Laura Knoy will retire from New Hampshire Public Radio after 25 years of hosting the station’s weekday talk show, The Exchange. Her last day will be June 10.
In a press release, Knoy said that she had considered leaving the show in February 2020, after wrapping up coverage of the New Hampshire primary. “But then the pandemic hit and I just did not feel it was the appropriate time to leave,” she said, citing the “vital information” the show was providing.
“Now, though, feels like the right time,” Knoy said. “I leave with gratitude, with thanks, and with the utmost respect for my talented, committed team and for the mission of New Hampshire Public Radio and all who support our mission. I will miss our listeners, and the contributions and kind gestures they have made over the years; The Exchange is built on listener feedback and the relationship we have with our audience. But I’m looking forward to turning my attention to some new projects and longtime interests and seeing what the future holds next.”
Knoy will continue to host community events for the station. She is completing her first novel, will continue to teach fitness classes and is looking forward to traveling.
“NHPR’s audience has trusted Laura to be fair, thorough, respectful — and always prepared,” said NHPR CEO Jim Schachter. “We’re all sad that she won’t be on the radio every morning and glad that she will remain associated with NHPR as she pursues her passions. We’re excited, too, at the prospect of finding our next great host and building on the foundation of serious journalism and deep engagement that Laura helped establish.”
The release added, “With Laura’s departure, NHPR and The Exchange team will be taking a fresh look at how to best serve the local news, information and engagement needs of New Hampshire’s dynamically changing population. The station is recruiting a new executive producer who will lead this development process and the search for a future host.”
PBS North Carolina hired Melissa Rihm Thibault as chief education and innovation officer.
Thibault most recently worked as vice chancellor for distance education and extended programs for the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics. She has also been executive director for LEARN NC, part of the University of North Carolina System. Her first day in the newly created position will be June 1.
“PBS North Carolina will realize the full potential of North Carolina’s investment, building on a foundation of excellence, connecting our state across sectors and reaching learners wherever they are statewide,” Thibault said in a news release.
David Antoine was appointed CTO for WBGO.
Antoine was chief engineer for the station in Newark, N.J., from 2009–14 and most recently worked for LAWO, a German manufacturer, as a radio broadcast engineer.
“It’s exciting to have David Antoine rejoin the WBGO family,” said CEO Steven Williams in a news release. “His singular professional qualifications as well as his commitment to the public media mission and passion for our organization make him a perfect fit for this position.”
Content
Gigi Douban announced that she is leaving her role as news director for WBHM in Birmingham, Ala., to become news director for KUOW in Seattle. She starts her new role next month. “I’m going to really, really miss the talented WBHM team. Excited for this next chapter in Seattle!” she said on Twitter. Douban previously worked as a freelance filmmaker and reporter and has produced stories for Marketplace, The World and This American Life. She has also been a reporter for the Birmingham News.
Matt Collette, an EP for WNYC in New York City, will join Vox this month to edit the podcast Today, Explained. “I miss you all already,” Collette said on Twitter. Collette first joined WNYC in 2014 as a freelance reporter and became a producer for several programs, including Nancy. He left the station in 2018 to become a producer for the Washington Post and rejoined last year to work on programs including Trump, Inc., and The Experiment.
George T. is the voice of a new R&B show on Pittsburgh’s WYEP. He became a volunteer host at the station in 2015. His show Vibin’ premieres Monday.
Fellowships
Caroline Eggers was hired as an environmental reporter for Nashville Public Radio as part of the Report for America program. Her first day with the station will be in June. Eggers most recently worked as a reporter for the Bowling Green Daily News in Kentucky. “We’ve heard for years from people in the region that they’re invested in news coverage about the environment — something that affects them in big and small ways every day,” said Nashville Public Radio News Director Emily Siner in a news release. “Caroline has been dedicated to covering the environment as a human issue and explaining complicated concepts in a way that everyone can understand.”
Four public media journalists received fellowships from the University of Rhode Island’s Metcalf Institute to participate in this year’s Science Immersion Workshop for Journalists. The virtual workshop “will provide journalists with the skills and insight to identify and produce accurate and contextualized climate change stories of local and global significance on a range of issues impacting their news audience,” according to a release. The journalists are Natasha Blakely, news director at Detroit Public Television’s Great Lakes Now; Miguel Otárola, climate and environment reporter for Colorado Public Radio; Sophia Schmidt, a reporter for Delaware Public Media; and Claire Stremple, health and environment reporter for Alaska’s Energy Desk in Juneau.
Governance
WBUR in Boston appointed Angela Liu community advisory board chair. Liu will succeed Peter Fielder, whose term ends at the end of June. “We selected Angela for her operational and strategic acumen, her demonstrated commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and because she is a WBUR super fan,” said WBUR CEO Margaret Low in a news release. Liu is a founding member and director of Hack.Diversity, a division of the New England Venture Capital Association. Hack.Diversity works with employers in Boston to increase diversity in the technology sector.
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