PENSACOLA, Fla., Aug. 6, 2019 ― Florida Public Media (FPM), the state’s association of public broadcasters, elected WSRE General Manager Bob Culkeen as its new vice-chair during the group’s annual board meeting in July.
FPM is the organization of 24 public television and radio stations that broadcast programming by PBS and NPR and produce a wide range of news, public affairs and music programs. Television members provide the main distribution of The Florida Channel, and radio members serve as the backbone of the Florida Public Radio Emergency Network (FPREN).
FPM is the state’s leader in educational programming and emergency communications with collaborative projects like FPREN providing statewide public safety and emergency messaging.
Located on the University of Florida campus, FPREN has been widely recognized in the state and on the national level for its leadership in public safety communications, winning the Community Lifeline Award from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting in March and the Public Information Award at the 32nd Annual Governor’s Hurricane Conference Awards in 2018.
Culkeen also serves as executive director of the WSRE-TV Foundation and has been at the station, licensed to the Pensacola State College District Board of Trustees, since December 2016. He has worked in the public media and education fields since 1979, including other positions in Florida at WUFT in Gainesville and WJCT in Jacksonville. Before WSRE, he served as interim chief operating officer for Illinois Public Media at WILL-TV/FM/AM.
The FPM board also elected the following new officers: WUFT-FM/TV (Gainesville/Ocala) Executive Director Randy Wright, chair; WFSU-FM/TV (Tallahassee) General Manager David Mullins, treasurer; WGCU-FM/TV (Ft. Myers/Naples) Associate General Manager – Content Amy Shumaker, secretary; WUCF-TV (Orlando) Executive Director & Assistant Vice President Phil Hoffman, at-large; and South Florida PBS (Miami) President & CEO Dolores Sukhdeo, immediate past chair.
Media Contact:
Mary Riker
mriker@wsre.org