Tucson, Arizona - Oct., 18, 2013 – Arizona Public Media is pleased to announce the hiring of two new senior management staff. John Booth joins the organization as Executive Producer, and Michael Chihak has been promoted to News Director.
Booth’s responsibilities as Executive Producer will be to lead and manage all aspects of planning, production, and presentation of original programming for AZPM's radio and television, as well as online and social network content.
As News Director, Chihak will be responsible for news operations and reporting on AZPM’s television, radio, online, and social media platforms. Formerly host of AZPM’s weekly public affairs program Arizona Week, and Director of Online News, Chihak will continue as interim host of Arizona Week until a full time host has been selected.
About John Booth:
John Booth, a Tucson native, has been working in media for over thirty years. After graduating from the University of Arizona with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Radio & Television in December 1983, Booth spent the next five and half years at KUAT, now Arizona Public Media, as a production technician and Videographer/Editor.
In 1989 he moved his family to Portland, Oregon where, over a seventeen year span at Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB), he shot and edited for such national PBS programs as The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour, Frontline, and Nova; produced and wrote programs including Sinking The Lusitania, Occupied Japan, and episodes of The Great Lodges Of The National Parks and Great American Railway Journeys; and served as a Production Executive managing personnel and finance activities for OPB’s national PBS projects such as History Detectives, West Point, Kingdom Of David, The Aleutians, and reports for The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer. From 2005 to 2009 Booth was Executive Producer and Director of Production at Eight, Arizona PBS/Phoenix. His credits include the history series Arizona Stories, Arizona Memories of the Seventies, Under Arizona, and Arizona Lodges. Booth’s work has earned him multiple awards including Tellys, CINEs, a Chicago International Film Silver Hugo Award, several regional Emmys, and an NHK Japan Prize “Presidents” and “Abe” Prize. Most recently, Booth served as Deputy Director of Content at KCTS 9 in Seattle, Washington where he oversaw Television Production, Interactive and Community Engagement. An opportunity to join the creative staff of Arizona Public Media as Executive Producer lured him back to desert.
About Michael Chihak:
Chihak has had a distinguished career in journalism. He is the former editor and publisher of the Tucson Citizen, after which he served as an independent media relations consultant.
Before his leadership post at the Tucson Citizen, Michael held editorial positions at The Californian in Salinas, CA (1992-2000), USA Today (1984-1992), beginning his career at the Tucson Citizen in 1970. Chihak is a graduate of the University of Arizona where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism and is a 7th generation Tucsonan. He and his family have strong ties to this community. He has more than 40 years of experience in daily news coverage and journalism, including more than two decades in Tucson and Southern Arizona, where he has been engaged in the civic, political and community life. Chihak was the driving force was behind the launch of the Citizen’s online operation and AZPM’s online news platform, news.AZPM.org.
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