Mark Leonard, Illinois Public Media’s general manager, will be leaving the organization by August 1, 2013, to become the general manager and CEO for Nebraska Educational Telecommunications (NET), a statewide network of Nebraska’s PBS and NPR stations.
On July 1, WILL-AM 580 will begin airing a midday news program, Here & Now, co-hosted by Champaign-Urbana native Jeremy Hobson, as it becomes NPR’s replacement for Talk of the Nation, which is ending production.
Illinois Public Media's educational outreach director, Molly Delaney, will be honored by the Girl Scouts of Central Illinois (GSCI), along with four other women, as "Women of Distinction." Molly will be recognized in the STEM education category.
WILL reporters and contributors won four awards in the downstate radio division of the 2012 Illinois Associated Press Broadcasters Association Journalism Excellence Contest, including best sports report and best hard news feature. Students at Urbana's Urbana University High School won 2nd place in the Best Series or Documentary category for their WILL-AM reports on the counter-culture era in Champaign-Urbana.
Illinois Public Media General Manager Mark Leonard was recognized Feb. 25 for his exceptional efforts in furthering public television’s legislative goals, but he credited WILL listeners and viewers with most of the hard work.
Craig Cohen, Illinois Public Media’s director of news and public affairs, will be leaving the station Feb. 22 to take a job as host of a new talk show at Houston Public Media.
Illinois Public Media welcomed two new staffers in January: Chris Berube, on-air host for Morning Edition and The Afternoon Magazine, and Lindsey Moon, producer for the morning talk show, Focus.
Danda Beard, who has worked in development at WILL for the past 23 years, has been named as the new director of development at Illinois Public Media. Beard joined the staff as corporate support director, became director of the major gifts program in 2000 and has been interim development director since June 2012.
John Steinbacher has joined the staff of Illinois Public Media as membership director. Steinbacher came to Illinois Public Media from the Champaign-based International Society of Arboriculture, a professional organization with 21,000 members worldwide where he was the membership and component relations manager.
Republican Rodney Davis of Taylorville, Democrat David Gill of Bloomington, and Independent John Hartman of Edwardsville, candidates for Congress in the new 13th District, will meet in the WILL-TV studio for a debate hosted by Illinois Public Media in collaboration with the League of Women Voters of Illinois and WCIA-TV 3/WCIX-TV 49.
WILL-TV, WILL-AM 580 and WCIX-TV will broadcast the hour-long debate live, with live video streaming on will.illinois.edu.
