WWOZ has announced a reorganization of its programming department. The news comes just one week after the beloved community radio station confirmed a few high-level personnel changes, including a new Chief Operating Officer and a new role for longtime General Manager David Freedman.
The reshuffle will see Music Director Scott Borne promoted to Director of Music. While that may seem like a minor semantic change, the new title is a reflection of the fact that his duties now extend to supervision of music across all platforms, from live recordings and broadcasts to online audio and artist relations. Borne–a Metairie native–will now be the primary supervisor of WWOZ’s volunteer DJs.
“I snuck into Tipitina’s for the first time at 16,” says Borne, the winner of JazzWeek’s 2015 Programmer of the Year (mid-size market) award.
Former Operations Assistant Jorge Fuentes has been promoted to Operations Director. His responsibilties will now include continuity, radio production and facilities management.
A native of El Salvador, Fuentes attended high school in New Orleans and graduated from UNO. He was the first programming director of the city’s first Spanish-language TV station, and he began volunteering at WWOZ in the late 1980s. He has been emploed by the station’s operations department since 2008.
Additionally, WWOZ has confirmed that Chief Engineer Damond Jacob will take up more management duties. A New Orleans native, Jacob has worked at WWOZ since he became the station’s production director in 1993.
With these changes, the trio of Borne, Fuentes and Jacob are now the radio leadership team. Both Borne and Fuentes will also take part in the training of volunteer show hosts and producers.
“There will likely be some adjustments ahead as we identify areas needing attention. For now, the position of Program Director will remain unfilled as we work out the exact duties of each position,” says Arthur Cohen, WWOZ’s newly appointed Chief Operating Officer.
That Program Director position was held by Dwayne Breashears for many years, though he resigned from the station in March of this year.
“In all areas, we intend to fully utilize the deep pool of talent that is already part of WWOZ, while continuing to seek and welcome others from all parts of our community,” Cohen says. “Volunteer Coordinator Maryse Déjean will be working on updating our volunteer management systems and developing ways to optimize and increase communications within ‘OZ.”
“Our goal is to maximize the impact of the tremendous capabilities that WWOZ now has—radio, audio, video, streaming, apps, social media and other digital platforms (including a new website in the near future),” Cohen adds. “The pieces and people are already in place with the talent, skills and understanding to shepherd WWOZ to even greater service to the community and to the music and musicians of New Orleans.“
The reorganization of WWOZ follows months of controversy surrounding the station’s management that saw former employees and volunteers— including former Membership Director Dimitri Apessos–speak out about their issues with the organization’s direction.
