Shawn Turner

Poynter has announced that 23 executives from across the nation selected for the 2025 Public Media Executive Editorial Integrity and Leadership Initiative, a six-month fellowship developed by the Poynter Institute and funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB).  WKAR Public Media (East Lansing) General Manager Shawn Turner is among those selected.

The fellowship, which began this week, will equip public media leaders with support, tools and individualized training to help build stronger stations, reflecting the goal shared by CPB and Poynter to bolster local journalism.

“Local journalism is essential to the civic health of our nation, because it provides relevant, fact-based information to respond to the information needs of the communities it serves, reflecting and respecting local voices and perspectives,” said Kathy Merritt, CPB executive vice president and chief operating officer. “These station leaders know their communities and work every day to serve local audiences. CPB supports the Executive Editorial Integrity and Leadership Initiative because we know their communities trust these leaders to make the right decisions on editorial ethics and standards.”

Designed to be effective across experience levels and station types, the program brings together public media executives whose stations serve audiences that range from rural markets to regional networks. The Executive EILI program builds on the Editorial Integrity and Leadership Initiative, a CPB-supported program that has graduated 150 editors in the past six years.

“Local public media is becoming more and more important in every market as commercial media shrinks,” said Kelly McBride, Poynter’s senior vice president and chair of the Craig Newmark Center for Ethics and Leadership. “These executives are doing work that is critical to democracy, and I’m thrilled that Poynter can support their work.”

Fellows chosen for the 2025 Executive Editorial Integrity and Leadership Initiative are:

• Matt Abramovitz, President, New England Public Media, Amherst, MA
• Lauren Adams, General Manager, KUCB, Unalaska, AK
• Andrew Batt, Executive Director and General Manager, Iowa PBS, Johnston, IA
• Emily Cohen, Executive Director, KHOL, Jackson, WY
• Jennifer Dorian, CEO, WABE, Atlanta, GA
• Jody Evans Hamblett, Director, WUOT, Knoxville, TN
• Paul Hunton, President, WUNC, Chapel Hill, NC
• Corey Lewis, General Manager, WGCU, Ft. Myers, FL
• David Lee, President and General Manager, WUWM Milwaukee, WI
• David Lowe, President and General Manager, KVIE, Sacramento, CA
• Becky Magura, President and CEO, Nashville PBS, Nashville, TN
• Jose Martinez-Saldana, Co Executive Director, Radio Bilingue, Fresno, CA
• Carla McCabe, President and CEO, WVIA, Scranton, PA
• Tom Michael, General Manager, Boise State Public Radio, Boise, ID
• Breeze Richardson, Executive Director, Aspen Public Radio, Aspen, CO
• Jim Rondeau, General Manager, KLCC, Eugene, Oregon
• Jaclyn Sallee, President and CEO, KNBA – Koahnic Broadcast Corporation, Anchorage, AK
• Alejandra Santamaria, President and CEO, SCPR/LAist, Pasadena, CA
• Justin Shoman, President and General Manager, KTOO Public Media, Juneau, AK
• Jordan Siegler, Interim Executive Director, Wisconsin Public Media, Madison, WI
• Vijay Singh, CEO, Vermont Public, Colchester, VT
• Shawn Turner, General Manager, WKAR, East Lansing, MI
• Stewart Vanderwilt, CEO, Colorado Public Radio, Denver, CO

Fellows will focus on implementing a leadership action plan built from their newsroom’s vision and informed by the frameworks gained during their week spent at Poynter in St. Petersburg. The program cultivates a collaborative, supportive space where executives learn together and build lasting bonds with Poynter’s signature training in leadership and ethical decision-making at the core.

“This is the right time to bring these leaders together,” said Kerwin Speight, Poynter leadership faculty. “The landscape for local journalism keeps changing. This work will help them adapt, adjust and effectively lead.”

Beyond their week spent together in person, fellows will continue to engage in virtual sessions including one-on-one and group coaching, small-group work and live executive training.

The program is led by McBride and Poynter faculty Cheryl Carpenter and Kerwin Speight.