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Minnesota Public Radio Appoints Chris Worthington as Program Director, Regional News and Information Service
July 5, 2006
(St. Paul, Minn.) July 5, 2006 — Minnesota Public Radio has announced the appointment of Chris Worthington as program director for its Regional News and Information Service.
In this role, Worthington will be responsible for all news programming broadcast by Minnesota Public Radio's News & Information network in Minnesota and the upper Midwest, including KNOW 91.1 FM in the Twin Cities. He will also ensure that the station's Web site, www.minnesotapublicradio.org, serves as a primary source of high quality, in-depth News for the region's listeners and Web visitors.
Worthington has more than 25 years of news experience, most recently with the Pioneer Press in St. Paul, where he served as managing editor and senior editor for business and technology from 1997 to 2006. From 1983 to 1996, he worked for the Dallas Morning News as its assistant business editor, assistant state editor and sports editor. He held other newspaper positions with Newsday, the Fort Lauderdale News and the Fort Myers News-Press. He holds a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Southern California and a master of business administration degree from the University of Dallas.
"We are incredibly pleased to have Chris in this new role at Minnesota Public Radio," said Sarah Lutman, senior vice president, Content and Media, Minnesota Public Radio and American Public Media. "His vast experience in the news industry and his in-depth knowledge of the Twin Cities and Minnesota will be tremendous assets for our News and Information Service."
The weekly audience for Minnesota Public Radio's News & Information stations has increased by 39 percent in the past five years and 69 percent in the last decade. Currently, Minnesota Public Radio's KNOW 91.1 FM in the Twin Cities has a weekly audience of 327,600 listeners. Regionally, Minnesota Public Radio's weekly News audience recently reached a high of 509,000 listeners (Source: Copyright Arbitron, Inc., Persons 12+, MSu 6a-12m).
"I'm thrilled to be joining the talented people at MPR," said Worthington. "Their devotion to news and information — driven by a mission of public service — is desperately needed these days. MPR's regional newsgathering capabilties, depth and calm reliability are unmatched. I look forward to being on a team charged with exceeding listener expectations, over the radio and online."
Worthington's appointment allows MPR to restructure its News and Information Services based on regional and national programming. Bill Buzenberg, senior vice president, News, who has managed both MPR's Regional and National News programming for MPR, will now focus on American Public Media's national News programming, including public radio's largest documentary production unit, American RadioWorks, Speaking of Faith, Word for Word and other projects and programs in development. Buzenberg also provides leadership for the new Center for Innovation in Journalism at American Public Media. The Center was established to continue to develop and share the highly successful Public Insight Journalism model developed by Minnesota Public Radio.
Press Contacts:
Jennifer Syltie Johnson
Minnesota Public Radio
651-290-1071
jjohnson@mpr.org
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