WMFE and WMFV, Central Florida’s NPR affiliates, have hired longtime public media journalist Judith Smelser as President and General Manager. Smelser has served as interim President and GM since September 2021.
Smelser has a long history with the station as an award-winning reporter from 2004-2007, and then News Director until 2011, before she was recruited away by Colorado Public Radio in Denver.
“After a nationwide search and interviewing a number of well qualified candidates, we have selected Judith as the person to lead the station on a permanent basis,” said Donna Mackenzie, Chair of WMFE/WMFV’s Board of Trustees. “Judith embodies the qualities and experience we believe will allow the station to reach its full potential, enhancing and building the focus on journalism and service to our community.”
“My ambition was never to lead a station,” said Smelser, “but for me, WMFE is not just any station. My career has taken me all over the country and given me a unique perspective on the challenges and opportunities facing public media and journalism; now I get to put that experience to work for an organization and a community I love and consider my home.”
