Why I moved to Pittsburgh: DeAnne Hamilton, GM of Essential Public Radio

DeAnne Hamilton is the antithesis of the harried newsroom professional, her graceful demeanor and keen intellect warming a room.  It’s a good thing, too, since the longtime West Coaster has been recruited to lead the transition of much-loved former jazz/news radio station WDUQ into its next phase as WESA 90.5 FM.  The new station is owned by Essential Public Media, a wholly owned subsidiary of WYEP and Public Media Co., and will be operated by its Essential Public Radio out of WYEP’s studios on the South Side.
 
In her role as general manager of the station, Hamilton will oversee the entire operation and work closely with the Director of Content and newsroom staff.  While she is quick to point out that much of the public radio programming known to listeners will remain along with chunks of jazz on evenings and weekends (even more jazz is available on a companion HD channel and streamed online), local news reporting will have an expanded role.  Key to the mix will be “Essential Pittsburgh,” an hour-long live show hosted by Paul Guggenheimer, a radio personality who cut his teeth at WDUQ years ago before a 25-year sojourn that has finally brought him home.  Topics on the new midday show will include arts, culture and the issues of the day and listeners will be encouraged to call in, email or text.
 
It’s the excitement of launching a station from the ground up that appeals most to Hamilton.  “There are a lot of new things about this service we’ll be providing,” she notes, “including getting a new show up and running.  We’ll be out in the community more because we want the community to be part of this operation.”
 
WESA is leveraging its constituency from WDUQ despite the changes, which is not inconsistent with format changes in other markets.  “It takes time for people to find programs they like and to learn about what we have to offer,” says Hamilton.  “We are confident the audiences will grow over time.”  National programming that continues to do well includes stalwarts such as Morning Edition and All Things Considered as well as Fresh Air, Car Talk and Living on Earth.  The locally-produced, enviro-friendly Allegheny Front is also a big draw.  “They actually share our newsroom space with our reporters and we sometimes share content during our local newscasts.  They’re a great resource for us and other content partners like PublicSource.”
 
Hamilton brings plenty of experience to the table.  Working as a producer of news and public affairs programming in her hometown of Portland, Oregon, she met her future husband, Lou D’Aria, and followed him to San Francisco “for love.”  The couple moved to the Bay Area in 1980 with Hamilton a producer at CBS Television affiliate KPIX, a sister station to Pittsburgh’s KDKA.  The AIDS crisis was exploding at that time and San Francisco public health director Dr. Merv Silverman encouraged media outlets to report the story.  Hamilton and her colleagues at KPIX launched a series titled “AIDS Lifeline” which ultimately received a Peabody Award.
 
It was a desire for better schools, among other things, that prompted the couple to head east in 2004.  Hamilton took a position as general manager of WKAR, a joint licensee of Michigan State University, while her husband stepped into teaching.
 
“Michigan State is on 5,000 acres of pastoral farmland in the middle of a very large state,” says Hamilton.  “Finally, our kids could walk to school.”  Even so, the pull of the urban experience was strong and once the kids moved on to college, Hamilton was receptive to having a colleague at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting pass her name to the folks at Essential Public Media.  Her first visit to Pittsburgh in July 2011 was something of an eye-opener.
 
“My first impression was that Pittsburgh is a pretty well-kept secret!” she says with a laugh.  “It’s wonderfully urban, and we had really been missing restaurants and more of an international feel.  As we talked to friends about Pittsburgh, they said things like ‘oh, yeah, Pittsburgh is a great city’ or ‘I used to live there.’  On that first visit in the summer, it seems there was music everywhere.  We heard live music on the South Side and downtown.  There was a vibrancy of life and it felt like people were embracing everything the city had to offer.”
 
Hamilton joined Essential Public Radio in October and is currently living in The Lofts on Centre Avenue while her husband winds down commitments in Michigan.  D’Aria joins his wife on weekends to explore and “drive all over the place” and they count restaurants including Paris 66 and Plum as favorites.  They also go house-hunting, an experience unto itself.  “My husband would be happy in Fox Chapel while I’m looking for something more urban, like Highland Park or Squirrel Hill, Friendship or Regent Square.  Each neighborhood has a unique personality and that’s one of the things that’s wonderful about Pittsburgh.”  Not surprisingly, the only false note so far is around food.  “This is my second city in the Midwest with no Chinatown!  I miss the kind of ethnic food you find on the West Coast.”
 
As she readies herself for this next chapter, Hamilton says there’s no doubt public radio is here to stay.  “The audiences for public radio are growing.  We are vital resources in our local communities and we enjoy great support from donors and members.  We’ll continue to be strong providers of in-depth reporting on issues and concerns important to our communities, and provide arts and cultural programming that isn’t found anywhere else.  Public radio’s online presence will grow as well...people will find our content when and where they want it.”
 
New Girl In Town Elaine Labalme says tenor sax is where it’s at.
 
Photographs copyrighted by Brian Cohen.