WFAE CEO Joe O’Connor resigned Monday after eight years on the job. In an email to staff, O’Connor said he was grateful for his tenure and called it a privilege to lead the organization, but he is exhausted and needs time to take a long break before deciding what to do next.
Chief Content Officer and Executive Vice President Ju-Don Marshall is now the station’s interim CEO.
WFAE board chair Chris Cicoletti credited O'Connor for helping to lead WFAE’s transformation from primarily a public radio station to “a digital, multiplatform source of excellent local journalism.”
O’Connor’s announcement came on the same day that three people were laid off in WFAE’s business operations, and a few weeks after a member of the station’s content staff was let go for financial reasons. In his email to staff, O’Connor called the station’s financial challenges a temporary revenue setback.