The NPR Member station serving the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater market and neighboring Sarasota-Bradenton and Lakeland-Winter Haven, along with its Classical sibling, have a new General Manager.
WUSF Public Media has appointed Leslie Laney as General Manager. She succeeds JoAnn Urofsky, who announced her retirement in October after leading the University of South Florida-licensed public broadcaster that owns WUSF-FM and WSMR-FM for more than two decades.
Laney rises from Station Manager, overseeing both WUSF, the region’s spoken word noncommercial home for NPR programming, and Sarasota-licensed WSMR-FM, which has a small FM translator covering Hillsborough County and downtown St. Petersburg. She joined WUSF in 2018, and takes over for Urofsky on January 2.
“Leslie truly represents the next generation of innovators in public broadcasting, and she has already led so many teams and projects within our WUSF family that she is the natural choice to lead this station into the years ahead,” Urofsky said. “I am thrilled that WUSF is so fortunate to have such a skilled leader within our own ranks.”
Laney commented, “WUSF has a special duty and privilege as a public broadcaster with a singular mission to serve the residents of Florida with clear, unbiased news, public safety information and enriching entertainment. We have the strategic opportunity to reinforce and expand WUSF’s role, and I am profoundly grateful to JoAnn for positioning WUSF to adapt, innovate and thrive.”
