Recently, writing on this page about 88.5 FM WFCR, Paul Gorman spoke of the "insightful reports by local reporters woven into NPR news shows" and the "brilliantly selected" music it puts together for listeners. Those are no doubt the very reasons why more people are listening to 88.5 FM now than ever before, 12 percent more in 2006 than 2005, and almost twice as many as 20 years ago. This tells us that WFCR is responding to the needs of its community.
The WFCR Foundation, which is composed entirely of community listeners, and the WFCR Advisory Committee have, combined, no fewer than 25 diverse community members who can and do advise station management.
A decade ago, the WFCR Foundation - formerly, The Friends of WFCR - was moribund, and the Five College Radio Committee - now, the WFCR Advisory Committee-had no community members. WFCR, with the support of the University of Massachusetts Amherst (its license holder), identified the need to expand public input and restructured these organizations in order to reach out for community members.
Readers should know that WFCR is, and always has been, in full compliance with all applicable regulations concerning community input. By federal regulation, stations in WFCR's license category are not required to have a formal community advisory board. WFCR's effort to bring community representation to these two support organizations is purely voluntary and the right thing to do. And over a period of twelve years the Foundation has evolved into a multi-purpose, "hybrid" board, which does more than fundraising.
WFCR is also publicly available and accountable in other ways. Management receives a constant stream of comments from listeners through e-mails, phone calls, letters and personal contacts. Surveys of radio audiences, conducted by third party professionals (Arbitron), accurately gauge how many people its programs reach and serve. Thousands of individuals and hundreds of businesses express their satisfaction with, and support for, the station with their donations every year.
The controversy that has prompted protest concerning recent programming changes is illustrative. WFCR was (and is) well aware of the complaints. Its staff has read and responded to e-mails and letters, listened and responded to phone calls, read the web postings, and met in person with listeners. Agree or disagree with the changes, no one can say that WFCR is not getting community input. WFCR has heard and understands the opinions of those who disagree with program changes.
Now some protesters have gotten town governments to weigh in. This raises troubling questions about whether any government body should be dictating to media organizations about what they should do or how they should do it. Persons who think that a program they like should be reinstated, might ask themselves how they would feel about governmental intrusion, whether local or national, if it were aimed in a direction they disagreed with.
Some have asked whether WFCR is "local enough." We have, in fact, a local news staff larger than most radio public stations of similar size, and larger than any radio station in western Massachusetts, and their reports are broadcast every day. This commitment to local news has demanded, and will continue to demand, a substantial share of station resources.
And WFCR is about to expand its staff by hiring a bilingual (Spanish/English) reporter, based in Springfield, who will bring listeners voices and stories from all the communities in our region.
The station has also recently invested in a local management agreement with 640 AM WNNZ, in order to bring listeners more diversified news and entertainment programs. On 1430 AM, where WFCR still has a similar agreement, listeners in Hampshire, Franklin and parts of Hampden counties can now hear "Folk Radio," WUMB from the campus of UMass Boston. Add to this 88.5 FM HD2, and the program streams and podcasts we provide at WFCR.org, and WFCR has more program choices for listeners than most radio stations located in major markets in the country.
In addition, WFCR's daytime music programs are created locally, every day, linking their programming with the cultural events in our region. This should not be taken for granted, since, for reasons of economy, many public radio stations use nationally syndicated classical music or jazz services. These local programs, produced at a time when subsidies are declining and overall costs are increasing, demonstrate a substantial commitment to local communities. And WFCR co-sponsors hundreds of community events every year.
I'm proud of what WFCR does to serve all of the communities under its coverage area. Could we do more? Of course. But the public must recognize that producing good radio programs is expensive.
I'm also proud of the national programs WFCR brings to the community. They're great shows. Would any of us want to live without "Morning Edition", "All Things Considered", or "Car Talk"? Would we miss Terry Gross and Garrison Keillor if they weren't on the air?
I want to assure the public that the management of WFCR understands its responsibility as the guardians of an important public institution. We make changes only after careful consideration and with a keen awareness of how listeners will be affected. In the end, no change is universally beloved.
WFCR's has an on-going commitment to bring community voices on to our advisory committees. I want to assure our audience and donors that we are listening to community concerns, and that I plan to discuss with both the WFCR Advisory Committee and the WFCR Foundation how they could increase community input. We have just completed celebrating our 45th anniversary. As we begin our 46th year of broadcasting, I ask all of WFCR's listeners to support the station so that we can keep working for you and the hundreds of communities WFCR serves.
Martin Miller is general manager of WFCR based in Amherst.