Regional News

'Time To Hand It Off' Says Transitioning NEPM President

Connecticut Public Radio | By Frankie Graziano

Published May 13, 2021 at 7:33 PM EDT

Martin Miller will soon step down as president New England Public Media, 26 years after he took over radio station WFCR in Western Massachusetts.

Martin Miller is stepping down from his post as president of New England Public Media.

Miller started at UMass-licensed WFCR in 1995 as the station’s general manager. In the next 26 years, his operation grew into a Western Mass public media network.

Now, he’s stepping down.

“I’ve accomplished pretty much all the goals that I set out for New England Public Media and the organizations I managed before New England Public Media here -- WFCR, NEPR -- and I think it’s time to hand it off to someone,” Miller said.

Miller oversaw the 2019 deal that combined the operations of New England Public Radio and WGBY -- another Western Mass public media entity, owned by Boston giant GBH. They came together as New England Public Media.

NEPM bylaws approved shortly afterward stipulated that the hiring or firing of any president of the corporation must be approved by GBH.

But in fact Jon Abbott, the CEO of GBH, said he won’t have final say on the new president and that the selection will actually come from the NEPM board of directors.

“They’ll appoint a search committee,” Abbott said. “I imagine there may be a person from WGBH on that search committee to help provide any insight -- probably more to the context of our industry, help the search firm identify great candidates – but, hopefully be a resource to the board and to the search committee in finding a great pool of candidates.”

Abbott hopes the board picks a person who can bond members of a community through public media.

Meanwhile, Miller isn’t saying he’s retiring. He'll stay with NEPM to work on a campaign called New Voices.

“I’m looking at it as more of a transition from president of NEPM to senior counsel for fundraising and specifically for this campaign,” Miller said.

New Voices is focused on expanding journalism, community engagement, and educational programming.

NOTE: Connecticut Public reported and edited this story independently at the request of NEPM. No NEPM staff or leadership had oversight or reviewed the story before publication.