Renee Montagne, a former host of Morning Edition, is leaving NPR.
Montagne joined NPR as a freelance reporter in 1981 and has also hosted All Things Considered. She stepped down from Morning Edition in 2016 and transitioned to reporting long-form investigative stories.
“We all will miss Renee’s passion and curiosity, the intellect and range she brought to her work, along with boundless energy and humor,” said Eric Marrapodi, VP of news programming, in a news release. “We’re grateful for the decades spent dedicated to our public service mission.”
Jen Danielson was appointed VP of distribution for the WNET Group in New York.
Danielson has worked as a digital transformation consultant for WNET since last year. Before that, she was SVP of ViacomCBS’ Comedy Central, Paramount Network and TV Land. She’s also been president of comedy production company Above Average, a producer for Saturday Night Live and an assistant to SNL creator Lorne Michaels.
“Jen’s expertise in multiplatform media and distribution strategy, having worked directly with prolific brands, iconic creators, and executives in the entertainment industry, is unparalleled,” said WNET CEO Neal Shapiro in a news release. “Her passion for storytelling and reaching new audiences will be integral to WNET’s audience growth and development.”
Human resources
Leonora Rush left her position as a labor relations and contracts lead for the WNET Group in New York to become a labor relations manager for the Walt Disney Company. Rush joined WNET in 1998 as a talent relations and administration coordinator. She was also a contracts administrator.
Content
PBS News, producer of PBS News Hour at WETA in Washington, D.C., promoted Deema Zein to digital anchor and correspondent. Zein joined the organization as a producer of digital video in 2018. During her tenure she helped launch News Hour’s TikTok page, which won a Webby Award in 2023. She has also managed live streams and produced the 5 Stories digital series. She was named one of Current’s Rising Stars in 2023.
Robert Collado was hired as a reporter for WVIA in Pittston, Pa. Collado, who as a bilingual journalist will contribute reporting on Spanish-speaking populations, most recently worked as a project manager for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas and AmeriHealth Caritas. He was also a missionary in South America for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Kate Wolffe announced that she left her position as a health care reporter for CapRadio in Sacramento, Calif., to become a legislative reporter for the Sacramento Bee. Wolffe joined the station in 2022 after working for KQED in San Francisco as a weekend anchor and editor. “Grateful for my 2+ years there covering health care for the Sacramento region, experimenting with radio storytelling, and meeting droves of kind, smart people,” she said on LinkedIn. “I’m excited to join The Bee’s top-notch Capitol Bureau and take readers behind the scenes of California politics.”
The Programming Service in Tampa, Fla., which serves 50 public TV clients, hired BJ Eaglesfield as a program coordinator. Eaglesfield most recently worked for WNIT in South Bend, Ind. He joined in 2000 as a production intern and later became master control operator, production technician and traffic administrator.
Engagement
Eric Marsh Sr. announced on LinkedIn that he left his position as manager of the community engagement team for WHYY in Philadelphia. Marsh joined the station in 2020 as community outreach organizer after working as director of community relations for the city of Philadelphia.
Governance
Bradley Schlaggar was elected board chair of Baltimore Public Media, which oversees the NPR station WYPR and music station WTMD. He succeeds Lisa Manzone, who had been chair since 2021. Schlaggar, CEO of Kennedy Krieger Institute, previously served as secretary of the board. He is also a professor of neurology and pediatrics at Johns Hopkins University.
Ruxandra Guidi joined the board of directors for the Association of Independents in Radio. Guidi, who will serve a three-year term ending in March 2029, is a writer, editor and producer for the Fonografia Collective and Homelands Productions. She has held several positions in public media, including immigration reporter for LAist, border reporter for KPBS in San Diego, producer for The World at GBH in Boston and deputy editor and producer for Latino USA.
Send news of “comings and goings” to [email protected]