Current:Home > Contact-usWest Virginia Public Broadcasting chief steps down in latest shakeup at news outlet-LoTradeCoin
West Virginia Public Broadcasting chief steps down in latest shakeup at news outlet
View Date:2024-12-24 02:35:08
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — The executive director of West Virginia Public Broadcasting has stepped down after one year on the job, the latest sign of upheaval at a news outlet recently shaken by a reporter’s allegation that she was fired for writing an unfavorable story about a division of the state health department.
Butch Antolini, former communications director for Gov. Jim Justice and the state Department of Agriculture, didn’t give a reason for his resignation in a brief letter submitted to the board chairman of the West Virginia Educational Broadcasting Authority on Friday. The EBA, which comprises 11 voting members, including Justice and seven Justice appointees, accepted the resignation at a meeting Monday.
The board then appointed Eddie Isom, Public Broadcasting’s chief operating officer and director of programming, as interim director, according to a recording of the meeting aired on YouTube.
Antolini joined Public Broadcasting in October 2021 as the interim chief. He was appointed to the job permanently in May 2022, at a time when Justice was critical of the way all news media covered his failed attempt a year earlier to lower income taxes and increase sales taxes. Justice led a shake-up of the department, replacing five of the EBA’s eight appointed positions. The authority fired then-Executive Director Chuck Roberts and appointed Antolini to replace him.
In December 2022, part-time reporter Amelia Ferrell Knisely lost her job after she wrote detailed stories about the alleged abuse of people with disabilities within the state agency that runs West Virginia’s foster care and psychiatric facilities. The department cares for some of the most vulnerable residents in one of the poorest U.S. states. Legislative leaders described Knisely’s departure as “disturbing.”
Knisely said she was told to stop reporting on the Department of Health and Human Resources after leaders of the embattled agency “threatened to discredit” the publicly funded television and radio network. She later learned her position was being eliminated.
Knisely said her news director told her the order came from Antolini, who declined to comment at the time. Other officials denied any effort to influence coverage. West Virginia Educational Broadcasting Authority chairman William H. File III said Antolini told the board “he was not coerced or pressured by anyone.”
Knisely’s departure came during a tumultuous time for West Virginia news media. Days before she left WVPB, three reporters for the Pulitzer Prize-winning Charleston Gazette-Mail said they were fired after publicly criticizing an editorial decision by their company president, Doug Skaff, a Democrat in the state House of Delegates. Skaff approved and led a favorable video interview with Don Blankenship, a coal company executive convicted of safety violations connected to one of the worst coal mining disasters in recent U.S. history.
The departures left a diminished Capitol press corps to cover the three-month legislative session that started in January. Two other Public Broadcasting journalists have since left.
Antolini’s job prior to his appointment as executive director of the public broadcasting authority was as Justice’s communications director, and before that, communications chief for the state Department of Agriculture. Before that, he was general manager and executive editor of the Beckley Register-Herald.
veryGood! (52489)
Related
- Army veteran reunites with his K9 companion, who served with him in Afghanistan
- Can Mississippi permanently strip felons of voting rights? 19 federal judges will hear the case
- Take a look at your 401(k). The S&P 500 and Dow just hit record highs.
- College sophomore Nick Dunlap wins PGA Tour event — but isn't allowed to collect the $1.5 million prize
- Satire publication The Onion buys Alex Jones’ Infowars at auction with help from Sandy Hook families
- Oilers sign Corey Perry less than two months after Blackhawks terminated his contract
- Sarah Ferguson treated for skin cancer: What to know about melanoma, sunscreen
- Trinidad government inquiry into divers’ deaths suggests manslaughter charges against company
- Bull doge! Dogecoin soars as Trump announces a government efficiency group nicknamed DOGE
- Michigan school shooter’s mother to stand trial for manslaughter in 4 student deaths
Ranking
- Trump breaks GOP losing streak in nation’s largest majority-Arab city with a pivotal final week
- Take a look at your 401(k). The S&P 500 and Dow just hit record highs.
- Families sue Kentucky gun shop that sold AR-15 used in 2023 bank shooting that killed 5
- The Wilderness Has Chosen These Yellowjackets Gifts for Every Fan
- Knicks Player Ogugua Anunoby Nearly Crashes Into Anne Hathaway and Her Son During NBA Game
- Store clerk fatally shot in 'tragic' altercation over stolen chips; two people arrested
- Lionel Messi plays into second half, but Inter Miami loses 1-0 to FC Dallas in preseason
- Almost 80 years after the Holocaust, 245,000 Jewish survivors are still alive
Recommendation
-
‘Maybe Happy Ending’ review: Darren Criss shines in one of the best musicals in years
-
As his son faces a graft probe, a Malaysian ex-PM says the government wants to prosecute its rivals
-
This magnet heart nail hack is perfect for Valentine's Day – if you can pull it off
-
Trinidad government inquiry into divers’ deaths suggests manslaughter charges against company
-
Today's Craig Melvin Replacing Hoda Kotb: Everything to Know About the Beloved Anchor
-
Alabama calls nitrogen execution method ‘painless’ and ‘humane,’ but critics raise doubts
-
Brooks and Dunn concerts: REBOOT Tour schedule released with 20 dates in US, Canada
-
College sophomore Nick Dunlap wins PGA Tour event — but isn't allowed to collect the $1.5 million prize