Chen has freelanced for WNYC, NPR, Scientific American, Science, Discover and Latino USA and has reported for NPR’s Science Desk.
Tim Lloyd is now senior producer of on-demand and content partnerships at St. Louis Public Radio. Lloyd has worked for the station since 2012. He now co-hosts, reports for and produces the station podcast We Live Here.
Evan Rytlewski has joined 88Nine Radio Milwaukee as web editor. He previously worked as music editor for the Shepherd Express in Milwaukee for 13 years and has written more than 100 reviews for Pitchfork. He has also contributed to the A.V. Club.
The Association of Independents in Radio hired Annie Russell as project editor, while current staff member An Uong will transition into the role of engagement specialist. Russell is an editor at WBEZ in Chicago and formerly hosted Current’s podcast The Pub. She has also worked as deputy news director for Vermont Public Radio and is a stand-up comedian. Uong has worked for AIR for three years as community liaison. She previously worked in the community engagement and diversity and inclusion departments at New York Public Radio. Uong has also built adaptive cardboard furniture and writes for various websites and publications.
Wee correction on the Schuessler retirement: The October 8, 1987 feed was the first international transmission, period. PBS people (Richard Green, David Sillman, et al.) were involved in it, and so were a number of people from NHK, HBO, the CBC, and other agencies. It was fed to a congressional hearing room, and it was the thrill of my life to hear the huge gasp from those gathered when the video came up on the screen.