Mary Shedden

I’m the lucky one who guides the WUSF News team as it shares news from across Florida and the 13 amazing counties that we call the greater Tampa Bay region.

After working as a newspaper reporter for years, I decided public media was where I wanted to be. I joined WUSF as a health reporter in 2013, and edited its Health News Florida collaboration until become news director in 2015.

For nearly a decade, I oversaw the newsroom’s overall operations and growth. Since late 2022, I shifted my attention to larger projects, podcasts, shows and the development of new local news products, like a successful daily newsletter and special podcast series focused on Florida’s changing population and personality.

I discovered PMJA early on and have been active for several years, serving on multiple committees and participating in in-person and online workshops as both a moderator and panelist. I joined the PMJA Board of Directors in 2023. I’m the current chair of the membership and outreach committee.

My local newsroom’s journalism has been recognized numerous times, including a 2016 national Edward R. Murrow Award for Health News Florida. Our team has been honored with multiple PMJA honors and numerous regional Murrow awards, including Overall Excellence in 2022.

I’ve been helping tell the stories about this state we’re in almost my entire adult life — and I consider it an honor to find the extraordinary in people who think their lives are anything but that. Local journalism matters, as our media landscape has become fractured and our connections to one another are have made our communities more divisive.

I’m almost a Florida native, growing up in Central Florida, and remember when Walt Disney World had ride coupons and orange trees grew in almost everyone’s back yards. For me, snow belongs inside a globe.