NPR promoted Natalie Winston, an EP for Weekend All Things Considered, to EP for booking and specials.
“In this role Natalie will be NPR’s point person on all major interviews and will run our day to day booking operation, ensuring we have the right interviews at the right time across all shows and digital,” said Eric Marrapodi, VP of news programming, in a staff memo. “She will also take on the responsibility of the Live Specials, including planned and unplanned breaking news coverage and taped specials featuring the best of our journalism.”
Before joining NPR, Winston worked as a desk assistant and production assistant for PBS NewsHour. She joined NPR in 2011 as an editorial assistant and later worked as an assistant producer for Here & Now. She has also been an associate editor and editor at the network.
Winston starts the new job Feb. 6.
Ellen Millard-Kern was hired as VP of community engagement for Lehigh Valley Public Media in Pennsylvania.
Millard-Kern most recently worked as chief of staff for Pennsylvania state Sen. Pat Browne, a position she has held since Browne was elected to the chamber in 2005. Before that she was VP of development for the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce.
“We are thrilled that Ellen has joined our organization,” said Lehigh Valley Public Media CEO Tim Fallon in a news release. “She is an accomplished community leader who understands the important role that public media plays in our society — making the Lehigh Valley better tomorrow than it is today.”
Ike Sriskandarajah and Chris Benderev joined This American Life as producers.
Sriskandarajah most recently worked as a senior reporter, producer and fill-in host for Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting. He first worked for Reveal from 2015–17 before becoming a narrative audio producer for the New York Times. He returned to Reveal in 2019 and has reported on vaccine conspiracy theories, asylum seekers seeking refuge in Canada, and rehab centers that push patients into unpaid work.
Benderev previously worked as a producer for NPR for 12 years. He first worked as an intern for All Things Considered in 2009 and later worked as a production assistant, assistant producer for Weekend Edition, producer for Hidden Brain and producer for Embedded. His last role for NPR before leaving was producer of longform podcasts.
PBS Reno in Nevada hired two employees.
Brooke Goodnight joined the station as community partnership coordinator. Goodnight previously worked as senior consumer lending sales specialist for OneMain Financial and was also a member service representative for the Greater Nevada Credit Union. Diane Barrett, community partnership director, said in a news release that this will be the first time the station has had two full-time employees overseeing corporate underwriting.
AJ Simpson was hired as broadcast engineering technician. His previous jobs include work in stage design, lighting operations and content creation for Bluebird, a Reno nightclub and music venue.
Content
Jacob Scholl became northern Utah reporter for a journalism collaboration co-led by Utah Public Radio and the Salt Lake Tribune. Scholl will write for the Tribune, a legacy newspaper that transitioned to nonprofit status in 2019, and appear on-air for UPR, licensed to Utah State University in Logan. Scholl joined the Salt Lake Tribune last year as a state government reporter and previously worked as a reporter for KSL in Salt Lake City, the Idaho Statesman and the Standard-Examiner in Ogden, Utah.
Alejandra Salazar said on Twitter that she left her position as an editor and producer for Latino USA, produced by Futuro Media Group. Salazar told Current that she was hired as a story editor for the TED Audio Collective. She joined Latino USA in 2020 as an associate producer and was also an assistant editor and associate editor. Before that she was a reporter and producer for WNYC in New York City.
Governance
American Public Television appointed Rob Dunlop, CEO of Cascade Public Media in Seattle, to its board of trustees for a three-year term. “Rob’s deep background in media, from production and research to leadership positions across digital, radio and television platforms brings a range of insight and strategic experience that will guide both APT and the public media system,” said APT CEO Cynthia Fenneman in a news release.
The Maryland Public Television Foundation announced new leadership roles for its board of directors. Richard Bodorff was elected board chair. He succeeds John Wolf, an attorney for Baker Donelson, who served as the foundation’s chair for eight years during two separate terms. Bodorff joined the board in 2019 and is also vice chair of MPT’s governing body, the Maryland Public Broadcasting Commission. He is currently a partner with Wiley Rein LLP. Rhea Feikin was elected vice chair, succeeding Kathryn Lindquist, a principal at Park Lake Holdings. Feikin previously worked as a pledge host for MPT before joining the board in 2020. Wolf and Lindquist will remain on the board.
Anne Kaplan was elected to the board of directors for the University Station Alliance. Kaplan, who retired in 2020, previously worked as VP for the division of outreach, engagement and regional development at Northern Illinois University. She started working for the university in 1974.
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