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James Muhammad to step down as CEO, President of Lakeshore Public Media

Lakeshore Public Media

On July 27, 2022, James A. Muhammad announced that he will be stepping down as the President and CEO of Lakeshore Public Media on September 7 to assume the position of President of the University of Southern California (USC) Radio Group. Lakeshore’s Board Chair Larry Brechner congratulated Muhammad on the outstanding opportunity ahead of him, and thanked him for his years of service with the organization. He also made clear his confidence in Lakeshore to continue to advance and evolve following Muhammad’s announcement.

“Lakeshore Public Media has made great strides across both Lakeshore Public Radio and Lakeshore PBS in recent years under James’ leadership,” Brechner said. “While he will truly be missed, we have an amazing team that is fully committed to the success of the organization and they will continue to put in the work each and every day to ensure the organization continues moving forward.”

Muhammad has been the President and CEO of Lakeshore Public Media since 2013 and has led its transformation to a nationally recognized, top award-winning operation. Lakeshore Public Media was named the 2022 Nonprofit of the Year by the Crossroads Regional Chamber of Commerce. Under his leadership, Lakeshore has won such top honors as a Public Media Award, Gold Telly Award, two Communicator Awards of Excellence, a Chicago/Midwest Emmy Award, fourteen Silver Telly Awards, five Communicator Awards of Distinction, and the Spectrum Award for community involvement. Muhammad received the 2022 Richard Allen Award from Allen University in Columbia, South Carolina for his work in public media and commitment to inspiring future leaders.

Muhammad initiated Lakeshore’s series of community conversations on race, justice and policing. He expanded the station’s digital efforts bringing its content to new audiences. He began the expansion of the station’s radio signal and secured funding for a new antenna for the television station. He led the reorganization of the station’s entire development efforts. He led the rebranding and public relations efforts of the station. Today Lakeshore Public Media’s work is recognized as being among the best in public media.

“It has been an honor to serve the citizens of Northwest Indiana and Chicagoland. My focus has always been on creating meaningful impact and presenting the stories of Northwest Indiana in an exceptional way,” Muhammad said. “I believe we achieved that.”

The USC Radio Group operates the number one classical music radio station network in the nation known as Classical California. The two flagship stations of the network are KUSC in Los Angeles and KDFC in San Francisco. The network is a service of the University of Southern California.

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