Romenesko Misc.
Audie Cornish, a reporter and substitute host for NPR since 2006, will replace Liane Hansen, who is retiring after hosting “Weekend Edition Sunday” for more than 20 years. (Her final show airs May 29.) Before coming to NPR, Cornish was a political reporter for WBUR, the public radio station in Boston.
Press release
NPR NEWS NAMES AUDIE CORNISH HOST OF “WEEKEND EDITION SUNDAY”
A NEW VOICE FOR SUNDAY MORNINGS BEGINNING FALL 2011
May 12, 2011; Washington, D.C. – NPR News has named Audie Cornish the new host of Weekend Edition Sunday. Cornish, a reporter and substitute host for NPR since 2006, will be the new voice of Sunday mornings for millions of public radio listeners beginning this fall. Liane Hansen, who has been hosting Weekend Edition for more than 20 years, announced her retirement last year and will broadcast her final show on Sunday, May 29.
Ellen McDonnell, Executive Director of News Programming for NPR, said: “Audie is an outstanding journalist and a wonderful storyteller. Audiences will connect with her warmth, curiosity and humor. We’re thrilled she is taking on this new role.”
“I’m honored and excited to follow in Liane Hansen’s footsteps,” Cornish said. “She has made Weekend Edition essential in the lives of millions of NPR listeners.”
Cornish has solid experience as both a news and feature reporter. She is a familiar voice in public radio, where she has been reporting for ten years, first for Boston member station WBUR and then NPR. She’s been covering Capitol Hill since 2009; before that, she was on the campaign trail reporting on the 2008 Presidential election. She also spent three years covering the south for NPR, from a base in Nashville. Whether sharing the stories of Hurricane Katrina survivors, engaging with voters on the campaign trail or reporting on the complex details of this year’s Congressional budget debate, Cornish has demonstrated her tremendous talent. In recent years she has been a frequent guest host for Weekend Edition Sunday, All Things Considered and Tell Me More.
Before coming to NPR, Cornish was a political reporter for WBUR covering many of the region’s major news stories, including the legalization of same sex marriage, the sex abuse scandal in the Catholic Church and the 2004 Democratic National Convention. Her 2005 report on the achievement gap in Boston public schools earned her first prize in the National Awards for Education Writing. She got her start as a general assignment reporter for the Associated Press in Boston.
Cornish is a member of the National Association of Black Journalists and graduated from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. She lives in Takoma Park, Maryland, with her husband, Boston Globe reporter Theo Emery.
Cornish will continue to report for NPR through the summer and will be heard on Weekend Edition leading up to full-time hosting this fall.
