NPR announced Tuesday several appointments in its newsroom, as well as the creation of a new role for oversight of temporary news and programming staff.
The new position of talent development manager will be filled by Carline Watson, now EP of All Things Considered. She will start in the position Nov. 4. Watson will be “the primary day-to-day point person for temporary News and Programming division staff,” according to a note to newsroom staff.
The network’s reliance on temporary staff has drawn criticism, most notably in a Washington Post article last year in which temps described the practice as frustrating and “exploitative.”
“Temporary employees are an important part of our organization,” the note to news staff said. “It is an institutional priority that we put the structures and support in place to improve their experience. As a manager who has worked with temporary staff, Carline is all too well aware of the deficiencies of the current system. She says, ‘I’m really looking forward to sitting down with temporary staff from across news and programming, as well as the other stakeholders. We must get this right by creating a system that is fair and equitable.’”
Replacing Watson as ATC EP is Cara Tallo, who is EP of the NPR podcast Invisibilia. Tallo began at NPR in 1999 as a intern for the Washington Desk. She became a production assistant for Morning Edition in 2000 and went on to manage assignments and coverage for the show from 2007–17. In 2017 she played a “pivotal role” in launching the podcast Up First, according to the memo.
NPR also said it has promoted Terry Samuel to managing editor-news. He joined the network in 2017 as deputy managing editor. Luis Clemens will fill the role of deputy managing editor. He was previously supervising editor for the National Desk.
Meanwhile, Sara Kehaulani Goo is leaving NPR in December to become executive editor at Axios. Goo is managing editor for digital at the network. She joined NPR in 2016 as deputy managing editor for digital news. Before starting at NPR, she worked in various roles at the Washington Post.
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The Oklahoma Educational Television Authority named Susan Cadot VP of production. Cadot has worked as a documentary producer and writer for OETA since 2000. She also worked as a prime-time anchor and field reporter for a station in Tennessee.
Chris Hays has joined Milwaukee PBS as its first-ever chief content officer. Hays most recently served as VP of content and community engagement at WMHT in Schenectady, N.Y. Before joining WMHT, he held the dual role of CEO of Panhandle PBS and VP of communications and marketing at Amarillo College in Amarillo, Texas.
Mariana Dale is joining KPCC in Pasadena, Calif., to report on early childhood education. She has worked as a senior field correspondent for KJZZ in Phoenix since 2016. At KPCC, she replaces Priska Neely, who left in August to become a reporter and producer with Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting.
WAMU in Washington, D.C., promoted Paige Osburn to senior producer for 1A and Chris Chester to the role of growth editor, a new position.
WXXI in Rochester, N.Y., hired Max Schulte as a photojournalist and videographer and gave freelancer Jeff Spevak a full-time position as lead reporter on a new Arts and Life Desk. Spevak has been a freelance contributor to WXXI News since 2018. With his hire, WXXI will expand Arts InFocus, a digital series about area artists and arts organizations. Schulte previously worked as staff photographer for Rochester’s Democrat and Chronicle newspaper for 23 years and as lead photographer for the past two years.
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Hawaii Public Radio in Honolulu hired two corporate relations associates: Liane Sunn and David Bearden. Sunn previously ran her own media sales company in Hawaii, representing print and digital brands for companies such as Time Inc., American Express Publishing and Meredith Corp. Bearden most recently ran his own business selling digital products to Hawaii’s hospitality industry.
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