Broadcasting Board of Governors Reshuffles Management Team

The board in charge of U.S. broadcasting overseas on Wednesday announced new job responsibilities for one of its top officials, the latest management restructuring at the agency.

Broadcasting Board of Governors Chairman Jeffrey Shell said Jeff Trimble, who has been deputy director at BBG’s International Broadcasting Bureau, will transition to a new role to help the U.S. compete for audiences internationally and pursue reforms in the agency’s multiple media outlets. Trimble will work with the agency’s global strategy team “to advance collaboration and coordination across the BBG” while playing a “leadership role on the content side of the operation.”

Trimble, a veteran journalist, told Government Executive he is pleased to take on more management duties to “enhance the editorial cooperation and collaboration across media properties across the BBG. We have great original content in 61 languages, so to help us work better globally, we had to look internally to lift our game in an era of limited resources.”

The announcement follows a series of top management changes at IBB during the last few months. In December, Shell notified staff of a new interim management structure. Three senior managers are now temporarily running IBB’s daily operations: Director of Global Operations André Mendes, Director of Global Strategy Robert Bole, and Director of Global Communications Suzie Carroll. IBB, an agency of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, is responsible for strategic planning and oversight of Voice of America and the Office of Cuba Broadcasting. Mendes and Bole are technology specialists, while Carroll’s background is in congressional affairs. Shell praised the three as “forward thinkers and change agents,” in a Dec. 19 email to staff.

The agency’s congressional overseers have given their blessing to the new interim management triumvirate, which was concocted after Dick Lobo retired as IBB director in November.

The long-term plan is to work with Congress and the Obama administration to find a chief executive officer. BBG has created a special committee to seek qualified candidates for the top job.