Jim Braude has been named the new executive editor and host of WGBH News’ landmark local television news and analysis program Greater Boston. Braude will continue to co-host Boston Public Radio, 89.7 WGBH’s popular midday talk show. He will step into the host’s chair on March 2, 2015.
Braude, who has built a reputation as one of Boston’s most thoughtful interviewers on both radio and television, succeeds Emily Rooney, who hosted the program for 18 years. Since its debut nearly two decades ago, Greater Boston (Monday-Thursday, 7pm on WGBH 2) has been a must-stop for the region’s top policy makers, business leaders and cultural icons. Its substantive reporting, news analysis and topical commentary offer greater depth and perspective than any other local news broadcast. Rooney continues to host the weekly Beat the Press program (Fridays, 7pm on WGBH 2) and will be a Special Correspondent for WGBH News, reporting on a number of stories, including the Tsarnaev trial.
“We are very pleased that Jim will expand his role with WGBH as the next host for Greater Boston,” said WGBH COO Ben Godley. “When Emily made the decision to scale back her hosting duties, we started a comprehensive, national search for a new host who could equal her stature and represent the public trust that New Englanders place in WGBH. Ultimately, that search ended right in our own newsroom at Jim’s desk because it was clear that talent was already here.”
Braude joined the WGBH News team in February 2013 when he and Margery Eagan started hosting Boston Public Radio, a show they have grown into Boston’s top-rated midday public radio program. He is an Emmy-award winning journalist with more than 20 years of television experience. Braude started his career as a legal services lawyer in the South Bronx. He is the current host of Broadside: The News with Jim Braude weeknights on NECN and writes a regular column for Boston Globe Magazine. During his time with NECN, Braude has interviewed candidates for president, every high-ranking Massachusetts public official and cultural figures from Jane Fonda to Salman Rushdie and moderated more debates than any other anchor on Boston television.
“For more than 20 years on radio and television, Jim Braude has provided people across New England with access to the public officials, business and cultural leaders, community advocates and daily newsmakers who influence the direction of the entire region,” said Phil Redo, general manager for WGBH radio and local news. “Jim is one of the very few people who knows Boston, its stories and its people as well as Emily Rooney, making him the natural choice to continue the thoughtful, in-depth program she started nearly two decades ago.”
Braude joins a Greater Boston team that has overseen tremendous growth in recent years, including a 100 percent increase in local household ratings between the end of 2013 and end of 2014. Last year, Greater Boston introduced a new series of FOCUS reports, a comprehensive, multi-day examination of issues and topics of interest to local communities. Greater Boston is a part of WGBH News’ collaborative, multi-platform news team.
Braude will leave his position as the host of Broadside: The News with Jim Braude at NECN and step into the host's chair at Greater Boston on March 2, 2015. In addition to hosting the television show, Braude will continue to co-host WGBH's mid-day talk show Boston Public Radio alongside Margery Eagan.
Jim wrote the following note to the WGBH community:
Assuming you've been able to focus on something other than DeflateGate, you may have heard I've added another WGBH News assignment to my workday.
Earlier this week, Phil Redo announced that I had been selected to replace Emily Rooney on Greater Boston, this town’s signature news broadcast.
Doing Boston Public radio at WGBH with Margery Eagan was one dream come true. Assuming the leadership of Greater Boston makes it dream number two.
The irony, of course, is that one of the reasons Margery and I were so excited to come to WGBH was for the chance to work with Emily. The good news for us — and WGBH audiences — is Emily will continue to host Beat the Press on Fridays and appear as our guest on Boston Public Radio the same day.
When I moved to Boston almost 30 years ago, WGBH introduced me to this wonderful place, a network of communities and neighborhoods that together comprise a unique metropolis.
Now it’s my turn to return the favor. Today’s Boston is a dynamic mix of the new and the old. Working class immigrants and high-tech workers, denizens of traditional neighborhoods and the offspring of the area’s nest of universities blend — or not — in ways that make Boston exciting, if not special.
Making sense of this is the mission of our newsroom.
This is the place to recognize the support and loyalty of our long-time viewers. You are more than an audience; you are a community — our community.
I don’t mind confessing that I’m more than a bit daunted by the prospect of maintaining the high standards Emily has set.
I hope you think WGBH made the right choice. I will work hard not to disappoint.
— Jim
Jim Braude Joins WGBH as Greater Boston Host
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