People
Mikel Ellcessor resigns from WDET for position with Krista Tippett
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Mikel Ellcessor, general manager at Detroit’s WDET-FM, has resigned to take a position with Krista Tippett Public Productions.
People
CPR, WBEZ, WUOT, WBGO lead 2013 PRNDI winners for pubradio news
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Presented by NPR’s Scott Simon in Cleveland June 22, Public Radio News Directors Inc. honored the best local public radio news in 16 categories based on the size of stations’ newsroom staff. In addition, PRNDI recognized stations for standout news reporting edited by a national producer; these awards were presented in several categories without consideration of newsroom size. Top winners among this year’s contenders were Colorado Public Radio, Chicago’s WBEZ, WUOT of Knoxville, Tenn., and WBGO in Newark, N.J., which each received four first-place awards in their divisions. Miami’s WLRN and WBFO in Buffalo, N.Y., both topped three categories. CPR, WBEZ, and WLRN competed amongst stations with the largest newsrooms: Division A, for newsrooms staffed by five or more full-time journalists.
People
PBS and APT programs win 14 Daytime Emmys
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Among 14 Daytime Emmys awarded to public TV programs, APT’s Travelscope won in Creative Arts categories for direction and sound mixing.
People
Herbert Allison, ProPublica director, dies at 69
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Herbert Allison, Jr., a financial executive who served on the Board of Directors of nonprofit investigative newsroom ProPublica, died July 14 at his home in Westport, Conn. He was 69. Family members said he died of a possible heart attack.
People
Lary Lewman, host and narrator at MPT, dies at 76
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Lary Lewman, an actor and longtime narrator for Maryland Public Television, died July 11 in his Clarksville, Md., home from complications from Parkinson’s disease. He was 76.
People
Pubcasters capture 21 national Edward R. Murrow Awards
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WLRN in Miami won large-market radio Murrows for feature reporting and use of sound. Chicago’s WBEZ also won for news documentary and hard-news reporting. The award for investigative reporting went to KQED and the Center for Investigative Reporting, both based in San Francisco, for “Broken Shield: Exposing Abuses at California Developmental Centers.”
People
Bill Thrash, veteran OETA manager and programmer, dies at 73
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Bill Thrash, the longtime station manager and program director for Oklahoma’s statewide pubTV network OETA, died July 15 after a long battle with cancer. He was 73.
People
American Masters chooses first strategist, Lubinsky returns to radio, and more . . .
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Pledge legend TJ Lubinsky, whose retro musical revue shows have raised multiple millions of dollars for public television over 20 years, has returned to radio — and he’s hoping his pubTV audience will visit him on the air.
People
James Loper, KCET founder and president, dies at 81
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James L. Loper, a founder of Los Angeles’s KCET and founding chairman of PBS, died in his home in Pasadena, Calif., July 8 at the age of 81. The cause of death was not disclosed.
People
Sputnik Kilambi, Free Speech Radio News co-founder, dies at 55
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Sputnik Kilambi, a veteran international radio reporter who helped co-found Free Speech Radio News, died July 7 in Paris after a battle with liver cancer. She was 55.
People
‘Old-timer’ Fred Barzyk aims to Kickstart drama
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Fred Barzyk, a pioneering director who began his career at WGBH and went on to win Peabody and Venice Film awards, is asking for $4,000 on the crowd-funding website Kickstarter to produce the final short film of his drama trilogy on death.
People
Jim Nayder, producer of Annoying Music and Magnificent Obsession, dies at 59
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Jim Nayder, a veteran producer and programmer at Chicago’s WBEZ, died June 28. He was 59.
People
Judge dismisses three lawsuits against Clash
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Three lawsuits filed against former Sesame Street puppeteer Kevin Clash were dismissed by a federal judge who ruled July 1 that the statute of limitations had run out. U.S. District Court for Southern New York Judge John G. Koeltl dismissed lawsuits filed by Cecil Singleton, Kevin Kiadii and “John Doe,” each claiming that they had sexual relationships with Clash when they were teenagers. Clash has been named in five lawsuits — four filed in New York and one in Pennsylvania. The plaintiff in one of the New York suits withdrew his complaint in April. The men, all adults now, said they became aware of the injuries sustained by their consensual sexual relationships with Clash only after they reached adulthood.
People
Yore to depart Marketplace as American Public Media downsizes
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J.J. Yore, a veteran producer credited as a creator of the public radio show Marketplace, was one of three senior executives riffed June 17 from American Public Media, the Minnesota-based company that produces the series. Yore, who rose up through the production ranks two years ago to become v.p. and g.m. of the weeknightly business and economics show, will be succeeded by Deborah Clark, e.p. who steps into the role of v.p.
Clark has worked for Marketplace over two stints since 1995, and APM expects her to move the show forward “business as usual,” Mardi Larson, spokesperson, wrote in an email confirming the layoffs. “We thank J.J. for his valuable and lasting contributions to our company’s mission and audience service, and we wish him well in his next career opportunity.”
“I am disappointed, and I’m surprised, but I’m not angry,” Yore said in an interview last week. “This is the thing I’ve been associated the longest with in my life. But I am now looking forward to figuring out what will come next.”
APM also eliminated the positions of Mary Pat Ladner, v.p. of marketing, and Kathy Golbuff, v.p. of underwriting.
People
Michael Sullivan, veteran Frontline producer, dies at 67
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Michael Sullivan, an influential producer for PBS’s Frontline for more than 25 years, died in his home in Marblehead, Mass., on June 23. He was 67.
People
Jim Dowe, former CEO of Maine Public Broadcasting Network, dies at 64
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Jim Dowe, the president and c.e.o. of Maine Public Broadcasting Network from 2006 to 2012, died in Portland Sunday after a long battle with esophageal cancer. He was 64.
People
Nelson swaps WGBH for WQED, Currá takes over for Kelly at WVIA, and more . . .
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At dual licensee WVIA in Pittston, Pa., Tom Currá has succeeded Bill Kelly as president and c.e.o.; Kelly will concentrate on the station’s endowment.
People
William Stibor, NET Radio music director, dies at 49
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William Stibor, the music director of NET Radio in Lincoln, Nebr., died in his home June 17. He was 49.
People
NPR’s Rudin hopes to launch new show after leaving network
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Shutdowns of a show and a reporting project at NPR have prompted the departure of “Political Junkie” Ken Rudin, who has worked at the network since 1991. Rudin appears weekly on NPR’s Talk of the Nation, which is ending production this month. He also served recently as editorial coordinator for StateImpact, a collaborative reporting project with stations that NPR is exiting. “With the combination of Talk of the Nation and StateImpact ending, there wasn’t really a place for me,” Rudin says. “It didn’t come as a surprise.” He will leave NPR at the end of September.
People
John Krauss, longtime WRVO manager, dies at 64
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John Krauss, former g.m. for WRVO in Oswego, N.Y., and a public broadcasting manager for more than 40 years, died June 17. He was 64.