RIPR general manager leaving station

JOE O'CONNOR, general manager of Rhode Island Public Radio, will leave his position at the end of the month.
JOE O'CONNOR, general manager of Rhode Island Public Radio, will leave his position at the end of the month.

PROVIDENCE – Joe O’Connor, general manager of Rhode Island Public Radio, will leave his position at the end of the month to become general manager of WFAE-FM 90.7 and president of the University Radio Foundation in Charlotte, N.C.
O’Connor has led RIPR since 2006. At that time, the two AM stations that served as Rhode Island’s NPR news station were owned by Boston University and operated by WBUR.

O’Connor was part of the effort to break away from Boston University in 2008, working with the public radio station’s board to become Rhode Island’s only locally-based NPR affiliate.
According to information from the radio station, he has overseen the growth of news coverage and original programming, as well as the expansion to three FM stations, an internet stream, smartphone app and updated website.

In 2006, the radio station did not have a reporter, and its budget was $800,000. Today, it has four beat reporters, a general reporter and a political analyst, as well as three on-air hosts led by a news director, and a budget of $2.6 million. Altogether, RIPR has 22 employees.

Said Ted Long, RIPR board chairman, “We appreciate that Joe is leaving us with an excellent senior management team and very robust organization, poised to execute on its strategic plan and continue growth designed to better serve our listeners and community.”

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RIPR has begun a national search for a new general manager. Marie Langlois and Adam Hamblett will serve as co-chairs of the search committee.
Susan Greenhalgh, chief operating officer for RIPR, will serve as interim general manager upon O’Connor’s departure.

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