American Public Television Promotes Five, Hires New Writer/Editor

BOSTON (Jan. 8, 2013) – Cynthia Fenneman, president and CEO of American Public Television (APT), announced several in-house promotions and the hiring of a new employee, recognizing the additional responsibilities required to meet the demands of public television stations, producers as well as APT’s strategic goals.

“Based on the continual growth of TV content and online needs of public television stations, multicast channels and viewers, the strong talent exhibited among our existing staff has become critical and deserves recognition,” said Fenneman. APT is the leading syndicator of programming to the more than 355 local public television stations across the nation, delivering approximately 300 new titles for broadcast every year.

The following promotions were instituted at APT as of January 1: Alison Schmidt, of Salem, Mass., moved to Senior Program Associate in APT’s Syndication programming team. This move reflects Schmidt’s direct work with studios on APT’s highly successful film package, general program screening and liaison work with prospective producers, suppliers and stations. Schmidt reports to Eric Luskin, vice president of Syndication and Premium Service.

Dawn Anderson, of Winthrop, Mass., now serves as Senior Communications and Online Editor for APT’s Exchange programming service. Anderson has expanded her editorial expertise to include APT’s website and Exchange’s online video presence. She continues to serve as a promotional liason between producers and public television stations and provide programming research for APT's corporate endeavors. Anderson reports to Chris Funkhouser, vice president of Exchange Programming and Multicast Services.

Erin Djerf, of Quincy, Mass., is now the Senior Program Administrator for Exchange where she handles all supplier relations, including the administrative aspects of working with hundreds of producers and stations. Djerf guides the entire administrative process from submission of programs for review through their release for broadcast, including scheduling, contractual and distribution details. Djerf reports to Hilary Finkel Buxton, director, Exchange Programming.

Lauren Mills, of Boston, has been named Content and Acquisitions Manager for Exchange. Mills’ work encompasses editorial review and analysis of Exchange content submissions, recommendations and communications to producers. She prepares scripts and screening clips for multiple program marketing events each year. Mills reports to Chris Funkhouser, vice president of Exchange Programming and Multicast Services.

Robyn Mills, of Boston, has been named Senior Distribution Associate. She coordinates program feed and re-feed requests, invoicing, supplier relationships and the correction of technical issues. Mills assists all stations within the public television system with their APT program requests. Mills reports to Ginny Hamilton, director of Distribution Services.

In praising the recipients of these promotions, Fenneman said, “Our need for staff to be flexible, savvy and provide great customer service is at the heart of APT’s operation, and having such growth from within is a testament to our commitment to public media.”

Fenneman also announced the hiring of Jacquinn Williams, of Boston, to fill APT’s recently vacated position of writer/editor. A freelance writer working on numerous projects in Greater Boston, Williams has served as the marketing communications manager and editor for Banner Publications, Inc., publishers of the Bay State Banner newspaper and the publications Be Healthy and Exhale. While earning her Master of Science degree at Boston University’s College of Communications, Williams was marketing assistant for Discover Roxbury and worked at London-based Bauer Media. Her experience includes Massachusetts-based 360 Public Relations and Adams Media/F+W, where she supported social media campaigns such as JetBlue’s Soar with Reading initiative and provided promotional book tours for a variety of authors. Williams has served as a reporter for a number of magazines and newspapers in addition to her public relations experience.

Williams joined APT on January 7 as editor of its monthly newsletter TunedIn. She will handle corporate communications press efforts while creating promotional materials and social media campaigns for APT’s Syndication programs including the hit series Doc Martin. Williams reports to Jamie Haines, vice president of Communications.

About APT
American Public Television (APT) has been a leading distributor of high-quality, top-rated programming to the nation’s public television stations since 1961. APT also has distributed approximately half of the top 100 highest-rated public television titles for nearly 10 years. Among its 300 new program titles per year, APT programs include prominent documentaries, news and current affairs programs, dramas, how-to programs, children’s series and classic movies. America’s Test Kitchen From Cook’s Illustrated, Rick Steves’ Europe, Doc Martin, Nightly Business Report, Moyers & Company, NHK Newsline, Lidia’s Italy in America, Globe Trekker, Simply Ming, BBC World News and P. Allen Smith’s Garden Home join numerous documentaries and performance programs popular with public television viewers. APT licenses programs internationally through its APT Worldwide service. Now in its eighth year, Create® TV — featuring the best of public television's lifestyle programming — is distributed by APT. APT is also a partner in WORLD™, public television’s premier news, non-fiction and documentary channel. To find out more about APT’s programs and services, visit APTonline.org.