(Seattle-Tacoma, WA) KPLU Education reporter Kirsten Kendrick will be the new host of KPLU's "Morning Edition," heard weekdays from 4 to 9 a.m. She'll replace Paige Hansen, who vacates the host's chair on August 31. Kendrick's first day as host of "Morning Edition" will be Tuesday, September 12.
Kendrick has been a reporter and fill-in host at KPLU since February 2005. During her 15-year news radio career, she has worked as a reporter/anchor at KIRO-AM in Seattle, an afternoon news anchor at WIOD-AM in Miami, and a morning news editor at KRLD-AM in Dallas. She is currently serving a second term as president of the Western Washington Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ). Kendrick shared an award for Investigating Reporting with KPLU Education reporter Jennifer Wing in SPJ's recent "2006 Northwest Excellence in Journalism" Competition.
Kendrick also spent two-and-a-half years (from July 2002 to January 2005) serving as deputy communications director for former Governor Gary Locke.
"I am honored and thrilled to be the new host of KPLU's "Morning Edition," Kendrick says. "I feel privileged to be working at this great public radio station and can't wait to start my new role."
Hansen hosted KPLU's "Morning Edition" since July 2005; she began hosting "All Things Considered" on KPLU in February 1999. While part of the KPLU news team, Hansen also filed spot news for NPR in Washington, D.C. and produced local radio features. She's won awards from Public Radio News Directors Incorporated (PRNDI) and SPJ. Following her departure as "Morning Edition" host on KPLU, Hansen will continue to be heard on the air as a substitute music host and will also lend her energies and talents to special projects at the station in the areas of programming and fundraising.
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