Louis Wiley, Jr. retires after 33 years
In early July, colleagues and friends gathered in Fraser Performance Studio to raise a glass in honor of Frontline exec editor Louis Wiley Jr., who retired after 33 years at WGBH.
A graduate of Yale University and Georgetown Law School, Louis joined WGBH in 1970, and over the years worked on various local and national public affairs, history, and cultural programs. His myriad contributions include two documents he drafted for WGBH: Guidelines on Journalistic Standards and Practices for National Programming and Web Code of Best Practices.
As Frontline’s exec editor, Louis was responsible for monitoring the story selection process of hundreds of Frontline episodes, conducting an editorial review of each program and assessing all matters that impacted or might have impacted the editorial integrity of the series.
In these various roles, he helped producers and reporters battle military censors, confront government and industry wrongdoing, and challenge political partisans and activists on controversial matters.
“This is about a lifetime, a life’s work, and the person who shared so much of it — so generously, so intelligently, and with such care and affection,” says Frontline exec producer David Fanning, “and who set the standards and the measure by which we together did this lifetime’s work.” Although retiring from WGBH, Louis will do some consulting as well as pursue his passion for learning more about art and antiques.