People

MPT promotes execs, APM announces changes, and more comings and goings in public media

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Maryland Public Television in Owings Mills promoted executives. Steven Schupak rises from s.v.p. and chief content officer to e.v.p. and chief operating officer at the Owings Mills station. George Beneman, chief technology officer, is now s.v.p. And Jay Parikh steps up to v.p. and head of MPT’s content division. “The promotions were due to the talents of these individuals coupled with restructuring to accommodate MPT’s fundraising campaign and Vietnam initiative,” said Larry Unger, MPT president, referring to a major event honoring veterans and their families that the state network is planning for April 2016.  “We are very excited for what the future has in store for MPT.”

Schupak joined MPT in 2003 after a three-decade career in television and media.

People

Masterpiece leads PBS slate of 34 Primetime Emmy nominees, and more awards in public media

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Downton Abbey and Sherlock: His Last Vow each picked up 12 primetime Emmy nominations July 10, earning the lion’s share of the 34 nominations for PBS programs.

Downton Abbey, a co-production of Masterpiece and Carnival Films, was nominated for outstanding drama series and outstanding directing for a drama series, while Michelle Dockery, who plays Lady Mary Crawley in the period drama, was nominated for lead actress in a series. Four additional cast members are vying for Emmys: Maggie Smith and Joanne Froggatt, both nominated for supporting actress in a drama series; Jim Carter, nominated for supporting actor in a drama series; and Paul Giamatti, a contender in the category guest actor in a drama series. Downton Abbey also received nominations for five craft awards: art direction for a period series, costumes for a series, hairstyling for a single-camera series, music composition for a series and sound mixing for a comedy or drama series. Sherlock: His Last Vow, the third installment in the series presented on PBS by Masterpiece Mystery, was nominated for best television movie. Benedict Cumberbatch, who plays Sherlock Holmes, was nominated for lead actor in a miniseries or movie; and Martin Freeman, who plays sidekick John Watson, was nominated for supporting actor in a miniseries or movie.

Margaret Low Smith

Margaret Low Smith, NPR’s senior news veep, will depart for The Atlantic

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Margaret Low Smith, NPR’s senior vice president for news, is leaving the network to take a position with The Atlantic as president of its live-event division, AtlanticLIVE. Smith has worked for NPR for 32 years, heading the news division since 2011. Before holding that job, she worked as VP of programming. She started at NPR in 1982 as an overnight production assistant for Morning Edition. “Her departure will be felt as profoundly as any in recent memory,” NPR Chief Content Officer Kinsey Wilson wrote in an email to station executives.

People

Ange-Aimée Woods, Colorado Public Radio arts reporter, dies at 41

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Ange-Aimée Woods, a Canadian journalist who played a key role in the recent expansion of Colorado Public Radio arts coverage, died July 2 in Montreal of apparent heart failure. She was 41. Woods joined CPR in October 2013 as the Denver station’s first full-time arts reporter. She’d spent the previous decade with CBC’s Radio One, working a variety of jobs including as a senior producer on the live drivetime program Homerun and a social media producer. During her seven months at CPR, she worked on launch of its weekly arts program Colorado Art Report.

People

Rocky Mountain PBS restructures exec ranks, Fraser heads KMUW-FM and more comings and goings in pubmedia

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Rocky Mountain PBS in Denver has restructured its management team. “It is critical that we have leaders at the helm of our ship who can help shape the future of public media for all of Colorado and beyond,”said Doug Price, c.e.o. of the Rocky Mountain Broadcasting Network, in an announcement. “We have made tremendous strides over the past year with the merger of Rocky Mountain PBS, KUVO jazz public radio and I-News, our public-service journalism team, and I look forward to continued growth and success up ahead.” The organizations joined forces in January 2013. Harris Ravine, network c.o.o., is also now president and general manager of KRMA-TV, one of the network’s five stations. His previous experience includes chairing the board of Twin Cities Public Television in St.

People

WGBH’s Taylor leaves imprint on kids’ content, Gilbert to exit Marketplace, and more comings and goings in pubmedia

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Kate Taylor, an influential children’s media executive and producer at WGBH, is leaving public broadcasting in July after 42 years. Taylor joined the Boston pubcaster’s mailroom in 1972. She worked on the original version of Zoom from 1973-77 and executive-produced the updated version in 1997. She also served as associate director of children’s and cultural programming at PBS from 1982-86 until returning to WGBH as director of children’s programs.

During her long career, she won a Peabody Award and multiple Emmys. “The productions that have benefited from Kate’s talents have changed the face of children’s media,” said Brigid Sullivan, WGBH v.p. for children’s media and educational programming, in a note to colleagues, citing Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?, Peep and the Big Wide World and Fetch!

People

Pubcasters win four UNITY Awards for commitment to cultural diversity

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Over half of this year’s RTDNA/UNITY Awards went to pubcasters, including a public TV station. WKAR-TV in East Lansing, Mich., won the award for small-market television for a documentary about racial tensions surrounding the 1975 trials of two Filipina Veterans Administration Hospital nurses. In the radio division, Seattle’s KUOW won among large-market entries with its report “Black in Seattle,” while Alabama Public Radio won the award for small-market stations with the  story “Remembering 1963,” produced as part of a civil rights radio project. Public Radio International picked up the award for network radio for its series Global Nation: Stories of a Changing America. The UNITY awards are sponsored by UNITY: Journalists for Diversity, a coalition comprising the Asian American Journalism Association, the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association and the Native American Journalists Association. Awardees are recognized for demonstrating an ongoing commitment to covering cultural diversity in their communities.

People

Samuel Chamberlin Newbury, ‘Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood’ producer, dies at 69

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Samuel Chamberlin Newbury, who served as director of productions for Fred Rogers Co. for nearly three decades, died May 22 at his home in Pittsburgh of cancer. He was 69. Newbury is best remembered as the producer of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood and as right-hand man of the show’s creator and namesake, Fred Rogers. He worked for Rogers’ production company Family Communications, Inc. (now known as Fred Rogers Co.) for 28 years from 1986 until his retirement in 2012.