NEWS

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CHAPEL HILL -- Veteran public radio journalist Melinda Penkava has been named the host of the news/talk program "The State of Things" on WUNC Public Radio. The program, broadcast Monday-Thursday at noon and 8 p.m., weaves together lively and insightful conversations that explore the North Carolina experience, with a combination of interviews and segments featuring calls from listeners.

Penkava has been a guest host of "The State of Things" since February. She was selected for the permanent role after listeners responded positively to her deft handling of interviews and call-in segments about North Carolina issues. Penkava’s new post marks her return to WUNC, where she worked as a reporter from 1991-1993. For the past decade, she served as a newscaster and talk show host at National Public Radio, including regular appearances on NPR’s national call-in program "Talk of the Nation."

"We are thrilled to attract someone of Melinda’s talents and credentials to WUNC," said Executive producer for talk programming Fred Wasser. "She will add immeasurably to the team we have assembled so that we are realizing on a daily basis our mission of providing the very best in-depth, quality North Carolina news coverage."

Penkava said she is pleased to return to WUNC and to contribute to the station’s success as a radio news leader.

"I am happy to be back home at WUNC Public Radio," she said. "’The State of Things’ provides a much-needed forum for discussing issues important to North Carolinians. We intend to take this show to new heights."

Penkava will anchor the program from WUNC’s studios in Chapel Hill, but occasionally will broadcast the show from other locations in North Carolina.

Penkava has been alternating guest host duties on "The State of Things" with fellow NPR veteran Frank Stasio. Stasio will continue to serve as a substitute host for the program.

Penkava, a native of New Haven, Conn., moved to the Triangle in 1984 to work at WCHL Radio. She later worked for radio stations WDNC, WRAL-FM, and WPTF prior to joining WUNC. Her resume includes a year-and-a-half living on a 28-foot sailboat that traveled between Cuba and Nova Scotia.

WUNC is the public radio service licensed to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. It is heard at 91.5 FM in the Triangle and Triad regions, at 90.9 FM in Rocky Mount/Wilson, and at 90.9 and 90.5 FM along the Outer Banks. In September 2003, WUNC also will be heard at 88.9 FM in northeastern North Carolina. WUNC serves more than 280,000 listeners each week with its news and information format.

WUNC’s production of "The State of Things" is made possible, in part, by a generous grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

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Photo url: http://www.unc.edu/news/pics/staff/penkava_melinda.jpg

WUNC contact: Fred Wasser, (919) 966-5454
News Services contact: Mike McFarland, (919) 962-8593