ABC News has appointed Laura Mayer as executive producer of podcast programming at ABC Audio, while Eric Ortega has been named executive producer of ABC News Live Prime with Linsey Davis.
ABC News president Kim Godwin revealed to staff that Mayer will be the creative lead of ABC News’ podcast team, which is set to launch a range of podcasts this year. Some of the work coming out of this unit includes a new true crime series debuting next week and the return of Life Out Loud with LZ Granderson later in January.
Mayer, who will report to Liz Alesse, vice president of ABC Audio, will work closely with Josh Cohan, director of podcast programming, in developing ABC Audio’s content strategy. She will be responsible for implementing that strategy with the production team, overseeing the process throughout its entirety.
Before joining ABC News, Mayer was the founding producer on projects such as Malcolm Gladwell’s Revisionist History, Happier with Gretchen Rubin, The Dream, and The Just Enough Family. She was the first employee at Slate’s podcast network, Panoply, and served as executive producer of New Show Development at Stitcher.
As for Ortega, Godwin revealed that in addition to his duties as the new ep of ABC News Live with Linsey Davis, he will also oversee all of ABC News Live’s evening programming.
Prior to joining ABC News, Ortega was a senior producer at Vice News, involved with the relaunch of Vice News Tonight. He also created and served as showrunner for the political series Breaking the Vote and the digital show Field Notes.
In his new role, Ortega will report to Seni Tienabeso, executive director of ABC News Live.
Read Godwin’s note to ABC News staff below.
ABC News,
I am pleased to share that we are kicking off the new year with two new executive producers joining our team. Laura Mayer is the new executive producer of Podcast Programming at ABC Audio, and Eric Ortega is the new executive producer of the multi-award-winning “ABC News Live Prime with Linsey Davis.”
Laura Mayer will be the creative lead of our stellar podcast team, which has big plans for 2023, including the launch of a new true crime series next week and the return of “Life Out Loud with LZ Granderson” later this month. She will work closely with Josh Cohan, director of Podcast Programming, to develop ABC Audio’s content strategy and then implement that strategy with the production team, overseeing the process from greenlight to publish. Laura will report to Liz Alesse, vice president of ABC Audio.
Laura has over a decade of experience in podcasting and worked as the founding producer on influential projects, including Malcolm Gladwell’s “Revisionist History,” “Happier with Gretchen Rubin,” “The Dream” and “The Just Enough Family.” She was the first employee at Slate’s podcast network, Panoply, and served as executive producer of New Show Development at Stitcher. In 2019, Laura co-founded the production company Three Uncanny Four Productions with Sony Music and served as COO of the joint venture.
Laura also has strong journalism roots. After graduating from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, she began her public radio career at WNYC, New York Public Radio, working on many programs such as “On the Media.”
Eric Ortega joins our talented ABC News Live team at a very exciting time. He will oversee “ABC News Live Prime with Linsey Davis” and all of ABC News Live’s evening programming, which serves as the primary content engine of the streaming channel. He will report to Seni Tienabeso, executive director of ABC News Live.
Most recently, Eric worked as senior producer at VICE News, where he assisted in relaunching “VICE News Tonight.” He also created and served as showrunner for the political series “Breaking the Vote” and the digital show “Field Notes.” In 2021, he won two Emmys for his work: Outstanding Breaking News coverage of the George Floyd protests and Outstanding Newscast.
Previously, Eric spent seven years at NBC/MSNBC, climbing his way up the ladder from page to line producer. During this time, Eric reported on major news events such as the 2016 presidential election, the 2015 Paris attacks, and the Parkland shooting. He also played a vital role in launching “Ronan Farrow Daily,” “Meet the Press Daily” and “UP with David Gura.” Before news, Eric worked in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, at the 2012 Democratic National Convention as deputy press secretary, and as a Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute Public Policy fellow. He is a proud member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.
With these new EPs at the helm, I look forward to what’s next for these two vital parts of our news division.
Please join me in congratulating Eric and Laura and welcoming them to ABC News!
#oneabcnews
Kim