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NPR hires top YMCA fundraiser as new chief development officer

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NPR has hired Monique Hanson, senior v.p. and chief development officer for YMCA of the USA, as its chief development officer. Hanson joined the YMCA in 2004 and has since served as chief fundraising strategist for the $5 billion organization. In her position at NPR, Hanson will oversee NPR’s fundraising programs and work with stations and the Trustees of the NPR Foundation, Inc., a private nonprofit. “Monique has the experience needed to take NPR to new heights in fundraising. She brings vision and a collaborative spirit that will help us forge innovative partnerships with NPR member stations across the country,” said NPR President Gary Knell in a press release.

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Journalism Center on Children and Families – Casey Medals

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Pubradio won a pair of medals for reportage on youth and families. WYNC’s Radio Rookies won a Casey Medal for Meritorious Journalism for Coming of Age in 2011, a series of reports covering youth-identity issues such as immigration status, mental-health diagnoses, the foster care system and the process of coming out as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender. The award was given in the College Park, Md.–based organization’s new youth-media category. “It’s a rare treat to listen to a first-person narrative that moves you; it’s even rarer to find storytellers who are brave enough to confront their own issues and face other people who may not always tell them what they want to hear,” judges said. Among the Rookies and WNYC producers cited for the medal were Beatrice Aquino, Tim Brown-Martinez, Brianna Fugate, Michael Jacobson, Alicia Martinez, Jimmy Musa, Kaari Pitkin, Sanda Htyte, Marianne McCune, Courtney Stein, Veralyn Williams and Mike Jones.

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2012 RTDNA Edward R. Murrow Awards

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WNYC led public media in the 2012 national Edward R. Murrow Awards announced June 12 by the Radio Television Digital News Association. Among 17 pubcasting entities receiving Murrows for excellence in electronic journalism, the New York station won three trophies for two of its nationally distributed shows, Studio 360 and Radio Rookies. Public stations winning national Murrows in large- and small-market radio divisions excelled during an earlier phase of RTDNA’s annual journalism contest — the regional Murrows awarded in 13 multistate contests this spring. Public media news outlets won national Murrows across four divisions. Radio networks: WNYC’s Studio 360, a co-production with Public Radio International, for feature reporting and use of sound, and Radio Rookies, writing; BBC World Service, hard news reporting and news documentary; American Public Media’s Marketplace, investigative reporting; and NPR, website.

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Investigative Reporters & Editors Awards

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California Watch and KQED received IRE’s highest honor for “On Shaky Ground.”

California Watch, a nonpartisan group of investigative journalists, and the San Francisco pubcaster won the IRE Medal for what the judges called “an extraordinary effort examining seismic safeguards in place to protect California’s schoolchildren from earthquakes.” The 19-month project produced stories published in 150 news outlets that eventually forced state lawmakers to create new standards for repairing seismic hazards. Cited for the award were Corey G. Johnson, Erica Perez, Kendall Taggart, Agustin Armendariz, Michael Montgomery, Anna Werner, Chase Davis, Michael Corey, Carrie Ching, Ashley Alvarado and Krissy Clark. “On Shaky Ground” also won an IRE award in the multiplatform–medium category. The IRE Award in the multiplatform–large category went to ProPublica, NPR and Frontline for “Post Mortem: Death Investigation in America.” Judges praised the project for showing that “death investigations are a patchwork of different systems that bear little resemblance to the work seen on television shows such as CSI.”

ProPublica staffers cited for the award included A.C. Thompson, Chisun Lee, Marshall Allen, Aarti Shahani, Mosi Secret, Krista Kjellman Schmidt, Al Shaw, Jennifer LaFleur and Robin Fields; from NPR, Joe Shapiro, Sandra Bartlett, Coburn Dukeheart, John Poole and Susanne Reber; from Frontline, Lowell Bergman, Carl Byker, Andres Cediel, Arun Rath, Raney Aronson-Rath and David Fanning; and Ryan Gabrielson from the Investigative Reporting Program at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. NPR’s Ina Jaffe and Quinn O’Toole won the IRE Award in the radio/audio category for “Rising Violence in California Psychiatric Hospitals,” an investigation inspired by last year’s murder of a hospital worker by a patient.

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PRNDI Awards for local journalism

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KPCC and Vermont Public Radio led public radio news rooms in PRNDI’s three-tiered contest honoring outstanding local news coverage. In the competition among stations with the largest news staffs, KPCC in Pasadena, Calif., and VPR each won four first-place prizes. Top winners in other divisions included WBGO in Newark, N.J.; Wyoming Public Radio; KLCC in Eugene, Oregon; and WCAI in Woods Hole, Mass., each of which won at least three PRNDI awards. In Division A, comprising stations with five or more full-time news staffers, Vermont Public Radio took four top prizes for its coverage of the devastation caused by Hurricane Irene. Two of three first-place awards presented to WBGO in Division B recognized its reporting on the hurricane.

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PRNDI honored former NPR news chief Ellen Weiss for significant contributions to public radio news.

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Weiss worked at NPR for 28 years, rising to senior v.p. of news in 2007, a post she held for four years. Before that she was senior editor of the network’s National Desk from 2001 to 2007. She also served as executive producer of All Things Considered from 1989 to 2001. “Ellen’s leadership and commitment to public radio journalism resulted in stronger stories from NPR reporters, as well as from newsrooms around the country,” said George Bodarky, newly elected president of PRNDI and news director at WFUV in New York, in an email to Current. “During her time at NPR, Ellen consistently took time out to share her knowledge and expertise with member station newsrooms. Her wisdom has helped many newsroom managers sharpen their skills and strengthen their departments.”

“Ellen was among those who worked hard to get more member station reporters on the air,” said Bob Beck, PRNDI treasurer and news director at Wyoming Public Radio. “She also helped get NPR reporters, hosts, and editors to help with PRNDI and other trainings.

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NET’s Bates to retire, NPR’s Seabrook departs, Bodarky elected PRNDI prez, and more…

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Bates, a producer/director who rose through the ranks to become network chief in 1996, announced his retirement plans June 22, initiating the second leadership transition for the state network’s top job since its founding 58 years ago. Bates arrived at NET in 1975 as a producer/director working on a one-year assignment. He ended up devoting his career to NET, earning a promotion to senior producer and eventually moving into fundraising. He became director of development for Nebraskans for Public Television Inc. in 1985 before being appointed to succeed Jack McBride, NET’s founding general manager, in the mid-1990s. “Rod Bates’ leadership has brought NET to the highest level of service in our history,” said Ron Hull, a semi-retired NET veteran who hired Bates as a TV producer more than three decades ago.

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Association of Public Radio Engineers Awards

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Mike Starling received the Meritorious Service Award for spearheading technological innovation within NPR and at its stations. Starling, executive director of the Technology Research Center and NPR Labs, was cited for innovations including multicasting on HD Radio channels to public-service spectrum initiatives and accessible public radio services for the visually and hearing impaired. Starling, one of the founders of APRE in 2006, was also involved in preparing and presenting the Project ACORN Summit in 2002, which encouraged station managers and engineers to take advantage of translators to expand their signals. According to the nomination form, “[Starling] is and always has been passionate about radio, a firm and steady advocate for the technology, for the medium, and for stations. .

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Jim Packard, announcer of Whad’Ya Know?

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Jim Packard, longtime announcer on public radio’s Whad’Ya Know?, died June 18 at a New York City hospital. He was 70. Michael Feldman, host of the national comedy quiz show produced by Wisconsin Public Radio, itold the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that Packard suffered from cardiopulmonary disease, and that “his lung function had been decreasing visibly” for the past eight months. Packard had been in New York for a live broadcast of the popular show on June 9, at the Skirball Center for the Performing Arts at New York University, the Journal Sentinel reported. Packard entered the hospital on June 10.

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Carole Nolan, led WBEZ’s bid for independence

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Carole Nolan, who founded WBEZ-FM in Chicago at a time when few women held top management jobs in public broadcasting, died July 5 of complications from muscular sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease. She was 80. In 1971, as director of telecommunications and broadcasting for the Chicago Public Schools, Nolan asked to take over management of the Chicago Board of Education’s radio station. “She began a complete overhaul that reinvented WBEZ,” said former WBEZ spokesperson Merillee Clark Redmond in the Chicago Tribune. “She took great risks and was creative as she hired staff who would develop new programming and yet not neglect the Board of Education’s desire for educational programs.”

Nolan secured $100,000 for a new transmitter and antenna, and aid from CPB.

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Live From Lincoln Center creator departs, McGee replaces Fornatale at WFUV, and more…

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John Goberman has produced more than 200 live national telecasts since launching the PBS performance series more than three decades ago. Goberman was cited by Symphony Magazine as one of the 50 most important individuals making a difference in American music. He pioneered the video and audio technology by which concerts, opera, ballets and plays could be telecast during live performances without disruption of performers and audiences. His television work has garnered 13 national Emmy Awards, three Peabodys and the first Television Critics Circle Award for Achievement in Music. Goberman plans to focus on producing another type of performance that he helped to pioneer — “Symphonic Cinema,” in which orchestral scores are performed live to the films for which they were originally commissioned.

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Longtime Sesame Street writer dies

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Judy Freudberg, who wrote for Sesame Street for almost 40 years, died June 10 of a brain tumor, according to Hollywood Reporter. She was 63. Freudberg won 17 Emmy Awards for her work on the pubcasting series, and collaborated with Tony Geiss on Sesame Street’s first feature film, Sesame Street Presents: Follow That Bird (1985), and on two animated movies for executive producer Steven Spielberg: The Land Before Time (1985) and An American Tail (1986). Freudberg joined Sesame Street in 1971, during its third season, as a script typist and began writing for the program four years later.

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Alabama PTV’s Jon Beans host, producer, dies at 50

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Jon Beans, a reporter and host on Alabama Public Television for more than 20 years, died June 13 at a Montgomery hospital from sickle cell anemia. He was 50. Beans was with APT from 1990 through 2011, working as a producer, executive producer for news and public affairs director. He appeared on For the Record, Capitol Journal, Alabama Stories and other programs. He was also an adjunct professor in communications at Alabama State University. Survivors include his wife, Sagusta; their daughter, Kaitlyn; and son, Jonathan; along with his mother, Bobbie Beans; and two brothers, Hillyard J. Beans III of Tuscaloosa and Michael Beans of Columbus, Ga.

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Three trophies put WNYC atop pubmedia’s Murrow winners

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WNYC led public media in the 2012 national Edward R. Murrow Awards announced June 12 by the Radio Television Digital News Association.Among 17 pubcasting entities receiving Murrows for excellence in electronic journalism, the New York station won three trophies for two of its nationally distributed shows — Studio 360 andRadio Rookies.Three pubcasting outlets received Murrows in two categories: BBC World News, which won in the division for radio networks; Boston’s WBUR, a winner among large-market radio stations; and WITF in Harrisburg, Pa, scoring a double in the small-market radio division. Alabama Public Radio also stood out among small market radio stations, taking a Murrow for overall excellence.Public stations winning national Murrows in large- and small-market radio divisions excelled during an earlier phase of RTDNA’s annual journalism contest — the regional Murrows awarded in 13 multistate contests this spring.Public media news outlets won national Murrows across four divisions.Radio networks: WNYC’s Studio 360, a coproduction with Public Radio International, for feature reporting and use of sound, and Radio Rookies, writing; BBC World Service, hard news reporting and news documentary; American Public Media’s Marketplace, investigative reporting; and NPR, website.  Large-market radio stations: WBUR, investigative reporting and use of sound; KUT in Austin, Texas, continuing coverage; WCPN in Cleveland, feature reporting; WUSF in Tampa, Fla., news documentary; Mississippi Public Broadcasting, news series; and WFAE in Charlotte, N.C., writing.  Small-market radio stations: WITF in Harrisburg, Pa., news series and sports reporting; Alabama Public Radio, overall excellence; WBOI in Fort Wayne, Ind., feature reporting; KUNC in Greeley, Colo., investigative reporting; WUFT in Gainesville, Fla., hard news reporting; WSLU in Canton, N.Y., news documentary; and KSMU in Springfield, Mo., writing.  Local online news operation: The Lens New Orleans and the G.W. Williams Center for Independent Journalism in New Orleans, investigative reporting; and the Texas Tribune in Austin, website.The national Edward R. Murrow Awards have recognized outstanding electronic journalism since 1971.

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Pioneering progressive rock DJ Pete Fornatale dies at 66

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Pete Fornatale, who got his start at the Fordham University’s WFUV-FM as an undergrad in 1964 and went on to become an influential progressive-rock disc jockey in New York City, died April 26 following a stroke. He was 66. “This is a devastating loss, not just for his family, friends, and colleagues at WFUV, but for radio listeners everywhere,” Chuck Singleton, interim g.m., said in a statement. “Pete was a beloved air personality for four decades and a master communicator. His influence as a pioneer of progressive FM radio is almost incalculable.”

“It’s a very sad day for radio,” songwriter Paul Simon told the Associated Press.

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Mark Pearson, Market to Market host, dies at 54

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Mark Pearson, host of Iowa Public Television’s nationally syndicated Market to Market, died June 2 at grain and livestock farm in rural Madison County of an apparent heart attack. He was 54. “Iowa Public Television lost a friend and a colleague today,” the station said in a statement late that day, “and the state of Iowa lost a smart, enthusiastic, and talented agricultural broadcaster with the passing of Mark Pearson.”

“For more than 20 years, Mark was Market to Market — reporting on the latest news in agribusiness while providing critical insights for viewers across the nation,” the statement said. [In July, Iowa Public Television chose Pearson’s son Mike as his successor on the show, DesMoinesRegister.com reported.  Mike Pearson had managed his family’s livestock and grain operation, worked in banking and reported for public radio station WOI-AM.]

“Traversing the State Fairgrounds with Mark was like travelling with Elvis,” said a colleague in an obituary for Market to Market’s website.  “It was as if everybody knew him and Mark did his best to visit with each and every one of them.” Pearson also was known to many for his work hosting IPTV’s State Fair coverage, the statement noted.

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Ann Thompson

NPR hires two reporters, WXXI news director rappels down 21 stories, and more…

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Leila Fadel, Cairo bureau chief for the Washington Post, signs on as NPR’s Cairo-based correspondent in July. She covered the Iraq War for almost five years and won a George Polk Award in 2007 for her reporting from Baghdad. She replaces Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson, who will report from Kabul, Afghanistan, and then Berlin. Gregory Warner, a senior reporter for American Public Media’s Marketplace, will join NPR as East Africa correspondent, based in Nairobi, Kenya, in December. Warner now covers the economics and business of healthcare, but he’s previously reported from Afghanistan, Pakistan and the DR Congo.