WCNY names Gelman new president and CEO

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — WCNY, Central New York’s public broadcaster, has a new leader.

The organization’s board of trustees announced it has appointed Mitch Gelman as WCNY’s president and CEO, effective Monday.

Gelman succeeds Robert J. Daino, who served as WCNY’s president and CEO for more than 13 years before stepping down last summer to pursue other business interests.

Gelman brings more than 30 years of experience to WCNY. For the last nearly three years, he served as chief technology officer at the Newseum, a Washington D.C.–based museum created by the Freedom Forum foundation and dedicated to news and the First Amendment. He has also been principal at Teleport Media, a communications and digital-media development firm that provides virtual reality and augmented reality products and consulting, since January 2018, according to Gelman’s LinkedIn profile.

Before the Newseum, Gelman was VP at Gannett Co., a Fortune 500 media company, for almost five years. He oversaw digital product development for more than 150 national, regional, and local newspaper and broadcast television properties including USA Today. He also previously worked as a senior VP and senior executive producer at CNN, where he managed the expansion of the global news group’s digital operations. Earlier in his career, Gelman was a reporter at Newsday, where he won a Pulitzer Prize.

“Mitch has a wealth of experience in the traditional and digital broadcast industries that will help WCNY undergo a digital transformation, while continuing to provide the high-quality programs and services our members, listeners, viewers, and the community count on,” Jeffrey B. Scheer, WCNY chairman of the board, said in a statement provided to BJNN. “Mitch embodies strong leadership qualities which the WCNY Board of Trustees believes will help WCNY continue to build its innovative portfolio of programs and services on the local and national levels.”

Gelman has written books and articles on criminal justice, national and local politics, economics, health care, music, culture and sports, and teaches interactive media at the School of Global Communications and Journalism at Morgan State University in Maryland. WCNY calls him “a pioneer in virtual and augmented reality development.” He recently produced a virtual reality module on the history of the Vietnam War that will be introduced in high schools this spring.

“My goal is to help elevate WCNY’s commitment to the people who live and work in the Syracuse and Central New York area,” Gelman said in a statement. “WCNY has developed a nationally-recognized entrepreneurial spirit, creativity, and a commitment to this community as a media and education asset. This will allow our team to focus on delivering even more innovation, creative content, educational programs, and transformative experiences to open minds and spark change.”

Gelman earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Berkeley, studied economic history at the London School of Economics and executive finance at Harvard Business School, and attended the National University of Singapore on a Rotary Foundation Fellowship.

Prior leader

Daino announced in early July that he was stepping down as WCNY’s leader. The public broadcaster’s board appointed Caroline Basso, who had been its VP of development and engagement, to serve as interim president and CEO, starting Aug. 1. In a mid-July interview with BJNN, Basso expressed confidence that she was the right person to lead WCNY, not just on an interim basis, but also more permanently.

However, Basso reportedly left WCNY in August and Daino returned to help while the organization conducted a search for a new, permanent leader.

Basso’s LinkedIn profile lists her as principal owner and production advisor of a company called Eight20 Studios in the greater New York City area. The profile also says she left WCNY in August.

WCNY made numerous changes under Daino’s leadership, including moving from Salina to a green-certified building on the near west side of Syracuse, going “pledge free” on television and radio, and launching statewide “The Capitol Pressroom” daily radio show that focuses on state issues.

 WCNY was founded in 1965 as The Educational Television Council of Central New York. Today, it says it is a community owned media company that produces content across multiple platforms, including television and radio programs, web and targeted email content, the WCNY CONNECT member magazine, and social media.

Contact Rombel at arombel@cnybj.com

Photo credit: Eric Hayden, WCNY