The College of Media at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is installing new leadership at Illinois Public Media.
Staff at the Urbana-based station learned in an email Tuesday morning that the College of Media is removing current executive director Moss Bresnahan, moving him to an advisory role within the college.
Longtime development and operations leaders John Steinbacher and Lillie Duncanson are being promoted to share the executive director role.
“The fact that they picked two people within the organization who had been working here for so long, I think, says that they have a lot of confidence not only in Lillie and I but in the entire team and in the direction that Illinois Public Media has been heading,” Steinbacher said.
Steinbacher and Duncanson said they learned about the change on Oct. 30.
Duncanson will be the first female executive director at IPM.
“In 2004, the men were engineers and the men were the managers. The women were the traffic managers and the marketing people, and I get to be someone that walks to that other side,” Duncanson said.
College of Media Dean Tracy Sulkin declined an interview.
“I look forward to supporting the new leadership team as they work with the staff to chart a path forward, and I believe strongly that there is a bright future ahead for IPM,” Sulkin said by email.
Current Executive Director Maurice “Moss” Bresnahan was interested but unavailable to be interviewed on Tuesday.
How will the change affect IPM’s work?
East Central Illinois’ NPR/PBS station stands on the edge of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus, near the corner of Goodwin and University avenues.
Illinois Public Media operates public radio stations in Urbana and WILL-TV, which also airs in the Springfield and Decatur areas.
Some staff worried the change could mean more layoffs after federal budget cuts, or a loss of editorial independence from the university. Most declined to comment on the record, except the host of IPM’s statewide talk show, The 21st Show.
“I’ve always appreciated Moss’s vision for what Illinois Public Media could be and specifically his support for our work on The 21st Show,” Brian Mackey said.
“I look forward to working with his successors as we continue to pursue the thoughtful, independent journalism public radio listeners demand.”
Kanittha Fay and her husband have been donors to IPM for many years. She said she liked Moss Bresnahan’s leadership style.
“When he talks to you, he does not just say hi. He’s really trying to learn about what you are interested in, your concerns, your connection with IPM and how we can voice our experiences and ideas to help the staff,” Fay said.
Fay said she hopes the new leadership will keep up the nonpartisan, in-depth reporting that she supports at IPM.
“Moving forward, I would like to see adaptability because the world moves so fast. With AI and the internet and social media, we have new ways of receiving news and information,” Fay said.
For their part, Duncanson and Steinbacher said they have not been given any directives from the College of Media.
“The College of Media does not dictate or make any decisions, especially editorially with the newsroom day-to-day, nor would Lillie and I ever want that,” Steinbacher said.
He said they’re also not planning additional staff reductions.
“There are no strings attached to our positions,” Steinbacher said. “Never say never about anything, but as of right now, there are no plans for any layoffs.”
Duncanson and Steinbacher will officially step into the executive director role Sunday, Nov. 16.
Editor’s Note: No member of upper management or any news executive reviewed this story under IPM’s internal reporting guidelines.