PRX announced executive changes to Radiotopia, its podcast network.
Audrey Mardavich was promoted to EP. Mardavich previously worked as senior director of content. She joined PRX in 2011 as community manager. She has also worked as director of special projects, a role in which she helped launch the PRX Podcast Garage, and was also Boston storySLAM producer for The Moth.
Yooree Losordo steps up to director of network operations. Losordo previously worked as network operations manager and was managing producer for Trax, a podcast network for tweens overseen by PRX. Before PRX, she was founding managing producer for When We Fight We Win!: The Podcast.
Mardavich and Losordo will co-manage Radiotopia Presents, a podcast feed and division for artist-owned original limited series.
NPR announced changes to its International Desk.
Eyder Peralta was named Mexico City correspondent. Peralta joined NPR in 2008 as an associate producer and most recently worked as a correspondent in Africa, first in Nairobi, Kenya, and more recently in Cape Town, South Africa.
Carrie Kahn is moving to Rio de Janeiro to become NPR’s South America correspondent. Kahn succeeds Philip Reeves, who has become a part-time correspondent for the network. Kahn joined NPR in 2003 as a national correspondent and most recently covered Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean.
The changes were announced in a memo by Chief International Editor Didi Schanche.
KCRW in Santa Monica, Calif., hired two leaders for content initiatives.
Gina Delvac joined the station as director of its new Podcast Audience Lab. Delvac most recently worked as head of Spotify’s house brand podcast studio, a team that was laid off earlier this year. She is the founding producer of the podcast Call Your Girlfriend and was a producer for Southern California Public Media and American Public Media.
Arnie Seipel became news content director. Seipel most recently worked as deputy Washington editor for NPR. He joined NPR in 2008 as an administrative coordinator and has also been a production and editorial assistant, assistant producer for the Elections Desk and editor for Morning Edition.
The New York Times’ audio department hired several public media employees, according to a memo from Paula Szuchman, the newspaper’s director of audio.
Frannie Carr Toth became senior editor of The Run-Up, an elections-focused politics podcast. Toth most recently worked as founding senior editor of Cognoscenti, an opinion program produced by WBUR in Boston. She previously worked as EP for The Emily Rooney Show, produced by GBH in Boston.
Emily Lang will be a producer for a new show on the Times’ audio app. She previously worked as an associate producer for WNYC in New York City and was a fill-in host and producer for Consider This.
Susan Lee was hired as a researcher and fact-checker for The Daily. She previously worked as digital editor for Marketplace and was an assigning editor for iPondr. She has also been a freelance fact-checker and helped produce special projects for StoryCorps.
Education
Jacqueline Stapleton-Durham left her role as director of education for WSKG in Binghamton, N.Y., to become director of educational television and public broadcasting for the New York State Education Department’s office of cultural education. Stapleton-Durham joined WSKG in 2008 as manager of education and outreach and was promoted to the director role in 2010.
Technology
Alexia Núñez is leaving her position as software engineering manager for the iOS team at NPR to become an engineering manager for the dating app Grindr. “After a year of dutiful service to @NPR, I will be moving on to an opportunity I couldn’t refuse,” Núñez said on Twitter. “I’m so very thankful & fortunate that I got a chance to work with such amazing folks & tackle all sorts of challenges. Next week, I’ll be listening to #publicradio as a civilian.” Núñez joined NPR last year as a senior mobile developer.
Dustin Miller was hired as building maintenance technician for PBS Reno in Nevada. Miller previously worked as head of facility maintenance for the senior living Silvercrest Residence in Reno. “PBS Reno welcomed me with a friendly workplace full of opportunities to learn and better provide for my family,” Miller said in a news release. “In my short time here, it has been a pleasure to be a part of PBS Reno and learning what each department does for our community. I’m looking forward to assisting everyone and working alongside the engineers to keep PBS going.”
Content
Obed Manuel was named editor of Denverite, an online news site owned by Colorado Public Radio. Manuel succeeds Ana Campbell, who left the organization this summer to become audience editor for the Texas Newsroom collaborative co-led by NPR. Manuel joined Colorado Public Radio last year as audience editor and Saturday editor. “I am beyond excited to lead this crew and to keep delivering the high-quality journalism the Denver metro deserves,” Manuel said on Twitter. “I’m taking the step into management, something that has always been a goal of mine.”
Jeff Mapes, a senior political reporter for Oregon Public Broadcasting, announced that he is retiring. “New adventures await. Thanks to OPB for the fabulous late-career opportunities,” Mapes said on Twitter. He joined OPB in 2016 after working as a political reporter for the Oregonian for 32 years.
Governance
Leslie Fields-Cruz, executive director for Black Public Media, was appointed board president for New York Women in Film & Television. She succeeds Jamie Zelermyer, EP and host of the podcast I Was Never There and former VP of physical production for Focus Features. Fields-Cruz joined the board in 2018 and previously served as VP of programming and VP of membership.
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