ANDI MCDANIEL IS WBEZ’S NEW CEO • RANDI KIRSHBAUM “TERMINATED” IN PORTLAND

Andi McDaniel

Chicago Public Media  (CPM) has hired one of public media’s most innovative managers and content creators to be their new CEO: Andi McDaniel. 

She is moving to Chicago after spending almost five years as the Senior Director of Content and News at WAMU.

McDaniel is replacing former CEO Goli Sheikholeslami, who earlier this year became CEO of New York Public Radio. McDaniel starts her new gig at CPM in the fall.

She is a multi-platform content developer who is known for her innovation, audience engagement and enthusiasm for public media.

At CPM, McDaniel will oversee NPR News/Talk station WBEZ, Urban Alternative station Vocalo and CPM’s podcast division. She brings a wide skill-set to her new gig.

Prior to her work at WAMU, McDaniel was Director of Content Strategy and Innovation for four years at Twin Cities Public TV. She also has been a public radio news reporter in Alaska, a TV reporter for CBS television in San Francisco and a freelance writer and multimedia producer.

McDaniel received a master’s degree from UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism in 2009.

What impresses us the most about McDaniel is her love of radio and skills in video and audio communication. 

She is a self-starter. In 2010 she wrote and produced a series of 65 audio segments about Minnesota history for AMPERS, a collaboration of noncom stations that are not affiliated with Minnesota Public Radio. The modules aired on over 50 stations.

Steve Edwards, who has been serving as CPM’s interim CEO, said in a press release:

 “I couldn’t be more pleased by Andi’s selection as our next president and CEO. She’s the ideal person to lead our organization as we seek to create meaningful connections among younger, more diverse audiences across audio and digital platforms.”

PORTLAND PROGRAMMER & PROGRAM HOST RANDI KIRSHBAUM “LAID OFF” OVER COVID-19 CONCERNS

Randi Kirshbaum

An ugly incident is playing out this week in Portland, Maine. 

Saga Communications, a publicly traded media company that owns eight commercial radio stations in Portland, pushed Randi Kirshbaum off the deck after 36 years on the job.

Why are we reporting on commercial radio on our noncom news blog?  Because (#1) she is a long-time friend of ours; and (#2), She should be working in public media for the next chapter of her career.

Kirshbaum says she was fired. Saga said she was laid off. No matter what you call it, she is no longer working for Saga Communications.

Here are the facts of the incident, as we know them:

• Randi Kirshbaum was in charge of programming for the eight stations and was a program host on two of the station. She had been working for Saga for over three decades.

• When Covid-19 became a global crisis in March, Saga issued work-at-home orders for all employees including Kirshbaum.

• Last week Saga told its employees that they had to come back to the workplace as of Monday, May 18^th. 

Kirshbaum didn’t feel it was safe for her to return because her doctor had advised her that she had a medical condition that might endher life if she contracted the virus.

So, she didn't show up and that was the end of her job at Saga.

Like most of the country, Kirshbaum had been working from home for the past six weeks. She told Saga that she was willing to work from home, but Saga said “no.”

  

Saga said they have an agreement, signed by Kirshbaum, that says she would to return to work if/when Saga says “do it.”

Apparently Saga made no attempt to work things out with a long-term employee who had performed well in her job.

So, it appears that Kirshbaum was turfed was a cost-saving move to increase the value of Saga’s slumping stock. Now the story of her dismissal has become national news. 

For Kirshbaum, it was a choice between her job or her life.  What would you do?

We hope she looks for work in public media. We have known Randi since the early 1970s when we were both working at stations in Minneapolis. Back then, she was working as a program host at  legendary progressive rock station KQRS. We were working at KRSI, an upstart album rock station. We became friends and we followed each other's careers since then.