Muller, Cincotta and Jacobs bring a wealth of experience to the PRPD Board of Directors

The Public Radio Program Director’s Association (PRPD) is pleased to announce the appointment of three outstanding new members to the PRPD Board of Directors. According to PRPD President Jody Evans, Kristen Muller of KPCC, Jacqueline Cincotta of WNYC and Fred Jacobs of Jacobs Media are joining the PRPD Board “to build on the work started by Tamar Charney and so many other recent Board members who are deeply committed to the health and vitality of local public radio stations.”

Kristen Muller is the Head of Content Innovation at KPCC in Los Angeles. She is an experienced management leader overseeing content on broadcast and digital platforms, innovation, strategy, projects and processes. Muller was a John S. Knight Journalism Fellow. She is also the winner of a national Emmy and Alfred I. duPont-Columbia Awards.

Jacqueline Cincotta is the Program Director of WNYC FM, AM and the four stations that comprise New Jersey Public Radio. Cincotta started with WNYC’s newly re-launched Listener Services team in 2002. Communicating firsthand with listeners about all aspects of WNYC programming and membership provided her with a deep understanding of listener perspectives and impressions. That lens informs her philosophy and decisions as a programmer and listener advocate.

Fred Jacobs is President of Jacobs Media, a research and consulting firm devoted to guiding media companies in the age of digital disruption. The company has provided guidance to brands throughout North America for 33 years, including commercial radio, public radio, and digital media companies. Prior to founding his own company, Fred taught radio production courses at Michigan State University, before joining Frank N. Magid Associates where he served as Director of Research for the firm’s Radio and Publishing Divisions. He worked for ABC Radio as Director of Research for the company’s Owned and Operated FM Stations, and served as Program Director at then ABC-owned WRIF in Detroit.

These appointments fill seats vacated by Bill Anderson of KCUR, Michael Arnold of WPR and Tamar Charney of NPR. Charney was chair of the board.

Effective immediately, Hawk Mendenhall is the new Chair of the PRPD Board of Directors. Mendenhall is Director of Broadcast and Content at KUT in Austin, TX. This is Hawk’s second time as a PRPD Board member.

The mission of PRPD is to be public media's principal advocate for content on radio and all other platforms. PRPD exists to support the role programmers play in providing the highest level of service to their audience. It leads, trains and provides resources to program directors, content managers and other programming decision makers including station staff and producers.

PRPD accomplishes this mission by: defining and advocating for the principles of quality programming; training programming decision makers in basic and advanced programming skills, and building stronger connections among the various facets of the public media community.