Award-winning veteran radio reporter-anchor Ann Thompson, the last of the former Xavier University on-air staffers at Cincinnati Public Radio, signs off WVXU-FM Oct. 10.
The Anderson Township resident and Lebanon native said she'll announce her new job in late October.
"I'm staying local, and continuing in broadcasting," she says.
Thompson has more than 30 years of radio and television journalism experience in Greater Cincinnati. She worked for WKRC-AM, WCKY-AM, Dayton's WHIO-TV, Metro Networks and as WVXU-FM's news director before Xavier sold the station to Cincinnati Public Radio in 2005. She's WVXU's science and technology reporter, midday news anchor and contributes reports to National Public Radio.
Maryanne Zeleznik, WVXU vice president of news, told that staff "with extreme sadness" that she will miss Thompson's "tenacious reporting" and versatility.
For WVXU, Thompson has reported from India, Japan, South Korea, Germany and Belgium as part of fellowships from the East-West Center and RIAS Berlin, a journalist exchange program. Twice she has been honored by the Associated Press as the best large-market radio reporter in Ohio (2011, 2018). She also has won awards from the Society of Professional Journalists, the Association of Women in Communications and the Alliance for Women in Media.
"Few people can dig out a story better or faster than she can," says Zeleznik, the WNKU-FM news director hired by Cincinnati Public Radio when it bought WVXU-FM from Xavier University. "There is no source she is afraid to question and no story she's hesitant to tackle. I've always said when there's a difficult story to cover, Ann is always willing to raise her hand and take it on."
Thompson has reported for WVXU-FM "on everything from flying cars to artificial intelligence, the Western and Southern Open to the Cincinnati Cyclones," Zeleznik noted.
"We wish her well in her exciting new position (to be announced soon once made public by her new employer)," Zeleznik said. WVXU-FM will post a job opening in a week or so, she said.
John Kiesewetter's reporting is independent. Cincinnati Public Radio only edits his articles for style and grammar.
