Journalist John Hockenberry returns to public radio
Emmy and Peabody Award-winning journalist John Hockenberry will host a new drive-time morning news program beginning in early 2008. The show will be co-produced by WNYC Radio and Public Radio International, in collaboration with multiplatform production with The BBC World Service, New York Times Radio and WGBH Radio Boston.
Hockenberry, who is a wheelchair user, began his journalism career in public radio. He also spent 15 years in network and cable television. At ABC and NBC, he earned four Emmy Awards, three Peabody Awards, an Edward R. Murrow Award and a Casey Medal. Hockenberry is currently a Distinguished Fellow at the MIT Media Lab.
"With the abdication of serious news coverage by network and cable television, the in-depth journalism and context that public radio provides is needed more than ever,” Hockenberry said in a WNYC release. “But public radio needs to meet the demands of current news consumers. There's no replacement for the live and in-real-time delivery of news and analysis, and morning drive is the place to do it. I'm thrilled to be part of the team meeting this challenge."
Although the program won’t officially launch until early 2008, it will make its debut with a series of four Election 2008 specials, kicking off on November 6, 2007 from New York and airing throughout the winter from other cities around the country.
Hockenberry is highly regarded in the disability community for his many reports on disability issues, and he wrote a book about his experiences as a journalist with a disability, Moving Violations, War Zones, Wheelchairs, and Declarations of Independence, in 1996.
For more information about the show, go to:
http://www.wnyc.org/about/media/media_34.html
Beth Haller, Towson University