NPR announced hires to its standards and practices team.
Meghan Ashford-Grooms was named supervising editor for standards and practices. Ashford-Grooms most recently worked as standards editor for the Washington Post. She has also been deputy copy chief for Kaiser Health News, senior editor for the Urban Institute, senior editor of FiveThirtyEight and a reporter for the Austin American-Statesman.
“When the media struggles to maintain the trust of the public and polarization threatens to turn every outlet into a partisan tool, keeping standards high is one way to fight back,” Ashford-Grooms said in a staff memo.
Nishant Dahiya rejoined NPR as supervising editor for standards and practices. He most recently worked as a managing editor for South and Southeast Asia at Bloomberg. For NPR, Dahiya previously worked as a producer on the International Desk, a producer for Morning Edition, an editor on the energy and environment team, Asia editor, and Europe and deputy international editor.
“Good, informative, serious journalism is at the heart of every well-functioning democracy,” Dahiya said in the memo. “News organizations must relentlessly pursue the highest standards of accuracy and fairness, and chase the truth wherever it may take them.”
NPR also hired George Bodarky as a reporting trainer.
As part of the new role, Bodarky will help staff “sharpen key reporting skills, including interviewing, sourcing, writing, building a beat and voicing,” according to a staff memo. He will also help build and scale a training program for member station journalists in partnership with the Collaborative Journalism Network.
Bodarky most recently worked for WNYC in New York City as community partnerships and training editor. He has also been a news director and host for WFUV in New York City and president of the Public Media Journalists Association.
Management
Maricka Oglesby was named chief of staff for Baltimore Public Media. Oglesby previously worked as special assistant to the CEO of Thread, a Baltimore nonprofit. She’s also held several roles for Notre Dame of Maryland University, including EP of the Women of the World Festival and director of the Women’s Leadership Institute of Baltimore.
Content
Bruce Warren, assistant GM and PD of WXPN in Philadelphia, announced plans for a phased retirement. “I’m looking forward to the B side,” he said in a WXPN article. “I’ll be spending more time with my family and teaching more at Temple and Penn.” Warren will step down from his PD role at the end of the year but will continue to serve as EP of World Cafe, host The Post Sleepy Hollow Experience and manage the station’s digital and social media platforms. Warren joined WXPN in 1988 as a volunteer DJ and was a founding producer of World Cafe when it launched in 1991. Assistant PD Jim McGuinn was named acting PD.
Marilyn Gleason joined KDNK in Glenwood Springs, Colo., as news director. She succeeds Hattison Rensberry, who left the station to become a marketing and communications coordinator for the Journey Home Animal Care Center in Rifle, Colo. “I’d like to attract more freelancers, and develop people who are already involved with the station who may have an interest in doing more news,” Gleason told The Sopris Sun in an interview. “I want to be bringing voices to the air of people who are in the midst of the situations that we’re reporting on.” Gleason first started working for KDNK in 2000 when she was a student at the University of Colorado Boulder. She has also been a DJ for Aspen Public Radio.
Frank Billingsley was hired as EP of Hello Houston!, a new program from Houston Public Media that will debut next year. The daily radio show will feature Billingsley alongside co-hosts Ernie Manouse and Celeste Schurman. Billingsley most recently worked as chief meteorologist for KPRC, an NBC affiliate in Houston, and was also a weekend anchor for the local ABC affiliate. “Of course, I’ll still get to talk about weather, but Celeste, Ernie and I will have fun and fascinating discussions about politics, arts, concerts, restaurants, clubs, people: everything that makes this city so great,” Billingsley said in the release. “We have a great team behind us and I’m really looking forward to the challenge!”
Lara Dua-Swartz was hired as PD and content strategist for WUGA in Athens, Ga. She succeeds Martin Matheny, who left the station in August to become a Morning Edition host for Delaware Public Media. Dua-Swartz most recently worked as a midday host for WGMG, a commercial radio station in Crawford, Ga. She has also been a host for commercial stations in New York City and Washington, D.C. “I’m so thrilled and beyond grateful for the opportunity to help WUGA expand its audience across Athens-Clarke County and Northeast Georgia,” Dua-Swartz said in a news release. “I have always longed for a chance to marry my skill sets in a way that will allow me to really give back to my community, and this position embodies that wholly.”
C.L. Fornari, host of The Garden Lady, is bringing her independent weekly call-in radio program to CAI, GBH’s stations serving Cape Cod, Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard. Fornari comes to CAI from Cape Cod commercial station WXTK, where she has hosted the GardenLine radio program since 2001. She previously hosted The Garden Lady on WRKO in Boston and was a regular contributor to The Cultivated Gardener, which aired on public radio stations.
Taylor Holbrooks joined WYPR in Baltimore as a Morning Edition host. Holbrooks most recently worked as an intern reporter and host for Public Radio East in North Carolina. She has also been a host for WXYC, the student radio station operated by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Kate Perdoni left her position as senior manager of statewide engagement for Rocky Mountain PBS in Denver. She joined the organization in 2014.
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