Aileen LeBlanc
Alieen LeBlanc is one of those people lucky enough to have a career doing something she loves, and 黑洞社区鈥檚 public radio station, KMUW 89.1, is lucky to have her, according to General Manager Mark McCain.
鈥淟eBlanc will raise the bar in local news coverage,鈥� he said.
LeBlanc is a veteran journalist, producer and director whose work in public radio, television and film has earned national recognition. Her work has been featured on NPR, Voice of America, BBC, Monitor Radio, Pacifica and the CBC. Recently, LeBlanc was invited to Wichita to check out an open position at the station. This September, KMUW found its news director, and LeBlanc found herself a home.
She said it was the quality and friendliness of KMUW鈥檚 staff that convinced her to accept the job. LeBlanc was also impressed with Wichita.
鈥淵our downtown is alive,鈥� she said. 鈥淭his looks like a healthy place to me.鈥�
LeBlanc grew up in Detroit, and her path to Wichita took a scenic route through Kentucky, Illinois, North Carolina and Ohio. She went to Eastern Kentucky University and the University of Illinois to study technical theater, mainly as a lighting designer, and shortly after graduation landed a job at a local TV station running cameras for the weekend news.
LeBlanc worked in television in North Carolina for 11 years and worked her way up to station manager. From there she ran her own advertising agency before discovering a new challenge: public radio.
鈥淎 lot of people thought I went backwards, from television to radio,鈥� said LeBlanc, 鈥渂ut I have been in love with public radio since college. I fell in love with it the first time I heard 鈥楢ll Things Considered.鈥� It was one hour of Susan Stamburg and Bob Edwards just talking together.鈥�
Making the transition from television to radio wasn鈥檛 as dramatic a change as it seems.
鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 a big jump because I knew the visual way,鈥� she said. 鈥淭o me, storytelling is storytelling, just the medium is different.鈥�
LeBlanc applied for a radio production position at WHQR, in Wilmington, NC, but was told that she was overqualified and given her own show. She produced a half-hour radio program every week. It started as an arts magazine. LeBlanc said she picked up tricks from studying Stamberg鈥檚 work about how to do visual art on radio. The show鈥檚 focus began to include hard news, and the first of her stories which was picked up by NPR was a hate crimes incident involving Camp Lejeune marines and several members of Wilmington鈥檚 gay community.
Making movies
LeBlanc also has experience as a documentary filmmaker.
While working in public radio in Dayton, Ohio, she stumbled onto a story about a World War II code-breaking machine. She teamed up with the daughter of the machine鈥檚 designer to make a movie about it. 鈥淒ayton Codebreakers鈥� still airs on public television today, and was nominated for three regional Emmys.
Her second film, 鈥淲ho鈥檚 Minding the Planet?,鈥� a film about an environmental company that monitors water resources, also received a regional Emmy nomination. LeBlanc鈥檚 most recent film, 鈥淭ake Us Home,鈥� the story of Ethiopian Jews, is in the festival circuit now and recently won the award for Best Documentary at the Hollywood Black Film Festival.
Her background in television and documentary projects has made LeBlanc an ideal candidate to improve KMUW鈥檚 local news coverage, and her experience with online marketing and video content has contributed to her digital media expertise.
鈥淚鈥檓 really excited about where we are now because radio has become visual,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e shooting video when we go to do interviews, and that鈥檚 something I can add to the process here. There are all these different ways to tell the story, and now we can offer a little bit more.鈥�
As for her plans as KMUW鈥檚 news director, LeBlanc said she is looking to expand the station鈥檚 ability to do more video editing, and she鈥檚 looking forward to working with the resources at Wichita State鈥檚 Elliott School of Communication.
鈥淢y goal is to help make KMUW into the area鈥檚 most trusted news source,鈥� LeBlanc said. 鈥淭hat doesn鈥檛 mean covering every piece of news. What we often do are the big, deep stories that take the time and the energy other news outlets don鈥檛 have. We do detail. That鈥檚 what public radio does best; we get to all the layers and present the news in a balanced way so that listeners make up their own minds about what they feel about the issues.鈥�
Another reason LeBlanc took the job in Wichita over other offers was that she didn鈥檛 want to be just a manager 鈥� she wanted to be out in the community, asking questions and finding out what makes people tick.
One story she鈥檚 interested in exploring is the extent of volunteerism in Wichita.
鈥淚鈥檓 wondering if it鈥檚 something that鈥檚 in the water,鈥� said LeBlanc. 鈥淭here鈥檚 some sort of spirit of giving back here that is very attractive. I like it. I鈥檒l be happy here.鈥�