Comings and goings: John Yang will leave PBS News, Scott resigns from PTMMG …
Yang
John Yang, anchor of PBS News Weekend, is leaving WETA in Washington, D.C., and its subsidiary News Hour Productions.
Yang’s departure follows the end of PBS News Weekend, which aired its last episode Sunday. WETA is replacing PBS News Weekend with two new programs.
During an episode of PBS News Hour Friday, Yang said, “I’ll be leaving PBS News at the end of the month as I step back from full-time work.”
“We’re going to miss you so, so much,” said PBS News Hour Co-Anchor Amna Nawaz. “‘Thank you’ doesn’t even begin to cover it. You and the team have done incredible storytelling and covered major breaking news every weekend.”
Susan Scott stepped down as CEO of the Public Television Major Market Group Dec. 31.
Scott had led the organization since 2022. “I’m proud of what we accomplished together and grateful to the station leaders who moved with urgency, tested new approaches, and chose action over inertia,” she said on LinkedIn. “I’m now exploring opportunities to lead mission-driven organizations ready to pair bold vision with disciplined execution. If that’s a conversation worth having, I’m easy to find.”
Before joining PTMMG, Scott worked for PBS North Carolina, where she was senior director of strategic alliances, chief advancement and marketing officer and chief growth officer.
Kelly Rolf will be VP of development for Nashville Public Radio.
Rolf, who starts the job Feb. 2., most recently worked for PENCIL, a Nashville-based nonprofit that works with local public schools. She joined the organization as VP of development and marketing in 2019 and later worked as chief philanthropy officer and chief strategy officer.
Before that, she worked at Mikva Challenge, a youth-focused nonprofit, as chief development officer and director of major gifts, among other roles.
“Nashville Public Radio is a treasure and has served as my personal passport to Nashville since I relocated to the area with my family in 2018,” Rolf said in a news release. “Donors and members understand this, too, and I’m eager to engage them in the big dreams this talented NPR team has in store.”
GBH in Boston announced changes to its daily radio programs.
Edgar B. Herwick III became host of The Curiosity Desk, a new daily radio program.
“As part of our ongoing multiplatform growth strategy, we are building on The Curiosity Desk’s digital popularity, so that audiences can enjoy the content on the radio, in person, and even as segments on our other news programs,” said Dan Lothian, editor-in-chief and GM of local news for GBH in a news release.
Herwick has worked for GBH since 2006. He will still appear on The Culture Show, hosted by Jared Bowen, as a contributor.
Boston Public Radio, hosted by Margery Eagan and Jim Braude, will return to its original two-hour format starting Feb. 2. “The hosts both wanted time to pursue other interests and to make room for new talent at the station,” a news release said.
Development
Ingrid McKinney was hired as director of membership for Ocean State Media in Providence, R.I. “I’m incredibly thankful for the warm welcome and for the trust placed in me to help grow and strengthen membership during such an important moment for the organization,” McKinney said on LinkedIn. She previously worked for the Contributor Development Partnership, first as director of membership development and later as senior director of marketing, fundraising and collaborative direct mail. She has also been director of membership for direct mail and mid-level giving for GBH in Boston.
Content
Sage Smiley was hired as host of All Things Considered for Aspen Public Radio in Colorado. She succeeds Halle Zander, who was promoted to news director last year. Smiley previously worked as news director for KYUK Public Media in Bethel, Alaska. She has also been a reporter, host and news director for KTSK, a noncommercial station in Wrangell, Alaska. “My time in Alaska taught me the importance of community,” said Smiley in a news release. “Journalism in rural towns can be deeply intimate and personal, as well as functional. I believe this intimacy is essential to telling stories well and fairly, and my unique perspective and experience will complement the current reporting initiatives already underway at Aspen Public Radio.”
Stephanie Rivera left her position as digital team editor for Colorado Public Radio to join the Colorado Sun as director of audience and engagement. Rivera joined the station in 2022 as audience editor. She has also been a project manager for the Colorado news collaborative COLab and engagement support specialist for America Amplified. She held several reporter and editor positions for the Long Beach Post in California.
Send news of “comings and goings” to people@current.org
As a faithful viewer of PBS News Weekend, I was hugely surprised and disappointed to learn that the
program had been canceled and excellent broadcast journalist and host John Yang, reporter Ali Rogan and an excellent team of fellow reporters and producers now gone, reportedly due to budget cuts. But I have to ponder how, if budget cuts were to blame, PBS was able to find the money to fund two new weekend programs? While there are network weekend news shows to satisfy us news junkies, John Yang and his team often offered in-depth stories that were a little off beat, interesting, and always, important that viewers would not find covered by the predictable national networks, one reasons that, from here in litt’l ole’ Bowlin’ Green, KY, I was a supporting member of WETA TV in Arlington VA.
I am hugely disappointed by this decision and wish each member of the PBS News Weekend team my very best with sincere thanks for a journalistically crucial job always well done.
John Yang and his team were EXCELLENT and I was also so SHOCKED that their wee-end program was canceled. They will be MISSED!