Pittsfield native with station since 2010.
Carrie Saldo
Carrie Saldo, host and producer of WGBY’s popular nightly public affairs program, "Connecting Point," will leave the Western New England’s PBS station on March 14 to take on a new role at Rocky Mountain Public Media, an affiliate in Denver, Colo., WGBY announced March 12.
She has been with the show since it began.
"Connecting Point, my first gig in television, has been a fantastic learning experience. Our team is amazing and I will miss them dearly," Saldo said in an email response.
"I am extremely grateful to everyone at WGBY who has worked to make this show what it is and the community members who so generously gave their time to be on it."
During her time at WGBY, the personable Saldo not only hosted most of the eight-minute "Connecting Point" segments with area people in the news, but co-produced the half-hour program as well.
Carrie Saldo with Theo Chipkin and his master, Robert Chipkin on the "Connecting Point" set.
Saldo, 33, a native of Stamford, Vt., conducted hundreds of in-studio interviews throughout the show’s first three seasons.
Field pieces took her well beyond the station's headquarters in downtown Springfield.
She made a visit to Haiti following the 2010 earthquake, and hiked parts of the Appalachian Trail during the summer of 2012 and then shared that experience with viewers.
Russell J. Peotter, general manager of WGBY, said the station "will miss Carrie greatly."
Lynn Page, the station's deputy general manager, added, "we are sorry to see her go, but wish her much luck in Denver."
“WGBY’s mission is to connect the people in our region with ideas, events and each other to fulfill their aspirations, enrich their lives and improve their communities, Carrie held this belief in all the countless stories that she worked on over the past three years," Page said in the release.
Saldo, who arrived at WGBY in December 2010, will work on air and online in her new job.
Saldo's previously served as Berkshire bureau chief of WAMC Northeast Public Radio and won awards from Rotary International, the Associated Press and the Edward R. Murrow foundation.
Earlier in her career, she worked for the North Adams Transcript and the Berkshire Eagle.
A 1997 graduate of St. Joseph's High in Pittsfield, she holds degrees in English and theater from Manhattanville College in New York and has studied with Rosenblum Television at the Travel Channel Academy in New York.
Her recent interviews have been with Tina D’Agostino, president of Springfield Symphony Hall and City Stage, Scott Foster and Steve Willis, board members of Valley Venture Mentors, and Mike Quincy, Consumer Reports auto content specialist.
Her versatility was perhaps shown when she recently "interviewed" Theo Chipkin, the lovable golden Labrador retriever who "authors" The Republican's column, "Dog Tales," somewhat supervised by owner Robert Chipkin.
Rocky Mountain PBS recently executed a merger with public radio station jazz89KUVO/KVJZ FM as well as I-News, an online journalism site. The three organizations will produce across all platforms with a re-invigorated emphasis on the arts.
Saldo said she has been hired to work on a new collaboration called "Arts District" that will involve her reporting both for television and radio.
The oldest of three children of Diane and David Saldo, of Stamford, she said she plans to drive out to Colorado with her mother, Diane, leaving March 26 for her start date of April 1.
WGBY plans to make a decision about a new host in the coming weeks, according to the release.
Related:
http://www.rmpbs.org/content/index.cfm/fuseaction/showContent/contentID/799/navID/672