Rebecca Feldhaus Adams

Rebecca (Bec) Fedhaus Adams is the first ever news director at WHRO Public Media. She leads the strategic vision for local journalism. Bec is an alumna of the Poynter Leadership Academy for Women in Media (2019) and a member of the Editorial Integrity and Leadership Initiative (2020) from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism. She is an outspoken advocate for diversity in public media and mentors young journalists to reach their goals. She is a member of the 2020 Next Generation Radio staff. Her work is driven by a conviction that the way we do our work is as important as the work we do, and that curiosity and humility are the cornerstones of that philosophy. She has served as an editor and project manager at WAMU in Washington, D.C., the talent director at the Association of Independents in Radio (AIR), a general assignment reporter at WKMS, an education reporter at The Paducah Sun and a freelancer and consultant. Bec's stories and collaborations have won multiple state, regional and national awards including in the "Best Use of Sound," category for a story about an evangelical horse whisperer. She holds two degrees from Murray State University. A homesick Kentuckian, Bec has been named both a roller derby MVP and Miss Congeniality in past lives. She lives in Virginia Beach with her spouse, Drew. When she’s not at work, she enjoys karaoke, hosting dinner parties and traveling.