Cited Media has appointed Alan Black as Director of Operations and Development. In this newly created role, Black will help lead the organization’s growth, overseeing podcast production and operations while developing new projects, partnerships, and client relationships.
Black brings more than two decades of leadership experience across film, podcasting, digital media, and the cultural sector. He produced and directed the award-winning films Jackpot and Beautiful and Deranged: The Song of the Yukon, oversaw the growth of Hot Docs, North America’s largest documentary festival, and founded the Hot Docs Podcast Festival.
More recently, as Chief Operating Officer of Canadaland, Black helped guide the development and distribution of exceptional, chart-topping audio projects including Pretendians and A Field Guide to Gay Animals. In 2025, he founded Left of Dial Media, focusing on the development of distinctive, ambitious audio projects and championing original voices. Its first original podcast, Tubby, was downloaded more than 200,000 times in its first season and named one of Amazon Music and Apple’s best podcasts of 2025.
“Alan brings an extraordinary depth of experience and a rare combination of creative and organizational leadership,” said Cited Media Director Dr. Gordon Katic. “His leadership will be central to Cited Media’s exciting next phase of growth.”
Black will work to support Cited Media’s academic clients and partners, while also providing development for Cited Media’s own award-winning podcasts.
“I’m thrilled to join Cited Media at a moment when there is so much opportunity to use academic podcasting to enrich public discourse,” said Black. “Cited Media has built an impressive model for bringing together journalism, research, and audio storytelling, and I am looking forward to helping grow that work and building the creative and operational capacity to take them further.”