Longtime morning host Melissa Marconi-Wentzel is passing the host torch (or microphone?) to Raven Radio’s 2016 summer intern, Katherine Rose. Rose completed her training under Marconi-Wentzel in May and had her first solo day on air on June 5th, 2017. (Photos courtesy of Rose and Marconi-Wentzel).
Summer Solstice is tomorrow. If you’re an early riser, you may have noticed not only is there more light in the morning, but a new voice on the radio.
Katherine Rose, our 2016 summer intern, has taken over for Melissa Marconi-Wentzel as Raven Radio’s morning host. As the ravens chatter and Sitkans resist the snooze button, we’re proud to have her as the voice of local news, weather, and community events.
Two weeks on the job, Rose said she’s particularly excited about the Morning Interview. “It’s a different kind of challenge for me. I’m enjoying meeting someone new every morning and the somewhat unpredictable nature of the live interview is a little thrilling.” To book a Morning Interview with Rose, e-mail news@kcaw.org.
Rose is quite the singer too, as demonstrated in our GoFundMe video.
Born in Oklahoma, Rose taught secondary science in rural Alabama and earned her Masters in Journalism from the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism this spring. She is currently producing a podcast about unrequited love, to debut this winter. For more on Rose, listen to our Morning Interview from last summer and some of her phenomenal radio work here.
We’ll feature our 2017 summer intern – video journalist Cameron Clark – on the Morning Interview tomorrow. He just completed his first year at UC Berkeley, which offers a journalism internship at Raven Radio every summer.
Longtime host Melissa Marconi-Wentzel remains in Sitka, but has stepped away from hosting to focus on family and pursuits in continuing education. Marconi-Wentzel has been sharing her talents with Raven Radio for over a decade, as a former staff reporter and program director. She permanently took the host chair in 2013 and took a brief break in 2015 to work in the non-profit sector.
Marconi-Wentzel said she loves radio as an instrument for building community. On hosting Morning Edition, she said, “I really came to understand that it’s all about the ties you create through the airwaves.” (Rachel Waldholz/KCAW photo)
“I love hosting Morning Edition. I feel like it’s a calling. My favorite aspect of hosting is visualizing all the people out there listening, and feeling like I’m accompanying them on the start to their day. I will always be a part of the Raven Radio community,” Marconi-Wentzel said.
To Melissa – all of us at Raven Radio will miss your early morning poise, your attention to detail, your warmth in conversation, and all-round talents on our airwaves. Thank you, for everything.
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