Your Public Radio Promotes Blakley & Laporte
• Your Public Radio has elevated Jonathan Blakley to Chief Content Officer for NPR affiliate WYPR & Triple A WTMD 89.7/Towson-Baltimore and announced the promotion of Tyler Laporte to APD of WTMD.
With more than 30 years of experience, Blakley’s long and successful career has included various roles in digital journalism and commercial and public radio. Prior to his appointment as interim Chief Content Officer at WYPR & WTMD in January, Blakley (left) served as Interim Director of Content at WAMU/Washington, DC. From 2018 to 2021, he was Executive Program Director of KQED/San Francisco. Before that, he was PD at Minnesota Public Radio News. Blakely also served in various editing and producing roles during a 13-year career with NPR in Washington, DC, and he’s also worked for The Associated Press, ABC Radio News and WWJ/Detroit.
“The wealth of knowledge and experience Jonathan brings to us is tremendously exciting and very much what we were hoping for at the start of this search,” said Tom Livingston, interim CEO for Your Public Radio. “Jonathan is a recognized leader in public media in both programming and journalism. His four previous workplaces — WAMU, KQED, Minnesota Public Radio and NPR — where he performed at the respective level of and focused on the work, he will be involved in with WYPR and WTMD, speaks for itself.”
Laporte (right) most recently served as WTMD Programming Assistant and midday host, a shift he will maintain. Laporte joined WTMD in 2007 after a college internship, moving up from weekends to evenings to afternoons, then Music Director. He left the station in 2013, stopping at Jessica Weber’s co-sign, an artist development agency. He also became a permanent annual voice on Radio Bonnaroo from 2013 through the pandemic.
“Tyler brought with him two decades worth of passion for both music and Baltimore when he returned to the TMD airwaves in 2022,” said WTMD PD Carrie Evans. “His continued excitement for making new music discoveries, his enthusiasm for live shows and his rich history within the industry will no doubt help lead TMD’s programming team to new heights.” Laporte will take music calls on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 2-4pm ET at 410-307-1682.
