Aspen journalist and broadcaster Brent Gardner-Smith has been named news director at Aspen Public Radio by the station’s executive director, Breeze Richardson. He begins at the station this week.
Gardner-Smith brings a wealth of broadcast experience to the role, which includes serving as executive director of Aspen Public Radio from 2003 to 2007, and serving as news director at WMVY, Tisbury, a reporter at KSNO, Aspen, and an announcer at KSPN, Aspen and KCHO, Chico.
His journalism experience includes working as a reporter at The Aspen Times and Aspen Daily News, and he has held public relations and communications roles at ProPublica, the Aspen Skiing Company, and for the Massachusetts State Senate. He has lived in Basalt since 1991, and most recently served as the executive director of Aspen Journalism, a local, nonprofit, and investigative news organization he founded in 2011. For years, Gardner-Smith was the organization’s primary reporter and editor.
“After 10 years of operations, Aspen Journalism is in good shape, with a strong board, a great news team, and solid community support, and I am ready for my next journalism challenge,"
said Gardner-Smith. "I’m excited to be returning to Aspen Public Radio as news director, and am happy to be given this opportunity to lead a news team which is focused on helping to inform and connect people from Aspen to Eagle to Rifle through broadcast journalism.”
Over the years, Gardner-Smith’s reporting has been recognized with awards from the Society of Professional Journalists, the Colorado Press Association, and the Colorado Broadcasters Association. He holds a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri.
Richardson, who took the helm of Aspen Public Radio in early June, said bringing Gardner-Smith onboard allows for the station to make significant advances on its vision to becoming a centering institution for the community with the ability to put complex issues into context, facilitate enlightening conversations, and generate high-quality news content that is community-driven and impactful. With his arrival, Richardson also feels a deeper relationship with the team at Aspen Journalism can be a priority. “We highly value the collaborative approach Brent established at Aspen Journalism, and we’ve already started discussing new ways to share AJ’s reporting with our radio and digital audience,” Richardson said. “Bringing together two nonprofit news organizations to work together on stories makes a lot of sense to us, and we look forward to working collaboratively with AJ's editor Curtis Wackerle, along with expanding our relationships with The Aspen Times and Aspen Daily News.”
Gardner-Smith joins Morning Edition Host/Reporter Eleanor Bennett and Edlis Neeson Arts & Culture Reporter Kirsten Dobroth, with an open reporter position previously held by Alex Hager now open for applications.
“Under Brent’s leadership, our newsroom will be able to continue to bring both our broadcast radio and digital audiences the quality, trustworthy journalism they have come to rely on,” Richardson said. “And as we work to develop and distribute new original content around unique subjects of interest, expand Aspen Public Radio digital content and public programming, and enhance civic discourse and engagement with communities throughout the Roaring Fork Valley and beyond, I think Brent is uniquely qualified to support each and every one of these goals in impactful ways.”
