NPR’s Invisibilia will get new hosts in winter 2021.
Yowei Shaw and Kia Miakka Natisse, who have been producers on the show, will become the new hosts, replacing Alix Spiegel and Hanna Rosin. Spiegel has co-hosted the podcast since it launched in 2015. Rosin was later named a third co-host with Lulu Miller, who left the program.
Two staff members are leaving Chicago Public Media.
Cate Cahan left her position as an editor at WBEZ. She told the staff in May that she planned to leave to pursue other personal and professional ventures. Cahan joined the station in 1998 as editor of Eight Forty-Eight, a weekday morning news program. She’s also served as an interim news director and held several editing roles at the station.
And Silvia Rivera took a voluntary buyout from the station, according to an announcement she made on LinkedIn. Rivera has worked as managing director of CPM’s Vocalo since 2010. She had previously worked as GM of WRTE, a station CPM acquired in 2012.
Susan Moritz Scharnberg, president of the Iowa PBS Foundation, will retire in October.
Scharnberg has spent more than 38 years in the nonprofit sector. She joined the Iowa PBS Foundation, a separate nonprofit fundraising group to support programs, in 2001.
“It is an honor to bring people together with the causes that bring them fulfillment. It is thrilling to see a donor realize the joy of giving,” Scharnberg said in a news release. “Public media has a critical place in our society. I hope our work makes it stronger for the people of Iowa.”
Scharnberg’s professional fundraising career began at the American Lung Association, where she eventually became development director. She also served as VP for advancement for Wesley Retirement Services before joining the public TV station’s foundation. An executive transition committee for the Iowa PBS Foundation board of directors has been appointed to select Scharnberg’s successor.
Management
Jenny Gentry was promoted to COO at Colorado Public Radio last month. Gentry, who previously served as SVP of finance and administration, joined the organization more than 36 years ago and has also served as the VP of finance and legal.
Content
Catherine Komp was hired as director of content for Blue Ridge Public Radio in Asheville, N.C. She will oversee BPR Classic and BPR News and the station’s live and on-demand digital services. She starts in September. Komp is currently a senior editor at VPM in Richmond, Va. She has also held roles with Free Speech Radio News and with WRIR, an independent radio station in Richmond, Va. Komp is also a 2020 fellow for CPB’s editorial integrity and leadership initiative.
Andrea Billups was named news director for West Virginia Public Broadcasting last month. Billups most recently served as a professional-in-residence at Western Kentucky University. She has experience working as a journalism professor at other institutions, including Michigan State University, Grand Valley State University, the University of South Florida and the University of Florida. She has also served as a correspondent for People Magazine and the Washington Times.
Eleanor Bennett was promoted to Morning Edition host at Aspen Public Radio. She starts the job in August. Bennet first joined the Colorado station in 2015 as an intern working as a production assistant. She worked as a producer at Sirius XM Radio and United Technologies before rejoining the public radio station in 2019 as a podcast producer, story editor and freelance reporter. Bennett replaces Molly Dove, who relocated to Wisconsin to be close to her family.
Micaela J. Rodríguez was hired as a podcast producer for KERA in Dallas. She starts the job in July. Rodríguez previously served as a podcast producer for Roll Call. She has also been a producer for Politico, NPR and WITF in Harrisburg, Pa.
Development
Haley Gagnon was named special events coordinator for Smoky Hills PBS in Bunker Hill, Kan. She previously served as a coordinator for the Kansas chapter of the Family, Careers and Community Leaders of America, a nonprofit.
Governance
The Public Media Journalists Association added two new board members and elected a new board president. The new president is Shula Neuman, executive editor at St. Louis Public Radio. Joining the board is Reginald Hardwick, director of news and public affairs at Illinois Public Media in Urbana, Ill.; and LaToya Dennis, a reporter for WUWM in Milwaukee.
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