Exclusive: Amy Kiley out at WABE-FM

Two hosting jobs now open
ajc.com

Originally posted Sunday, June 10, 2018 by RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com on his AJC Radio & TV Talk blog

WABE-FM "All Things Considered" and "Marketplace" local host Amy Kiley has left the NPR station after three-plus years there.

UPDATE on August 5, 2018: In an interview after a WABE board meeting in July, CEO Wonya Lucas said she was seeking someone with more experience and more producing capabilities for the afternoon hosting role.

Kiley's bio and her stories linked to her page is no longer on the website. A cached version was available on Google when I checked over the weekend. (That cached version will eventually disappear but archive.org did save the page for posterity.)

WABE released this statement Monday morning, noting a restructuring that will result in no actual change in head count. But four people in total lost their jobs.

WABE has experienced extraordinary growth over the past two years. In order to best position the station for continued growth, WABE is making organizational changes and adding four new, senior-level positions. These positions will add new skill sets and additional experience levels to our organization.

As a result, four current positions have been eliminated. There is no reduction in overall head count. We thank our departing colleagues for their contributions and wish them the very best in their new endeavors.

Other employees eliminated were an IT person, a newscast editor and an arts producer.

According to her bio, Kiley graduated from Northwestern University and worked at WBIO in Indiana, then as a host/reporter at Milwaukee Public Radio and the local voice of “All Things Considered” at WMFE in Orlando.

She also lived in New Zealand and Argentina and received graduate degrees in music and liturgy.

She joined WABE in January, 2015 as a reporter when the station went fully news/talk and took over the afternoon hosting job after Denis O'Hayer moved to mornings following Steve Goss' retirement. (O'Hayer himself is retiring later this month.)

WABE is now advertising openings for both positions here.

"What attracts me to public broadcasting is that we're mission oriented and based on community service," Kiley told The West Georgian newspaper in 2016. "A story that reveals something listeners might not otherwise know about in a way that engages and helps the community is extremely fulfilling for me. It makes me feel like I go to work everyday and do something positive for our community and for our broader world, and those are the types of stories that make me proud to be in this industry."