New York Public Radio named Edward Yim chief content officer for WQXR.
Yim’s first day with the New York City classical radio station will be Sept. 28. He will report to CEO Goli Sheikholeslami.
Yim is currently serving as president and CEO of the American Composers Orchestra. Before that, he was a VP for the New York Philharmonic and director of artistic planning for the New York City Opera. He also worked as an SVP for IMG Artists and as a director of artistic planning for the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association.
“Ed is a truly dynamic and innovative leader,” said Sheikholeslami in a news release. “I’m thrilled to welcome him as we work to advance WQXR’s impact on the classical music and public media landscapes, and deepen its service to our city’s diverse communities.”
“I have devoted my career to inspiring the joy of music in others, and cultivating a community that is dynamic and curious,” Yim said in the release. “I am committed to embracing the rich and varied voices in our field, including those working beyond the traditional boundaries of the Western European canon.”
Naseem Hussain and Kevin Ruppenthal have left PBS.
Hussain joined PBS as the director of meetings and events in 2007, where she managed several annual meetings and PBS TechCon, which were canceled this year due to the coronavirus pandemic. Her work entailed developing and managing budgets for the meetings, acquiring sponsors and working on marketing and promotion. Before PBS, she was the integrated marketing and events manager for Discovery Communications.
Ruppenthal was hired by PBS in 1999. He most recently served as director of technology communications and engagement. Before that, he worked as manager of technology strategy and planning and assistant director of scheduling implementation. A spokesperson declined to confirm whether the departures were tied to a workforce reduction announced in June.
WGBH in Boston announced two newsroom hires.
Carrie Saldo joined the station as a reporter. She will be based as the recently announced Worcester news bureau. Saldo most recently served as host of the nightly news program Connecting Point for WGBH sister station New England Public Media in Springfield. She has also been an EP for Rocky Mountain PBS in Denver and Berkshire bureau chief for WAMC in Albany, N.Y.
Megan Woolhouse will lead reporting for the K-12 education desk. She most recently served as a reporter for the Boston Globe, where she wrote stories for the metro and business sections and covered the impact of the 2008 recession on Massachusetts. Woolhouse also worked as a reporter for the Advocate in Baton Rouge, La.; the Courier-Journal in Louisville, Ky.; and the Atlanta Business Journal. She has also taught journalism at the Harvard Extension School and the University of Louisiana.
“With the hiring of Carrie and Megan, we are expanding our commitment to local news coverage and to sharing stories from across the Commonwealth that matter most to our audience,” said Pam Johnston, the new GM for news, in a news release. “At a time when many local news outlets are making the difficult decision to scale back resources, we are thrilled to be able to add journalists of their caliber to further build our news team.”
Capital Public Radio in Sacramento, Calif., announced two hires.
Kris Hooks was named news editor. He previously worked as a senior digital editor for KXTV, an ABC affiliate, where he also developed the station’s daily newsletter. Hooks also served as a digital content producer for KTXL, a Fox affiliate, and worked as a freelance writer for the alt-weekly Sacramento News & Review.
Ed Fletcher was hired as an afternoon anchor for the station. Fletcher was a reporter for the Sacramento Bee, where he covered crime, the arts, culture and state and local government before he was laid off in 2018. Fletcher has also served as the principal of Perpetual F Productions, which produced Do the Dance, a documentary feature that covered an adult entertainment lawsuit. He has also been the president of Sacramento Valley Spark, an events and arts nonprofit.
Education
Sajni Kumpuris was promoted to director of education for Arkansas PBS. Kumpuris joined the station last year and previously served as the assistant director of education. Before joining the station, she worked as program education manager in the geriatrics department of the University of Arkansas’ College of Medicine. She was also a broadcast producer and host for Dillard’s.
Strategy
Shona Koester, chief strategy officer for PRX, will leave the position next month to join iPondr, a digital media startup, according to an announcement on LinkedIn. Before PRX, Koester held several positions with American Public Media, including VP of distribution and content partnerships.
Development
Kyle Cunningham was hired as director of individual giving for Community Radio of Northern Colorado in Greeley, Colo. Cunningham most recently served as GM and membership manager for KRCC in Colorado Springs, Colo. He resigned from KRCC in February, citing personal reasons. Cunningham started his career in public radio as a student at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, where he worked in membership for KOSU.
Content
Jessica Yarvin left PBS NewsHour to join CNN’s Inside Politics this month. Yarvin joined NewsHour in 2016 as a news assistant and also worked as a production assistant, reporter and producer.
Amaris Castillo joined the Poynter Institute as a research and writing assistant for NPR Public Editor Kelly McBride. Castillo’s position is within the Craig Newmark Center for Ethics and Leadership. McBride is an SVP for Poynter and is chair of the Newmark Center. Before joining Poynter, Castillo served as a writer and editorial assistant for Latina magazine, a reporter for the Bradenton Herald in Florida and the Lowell Sun in Massachusetts. Castillo is also a stringer for the New York Times.
Dana Miller Ervin joined WFAE in Charlotte, N.C., as the Holly and Paul Freestone health care reporting fellow this month. The fellowship is for one year. Ervin most recently served as a senior investigator for the U.S. House Appropriations Committee. Before that, she worked as a documentary series program manager for CPB.
Fellowships
Four public media journalists will participate in the Leadership Academy for Diversity in Digital Media, held by the Poynter Institute in partnership with the Washington Post. They are: Lance Dixon, a digital editor for WLRN in Miami; Jen Dev, a video producer for Crosscut/KCTS in Seattle; Jan Ross Piedad, a news operations producer for Texas Public Radio in San Antonio; and Ruth Tam, a podcast producer and co-host of Dish City for WAMU in Washington, D.C. In-person training is postponed until spring 2021 but will continue online.
Send news of “comings and goings” to [email protected]