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Sep 6, 2011

Simon Marks to depart from NewsHour

MacNeil/Lehrer Productions President Simon Marks is leaving his post at the end of this month, he told Current in an email today (Sept. 6). "I've realized over the past year that I greatly miss my daily dose of newsroom adrenalin," he said. Marks is returning to his own company, Feature Story News, in both on-air and production roles. He has spent several weeks devising a management structure for the transition, and his predecessor Les Crystal will expand his ongoing advisory and consultative work during that time.

Marks was associate executive producer for PBS NewsHour before his promotion last July. He was instrumental in the program's shift to a platform-neutral, cohesive newsroom blending both on-air and online newsgathering operations (Current, Jan. 11, 2010). (Image: PBS/Jake Landis)

Cornish describes a new vibe for NPR's 'Weekend Edition Sunday'

NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday was originally conceived as the Sunday newspaper, but new host Audie Cornish wants it to be more like Sunday brunch, she tells Ad Week. "The kind of brunch I go to usually involves some alcohol, usually involves people telling stories and talking about what happened the week before, and what’s going to happen, and did you see this movie? I want that kind of energy." Cornish also describes her approach for combating NPR's stereotype for wide-eyed earnestness: "One of the things to think about is, if you find yourself saying 'This is something our audience would like,' you should just back away from the table, because you’re doing something that you think NPR sounds like." After being appointed to succeed longtime host Liane Hansen in May, Cornish's first broadcast at the helm aired Sept. 4.