WHYY names new VP for news and civic engagement

WHYY named Sarah Glover, a former staff photographer for The Inquirer and Daily News and currently managing editor of Minnesota Public Radio’s MPR News, as its new vice president for news and civic engagement, Philadelphia’s biggest public radio and TV outlet said on its website Wednesday.

Glover, who will oversee all digital radio and TV newsgathering, is scheduled to start July 25, replacing Sandra Clark who left WHYY in February to become chief executive of StoryCorps, a Brooklyn nonprofit that shares the stories of ordinary Americans.

“I’m thrilled and excited to be coming back to Greater Philadelphia and to serve the city. I really believe that the role of a journalist is needed now more than ever, and we serve the public every day in the work that we do,” Glover said in an interview, describing the region as a place where she cut her teeth as a journalist.

In a statement to staff, WHYY president and CEO Bill Marrazzo described Glover, who has been in her current position at Minnesota public radio for 15 months, as a “nationally recognized leader in news and social media strategy with 24 years of progressive experience as a news executive,” according to the WHYY article.

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“Sarah Glover’s experience spans every aspect of contemporary news coverage, including broadcast and digital reporting, multimedia content and photojournalism,” Marrazzo said in the article. “She also pairs this experience with an in-depth understanding of the importance of marketing and revenue generation that is necessary for success in today’s media marketplace.”

Glover’s experience in Philadelphia, in addition to nearly a decade at The Inquirer and more than three years at the Daily News, includes two years as social media editor at NBC10 Philadelphia. Her LinkedIn profile indicated that she worked for more than six years in New York as manager of social media strategy at NBC Owned Television Stations, a collection of local stations.

As an example of the type of journalism Glover wants to pursue in Philadelphia, she cited a project at Minnesota Public Radio called North Star Journey.

“It’s championing diverse communities, and kind of moving the narrative from just trauma-telling and the hard news to the spaces where communities really need to be served, and that’s human stories, human-interest stories,” she said. “I’m looking forward to taking that kind of tack here in Philadelphia and more, and working with the staff, what’s the next-level WHYY look like. We’ll work on that together.”

A media leader, Glover served two terms, from 2015 through 2019, as president of the National Association of Black Journalists.

Like many news organizations, including The Inquirer, WHYY has experienced significant turnover of its journalists during the pandemic. The Inquirer reported in February that from the beginning of 2021, at least 25 newsroom WHYY staffers — about half — had left or given notice.