Comings and goings: Maryland Public Television appoints CEO, Diane Rehm accepts buyout from WAMU …

Steven Schupak was named president and CEO of Maryland Public Television.

Schupak will take over the role July 1 and will succeed Larry Unger, who is retiring.

Schupak is currently EVP and station manager. He joined MPT in 2003 as SVP of content enterprises. He worked as CCO from 2012–14 and was COO from 2014–21.

During his tenure, Schupak created the Maryland State Ad Agency, which works with government clients. He also oversaw the launch of the Maryland Center for Media Literacy & Education, which is focused on school-age children. Schupak is a board member for the National Educational Telecommunications Association.

Diane Rehm, longtime host for WAMU in Washington, D.C., accepted a buyout from the station.

Rehm joined WAMU in 1973 as a volunteer for The Home Show. In 1979, she became host of the station’s morning show Kaleidoscope, which was renamed The Diane Rehm Show in 1984.

The Diane Rehm Show ceased broadcasting at the end of 2016, and Rehm became host of the podcast Diane Rehm: On My Mind starting in 2017. The end of The Diane Rehm Show paved the way for the creation of WAMU’s 1A. Rehm received the David J. Brugger Lay Leadership Award from America’s Public Television Stations in 2017.

Rehm’s departure was first reported by NPR Media Correspondent David Folkenflik.

Eric Deggans, television critic for NPR, was hired as the John S. and James L. Knight Chair in Journalism and Media Ethics at Washington and Lee University.

Deggans will succeed Aly Colón, a former director of standards and practices at NBC News, who is retiring. Deggans starts the job July 1.

As part of the change, Deggans will become a critic-at-large for NPR. Deggans joined the network in 2013 after working as a TV and media critic for the Tampa Bay Times. He is also a member of the national advisory board at the Poynter Institute and is chair of the Media Monitoring Committee at the National Association of Black Journalists.

“At W&L, I have found a school with energetic and talented students, significant classroom resources, amazing faculty colleagues and an institution with a storied history, where we can chart the future of journalism ethics and media practice,” Deggans said in a news release. “With indispensable and substantial support from the Knight Foundation, I am thrilled by the opportunity to work with the school and students on defining the shape of journalism ethics in the modern age while continuing to work with NPR as a critic-at-large, keeping a significant presence in the world of daily journalism.”

WUNC in Chapel Hill, N.C., hired two journalists for the launch of the North Carolina Newsroom Capitol Bureau.

The reporters who will lead the newsroom’s legislative coverage in Raleigh are Adam Wagner, who previously worked as a climate change and environmental reporter for the News & Observer; and Mary Helen Moore, a former Durham accountability reporter for the News & Observer.

The reporting collaboration includes WUNC, Blue Ridge Public Radio in Asheville, WFAE in Charlotte, WHQR in Wilmington and WFDD in Winston-Salem. The journalism collaboration was funded by a two-year grant from CPB.

“At a time when many media outlets are cutting back on state government coverage, public media is increasing its journalism about how North Carolina state government is serving its citizens,” said WUNC News Director Brent Wolfe in a news release. “We are grateful that the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Congress are enabling more reporting on North Carolina state government for audiences across the state.”

Development

Meghan Guerrero Honesto was promoted to managing director of partnership development for Maryland Public Television. Guerrero Honesto joined the station last year as a production funding consultant. She also has experience as senior account executive of ADG Creative, a project manager for the National Geographic channel and account manager for WTOP, a commercial radio station in Washington, D.C.

Content

Lois Reitzes, host and EP of the weekday arts program City Lights for WABE in Atlanta, is retiring. Her last day as lead host is June 25. The program will continue as Reitzes shifts into a new role as an occasional contributor. She will also continue as a weekly host of performances featuring the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, with her tenure in that role scheduled to end in March 2026. Reitzes started working for WABE in 1979 as a music programmer and host of Early Morning Music. She later worked as host of Second Cup Concert from 1982–2015 before starting City Lights. Reitzes was also WABE’s PD from 1992–2007 and became director of arts and cultural programming in 2007.

Fellowships

The Poynter Institute selected six public media employees to participate in the latest cohort of the Leadership Academy for Women. They are:

• Pixie Clay, deputy managing editor at Hawaii Public Radio
• Catherine Ellis, assignment editor, at GBH in Boston
• Molly Finnegan, digital deputy managing editor for PBS NewsHour
• Samata Joshi, managing producer of podcasts at WBUR in Boston
• Adelina Lancianese, senior producer at Embedded, produced by NPR
• Diantha Parker, senior editor for Marketplace

Send news of “comings and goings” to people@current.org