Leaders of NPR’s member stations elected Myrna Johnson to the network’s board.
NPR members elected Johnson to the board in an election that ended Aug. 6. Johnson is executive director of Iowa Public Radio. Members also reelected John Decker, director of programming for KPBS in San Diego, and Nico Leone, president and CEO of KERA in Dallas, to their second three-year terms.
Wonya Lucas, formerly CEO of Public Broadcasting Atlanta, was also elected to a second term but left the board after accepting the role of CEO of Crown Media Family Networks in July. A revote has been scheduled to replace Lucas.
Members also confirmed the board’s election of Judith Segura, a thermal architect for Apple Inc., to a three-year term as a public director and Fred Dust and Jeff Sine to second three-year terms as public directors beginning in November.
Alan Foster, president of Executive Program Services Inc., announced his retirement after a 49-year career in public television.
“It’s with a measure of regret that I make this decision but I believe the time is right,” Foster said in a news release. “Most of all, I will miss the wonderful people I’ve gotten to know over the years.”
Foster and Dick Hanratty founded EPS in 2001. Hanratty, a former PBS programming executive, retired in 2016. EPS will continue under the leadership of Jerry Adams, who became a partner in January. Foster will continue as a consultant.
Foster previously worked as VP of syndication for PBS and for the American Program Service, which was renamed to American Public Television. He also worked for KQED in San Francisco;New Hampshire PBS; GBH in Boston; WITF in Harrisburg, Pa.; and KVIE in Sacramento, Calif.
Foster was responsible for the national broadcast of the 1992 Democratic presidential debate (co-produced with GBH), the daily Ten O’Clock News on GBH, the creation of PBS Plus and Select, PBS Aloft (in-flight usage of PBS programs) and the “PBS-2” project to bring a second channel online for smaller stations in overlap markets, according to a news release.
NPR hired Priska Neely as managing editor of the Gulf States Newsroom.
The CPB-supported newsroom is a collaboration among Mississippi Public Broadcasting, WWNO in New Orleans, WBHM in Birmingham, Ala.; and WRKF in Baton Rouge, La. Neely will build a team of reporters covering health care and criminal and economic justice, according to a news release. The newsroom is one of four created by NPR and member stations. Neely will work from WBHM’s offices.
“It is an honor to have the responsibility to build a team and shape coverage in a part of the country with so many important stories to tell,” Neely said in the release.
Neely previously worked as a reporter and producer for Reveal. She has also worked as a senior reporter for KPCC in Los Angeles, an assistant producer for Weekend All Things Considered and an editorial assistant for NPR’s Talk of the Nation.
“NPR is delighted to be a partner in this groundbreaking initiative and excited that Priska has agreed to lead it,” said Nancy Barnes, NPR’s SVP of news and editorial director, in the release. “She is part of a super-talented cohort of emerging editorial leaders who are going to transform public media for a new generation of audiences.”
Management
Gary Green left his position as deputy news editor and director for WUFT in Gainesville, Fla., and digital director of the Innovation News Center at the University of Florida, the station’s licensee. He is now executive director of the Center for Sustainable Journalism at Kennesaw State University in Georgia. Green joined WUFT in 2014.
Content
Jami Floyd was promoted to senior editor of a new race and justice unit at WNYC in New York City. Floyd was previously local host of All Things Considered and has also worked as a legal analyst and guest host for the Brian Lehrer Show.
Nashville Public Radio named Jason Moon Wilkins PD of a new music station that it will launch in the fall. Wilkins joined Nashville Public Radio in 2016 and has worked as local host of All Things Considered. He has also worked as a touring musician and worked for music festivals including Next BIG Nashville.
Kent Fulmer was hired as local host of Morning Edition at WVPE in Elkhart, Ind. He recently worked as technical service advisor for NIBCO Inc., a building materials company. His roles in radio include GM and sales manager for WGTO in Cassopolis, Mich., and owner and GM of WKAM in Goshen, Ind. WVPE also hired Gemma DiCarlo as a reporter. She previously worked as an associate producer at WUGA in Athens, Ga.
Arjun Singh is leaving his position as a producer at GBH to join the Washington Post as a producer for the politics podcast Can He Do That?. Singh joined GBH in 2018 and worked on the midday news show Boston Public Radio.
Ryan Lindsay left her position as a Guns & America reporting fellow with Connecticut Public Radio. Before working for the station, she worked as a local reporter for the Medill Justice Project at Northwestern University.
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