I met Dick Lobo in December when I was up in Tampa doing a fundraising appearance on PBS/WEDU Channel 3 television program Florida This Week … . We hadn’t started my segment yet, and I saw the man himself near the coffee table and went over to introduce myself.
He was super nice to me — thanked me for taking the time on a Friday night to help out my local PBS station.
Now, it looks like Mr. Lobo — who along with his mover and shaker wife Caren used to own Sarasota News & Books in the days before the young Foley siblings — is off to Washington.
Eric Duggan reports on his Tampa blog the following:
The White House announced today the appointment of Dick Lobo, president and CEO of Tampa PBS station WEDU-Ch. 3, to head the International Broadcasting Bureau — the government department which runs Voice of America and the broadcast outlets aimed at Cuba, Radio and TV Marti.
Lobo, 73, still must be confirmed by the Senate, so he may not be leaving Tampa soon. But the executive, whose wife Caren spearheaded fundraising for Barack Obama in Florida during the 2008 election, will eventually leave for Washington D.C. if confirmed, working under the Broadcasting Board of Governors.
Last year, Lobo announced plans to retire from WEDU seven years after taking the reins at the then-troubled station. He had already come out of one retirement to help the Tampa outlet past a fiscal crisis, having spent the first 40 years of his work life at commercial network TV affiliates in New York, Miami and Chicago. WEDU has hired an executive search firm to help with the process.
This latest appointment isn’t entirely new for Lobo. Back in 1994, he was appointed by President Clinton to run the Office of Cuba Broadcasting, which oversees Radio and TV Marti. Radio and TV Marti regularly faces criticism from political opponents who say the stations, which are often jammed by the Cuban government, are a waste of money.
A grandson of Cuban immigrants and graduate of the University of Miami, Lobo will be inducted into the Tampa Bay Business Hall of fame in March.
Steve
February 5, 2010 at 2:38 pmHe is supposed to be a decent dude.Hopefully he can help Obama.Perhaps he will take you along to Washington MC?:-)
MC
February 5, 2010 at 2:47 pmno chance … but nice thought!
Scott D
February 5, 2010 at 4:38 pm????????
MC’s fun life?????
Get out there!!!!!
I have to work endlessly
I’m living it up vicariously
It’sAnthropomorphism is the attribution of human characteristics to non-human creatures and beings, phenomena, material states and objects or abstract concepts. Examples include animals and plants and forces of nature such as winds, rain or the sun depicted as creatures with human motivation able to reason and converse. The term derives from the combination of the Greek ἄνθρωπος (ánthrōpos), “human” and μορφή (morphē), “shape” or “form”.
It is strongly associated with art and storytelling where it has ancient roots. Most cultures possess a long-standing fable tradition with anthropomorphised animals as characters that can stand as commonly recognised types of human behavior.