Public radio and television executive and chief financial officer fired from Indiana University

The executive director and chief financial officer of Indiana University Radio and Television Services (RTVS) were fired on Wednesday, according to a WFIU report.

Indiana University Chancellor Rahul Shrivastav first told RTVS employees in an email that executive director Brad Kimmel and chief financial officer Christina Lirot were no longer working in their positions as of Wednesday afternoon. According to WFIU, Shrivastav told management that RTVS was “not heading in the right direction” after an external review by a consultant found there were “morale issues” among RTVS staff.

According to WFIU, Lirot was escorted out of the RTVS building by an employee.

IU spokesman Mark Bode said IU does not comment on “personnel matters.”

“RTVS’ community and academic service mandates remain a priority for IU, and our goal is to ensure RTVS’s even greater success and impact moving forward,” Bode said in a statement.

Jay Kincaid, current director of facilities and technology at the IU School of Media, has been named interim director of RTVS. According to WFIU, Rhonda Inman, chief accounting officer in IU’s office of the vice chancellor for finance and administration, will lead RTVS’s finances and administration on an interim basis.

WFIU and WTIU maintain editorial independence from IU.

Kincaid confirmed Friday that Kimmel and Lirot were no longer working at Indiana University, adding that “there’s really nothing more to say that hasn’t already been said.”

RTVS, located on Seventh Street on the IU Bloomington campus, houses WFIU Public Radio and WTIU Public Television, as well as an audio, video and event production unit that provides services to clients including IU Athletics, IU Health Bloomington Hospital and national news broadcasters such as NBC, CNN and Al-Jazeera.

Before joining IU in late 2020, Kimmel served as general manager of WNIN Public Media in Evansville. According to his LinkedIn page, Kimmel founded his own media company, Bradley David Productions, in 1994, which produced shows for national television stations.

According to a now-deleted page on IU’s website, Lirot joined IU in 1999 and is an IU graduate.

Reach Brian Rosenzweig at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter/X at @brianwritesnews.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Indiana University fires WFIU, WTIU executive director and chief financial officer