One of his first professional assignments was directing an episode of the Lou Grant television series in 1982.
In 2004, Campanella was named general manager of Pacifica radio station, KPFA in Berkeley, California.
[3] Campanella resigned 14 months later in the wake of reports that KPFA's 24-member Local Station Board (LSB) voted to terminate his employment.
Tomas Moran, a former board member and KPFA supporter, speculated that Campanella was forced to resign because he rankled a fiercely entrenched bureaucracy that could not agree on the direction of the station.
The previous general manager, Gus Newport, a former mayor of Berkeley, served less than a year before he stepped down, citing personal reasons.