Samantha Melbourneweaver joined NPR as managing editor of digital, audience growth and engagement.
Melbourneweaver most recently worked as assistant managing editor of audience for the Los Angeles Times. She joined the newspaper in 2018 as deputy audience engagement director and was also audience engagement director. During her tenure, she launched “For Subscribers,” the Times’ subscriber-only content stream that now drives over 30% percent of newsroom digital subscriptions, according to an NPR staff memo.
Before working for the Times, she was social media director for the Southern California News Group and a mobile producer for The Arizona Republic.
Vicki Gonzalez, host of the public affairs program Insight for CapRadio in Sacramento, Calif., announced a leave of absence due to a diagnosis of breast cancer.
“I am sharing my cancer diagnosis with a larger message,” Gonzalez wrote. “When possible, get screenings and checkups. Urge the same of loved ones. Talk about it. And please, advocate for yourself if something feels off. Even bring the compassionate backup of a loved one who can ask questions you might not think of and take notes while you’re just trying to take it all in, as the flood of information tries to swallow you up whole.
“Breast cancer will not become my dark tunnel. I face this knowing there is still a great deal to look forward to in my life. And I soak in all the warmth and beauty and love there is to offer. So much love. So this is where I say goodbye, for now. I am in good hands. Talk soon.”
Gonzalez joined the station in 2021. CapRadio said Insight will continue.
Technology
Charlie Ide, lighting director for NewsHour Productions at WETA in Washington, D.C., retired from the organization. Ide started working for WETA in 1980 and has worked on programs including PBS News Hour and Washington Week. “Charlie has also been our unofficial DJ, playing everything from classic rock to hip-hop as we leave the studio every night,” said NewsHour co-anchor Amna Nawaz in a tribute to Ide. “He’s also officially the best-dressed team member, with one of the most impressive sneaker collections I’ve ever seen,” said co-anchor Geoff Bennett.
Content
Maria Aspan was hired as a finance correspondent for NPR. She starts the job July 1. Aspan most recently worked as a senior features writer for Fortune magazine. Before that, she was a senior editor and later editor-at-large for Inc. magazine. She also covered banking for Reuters and American Banker. “In her time at Fortune, Maria has broken news and won numerous awards for her work, covering systemic inequities across startups and public companies, executive compensation, the business of health care, sexual harassment on Wall Street, and billionaire philanthropy,” said NPR Chief Business Editor Pallavi Gogoi in a staff memo. “She’s interviewed top CEOs for the magazine and at Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Summit and other live events. … Her work has led to FDA action against Allergan and led billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott to make her secretive donation process more accessible, by allowing nonprofits to formally apply for her grants.”
Roy Wood Jr., a comedian and former correspondent for Comedy Central’s The Daily Show, is hosting Road to Rickwood, a four-part baseball history podcast produced by WWNO/WRKF in New Orleans and Baton Rouge, La. The series, which NPR is distributing nationally, covers the intersection of baseball and the American Civil Rights Movement by focusing on the Birmingham Black Barons Negro League baseball team. Alana Schreiber, managing producer for WWNO/WRKF’s Louisiana Considered, is the creator and EP of Road to Rickwood. The podcast comes in advance of the June 20 MLB game between the San Francisco Giants and St. Louis Cardinals at Rickwood Field, where the Black Barons played in Alabama.
Dave Burdick announced on LinkedIn that he will leave his job this month as managing editor of digital for Colorado Public Radio. Burdick is founding editor of Denverite, which the station acquired in 2019. “I’ve been in a flat-out sprint since starting Denverite in 2016 and it’s time to catch my breath and start dreaming up what’s next,” he wrote, adding that he plans to do consulting work. “To each and every person who’s ever worked for or invested in Denverite: There’s no way to encapsulate here my admiration for you, or how you’ve inspired and taught me, or how much I’ve enjoyed working with you.”
Juan Salinas, who most recently worked as a news intern for KERA in Dallas, became a reporting fellow for the Texas Tribune. Salinas started working for the station last year. “The newsroom built me up, making me a better reporter and more confident in my writing/reporting,” Salinas said on LinkedIn. I couldn’t imagine getting to work at The Texas Tribune without KERA. I’m sad, but I’m excited for a new chapter.”
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