Dave Davies, a contributor and fill-in host for NPR staple Fresh Air, is stepping back from the program.
In addition to his role at Fresh Air, Davies is a senior reporter for WHYY, which produces the show.
“Davies is not signing off completely from WHYY,” said a post on NPR’s website. “You’ll still hear him interviewing guests on Fresh Air, just less frequently.”
A native of Lubbock, Texas, Davies grew up in Corpus Christi and moved to Philadelphia in 1975, where he initially worked as a taxi driver and a welder. He first joined WHYY in 1982 as a reporter covering local politics and government. He left in 1986 to work as city hall bureau chief for KYW Newsradio, and he was also a reporter and columnist for the Philadelphia Daily News. He returned to public radio in 2001.
Thomas Crowe, VP of interconnection for PBS, will leave the organization in January.
Crowe joined PBS in 2005 as director of maintenance and engineering for the media operations center. He later worked as senior director of technology before becoming a VP in 2013.
As part of the transition, Dana Golub, VP of technology business operations, will take over Crowe’s interconnection duties. Golub joined PBS in 2002 as senior manager of digital strategic services. She has also held director and senior director titles.
Development
Jen Newmeyer was promoted to senior director of digital fundraising strategy at PBS. “Looking forward to expanding and enhancing strategies, training, experiments, and resources to support the public media system,” she said on LinkedIn. Newmeyer joined PBS last year as a director. She previously worked as a director of digital membership for WHYY in Philadelphia and was director of integrated fundraising for PBS North Carolina.
Technology
Joseph Miscavige became senior director of data distribution strategy for PBS. Miscavige joined PBS in 2015 as a senior manager of digital analytics and has also been director of digital analytics and director of data distribution strategy. He previously worked for AMC Networks, first as an advanced platform planning and distribution analyst and later as a digital research analyst.
Content
Ryland Barton announced that he is leaving his role as managing editor of collaboratives for Louisville Public Media in Kentucky. “I’m starting a gig with NPR, editing folks covering state governments across the country. Best part: I get to do this from KY!” he said on X, formerly known as Twitter. In the managing editor role he started last year, Barton led a journalism collaboration between the Ohio Valley ReSource and the Kentucky Public Radio Network. He previously worked as state capitol bureau chief for the Kentucky Public Radio Network and has also been a host and reporter for public radio stations in Texas.
Micaela J. Rodríguez became a senior editor for Here & Now, the nationally distributed radio program produced by WBUR in Boston. Rodríguez previously worked for KERA in Dallas as managing producer of podcasts. She joined the station in 2020 as a podcast producer. She previously served as a podcast producer for Roll Call and has also been a producer for Politico, NPR and WITF in Harrisburg, Pa.
Eva Tesfaye became a coastal reporter for WWNO in New Orleans and WRKF in Baton Rouge, La. Tesfaye most recently worked as a reporter covering agriculture, food and water issues for Harvest Public Media, based at KCUR in Kansas City, Mo. Before that, she was an assistant producer for Short Wave, the NPR science podcast. She was also a 2020 NPR Kroc fellow.
Fellowships
Four public media journalists were selected for the third Future of the American Child Fellowship led by the National Press Foundation. The journalism training, which will be the last of the fellowship series, will be held Jan. 21–24 in Charlotte, N.C. “Journalists will explore a range of relevant topics, including economic security for children and families, post-COVID child health and education, child welfare reform, and reimagining juvenile justice,” according to a news release. The fellows who work in public media are Stephan Bisaha, wealth and poverty reporter for the Gulf States Newsroom; Michelle San Miguel, reporter and co-host of Rhode Island PBS Weekly for Rhode Island PBS; Taylor Velazquez, public health reporter for KUNM in Albuquerque, N.M.; and Elly Yu, a senior reporter covering early childhood for LAist in Pasadena, Calif.
Three public media journalists will receive 2024 Widening the Pipeline Fellowships from the National Press Foundation. The fellowship is designed to “support journalists of color staying in — and leading — the newsrooms of tomorrow,” according to a news release. They will travel to Washington, D.C., for two in-person training sessions and will participate in monthly virtual sessions. The fellows in public media are Briana Rice, a reporter for Michigan Radio; Shardae White, assistant podcast producer for KERA in Dallas; and Kaisha Young, a producer for PBS NewsHour.
Governance
IndiJ Public Media in Phoenix announced the results of recent board elections. Derrick Beetso, a Diné professor at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law and director of the Indian Gaming and Tribal Self-Governance Programs at Arizona State University, was elected board chair Nov. 20. He succeeds IndiJ Public Media CEO Karen Lincoln Michel, a member of the Ho-Chunk nation, who will continue as a member of the board but resigned as chair to “separate her dual role as CEO and board chair,” according to a news release. Also elected was Natasha Affia Moore, an enrolled Atka Aleut tribal member based in San Francisco and a product equity strategist in Reality Labs at Meta. Moore was elected to fill out the remaining term of Wayne Ducheneaux II, who resigned as a board member and treasurer Nov. 8. Moore was elected to succeed Ducheneaux as treasurer. And two members were re-elected. Rhonda LeValdo, Acoma Pueblo, and Holly Cook Macarro, Red Lake Band of Ojibwe, will each serve a two-year term. LeValdo was reelected as board secretary. Jeanne Givens, Coeur d’Alene, also serves on the seven-member board of directors. IndiJ Public Media owns ICT, formerly known as Indian Country Today.
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