Boston Radio: WBUR Announces New Morning Edition Host

Rupa Shenoy

For the first time in nearly three decades, WBUR's Morning Edition will have a new host.

WBUR announced Thursday that journalist Rupa Shenoy will replace longtime anchor Bob Oakes — who plans to return to reporting for the station — in September.

Shenoy joins WBUR after eight years at GBH, first as an investigative reporter and most recently as a reporter for The World, a national radio program co-produced by GBH and PRX and based in Boston. She covered human rights for the program.

The 42-year-old said she’s ready to take on one of the most public jobs in the Boston media market after more than two decades in journalism.

"I really feel quite lucky to have been chosen and I know it's a big responsibility," Shenoy said in an interview.

Before joining GBH, Shenoy worked as a reporter for Minnesota Public Radio, the Associated Press, the Daily Herald in Illinois, and The Chicago Reporter. Originally from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Shenoy is the daughter of immigrants from Maharashtra in the south of India.

WBUR’s chief executive officer Margaret Low said Shenoy's broad experience makes her a good fit for the station’s future.

"She’s somebody who has reported. She has done podcasts. She has hosted shows," Low said. "And I think she has a sense of the deep relationship that a host of a program like Morning Edition forms with their audience."

WBUR 90.9 FM (8.6 Kw)

Oakes, who has hosted WBUR’s Morning Edition since 1992, had previously announced his desire to return to reporting. He plans to begin a new role as senior correspondent pursuing a mixture of features, profiles and political reports.