Christopher Blank
News DirectorTrading his hometown newsroom of the St. Petersburg Times (alligators, beach bars and Florida Men) for the Memphis Commercial Appeal (Elvis, civil rights and barbecue) more than two decades ago, Christopher continues his quest for culturally rich human interest stories as News Director at WKNO.
He is a regular contributor to NPR and moderates conversations about Memphis' arts and culture community through the station's Culture Desk Facebook page. His numerous awards for both print and radio reporting include 2017 and 2020 Green Eyeshade Awards for Public Service Journalism.
He also serves as Senior Producer for the University of Memphis' Institute for Public Service Reporting. WKNO's collaboration with professional and student journalists has resulted in a number of award-winning radio features, including a special report “The Waiting Decade: Rape Victims Still Seek Justice”, which won First Place prizes in Investigative Reporting and Short Documentary from the Public Media Journalists Association in 2020.
Recent extracurricular projects include helping to produce the first full-length recording of the Orpheum Theatre's historic Wurlitzer organ.
-
A recent report has found residents of South Memphis neighborhoods are being exposed to levels of air pollution exceeding the EPA’s standards for public health. -
U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles, the incumbent Republican running for reelection in District 5, has spent nearly $60,000 in taxpayer money on recent television ads to tout his congressional record and his work to “cut wasteful spending.”
-
Though the new congressional maps worsen the odds for Democrats, there are opportunities to make a statement, says Otis Sanford. -
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk provided new context to a multibillion-dollar deal with AI company Anthropic.
-
This week on WKNO/Channel 10’s “Behind the Headlines,” Eric Barnes hosts a journalist roundtable with Shelby County Mayoral candidate John DeBerry, Jr. and Daily Memphian reporter Bill Dries. -
The forthcoming state takeover of Memphis Shelby County Schools has created uncertainty in Tennessee’s largest school district even as board members approved a $1.7 billion fiscal year budget.
-
In a setback to opponents of Tennessee’s new congressional maps, a panel of three judges in Davidson County Chancery Court have ruled against plaintiffs in a recent state lawsuit.
-
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee released the names of his five appointees to the new Memphis-Shelby County Schools oversight board created by the state.
-
Tony Carruthers, a former Memphis man convicted of kidnapping and murdering three people in 1994, had his death sentence postponed for a year on Thursday after Tennessee’s executioners could not insert an IV into his veins through which to administer the lethal drugs.
-
New congressional maps are made to put all of Shelby County under Republican lawmakers. Will they still serve voters who don't want them?
