[Antiracism] Re: [AriseAction] Fw: Fwd: Valley Folk, Thistle and Shamrock and Afropop Worldwide

Tue Jan 16 17:08:12 EST 2007

Hi All - I'm a contributor and longtime fan of WAMC, mainly for its  
public affairs programming, such as Roundtable.  I didn't know that  
Afropop and The Thistle and Shamrock were aired there too.

 From Ms. Barrington's memo, It's not clear how WFCR "lost" Susan  
Forbes Hansen. I've called Ms. Barrington in support of all the  
programs, and left a message for her to call me.

Best, Charlie

On Jan 16, 2007, at 11:09 AM, Marty Nathan wrote:

In follow-up of the wfcr issue. I agree with Carolyn. We should do  
something. Marty
----- Original Message -----
From: Helen Barrington
To: martygjf at comcast.net
Sent: Tuesday, January 16, 2007 9:28 AM
Subject: Re: Fwd: Valley Folk, Thistle and Shamrock and Afropop  
Worldwide

My apologies for not getting back to you yesterday.

Thank you for your e-mail and calls. I understand that you are upset.
We are sorry to lose Susan Forbes Hansen, and we know how deeply  
people feel aboutValley Folk, Afropop and The Thistle and Shamrock.   
We respect the hosts of all of these programs and their work.  We are  
also greatly indebted to them for decades of service to and great  
programming at WFCR.

You can still hear Susan Forbes Hansen hosting folk music on WHUS,  
91.7 FM, inStorrs, Connecticut on her program. There she hosts a  
program called Sunday Night Folk Festival, Sunday nights from 7-10 PM  
and online at www.whus.org.

However, at the present time, we are under budget pressure, due to an  
increase in programming fees from NPR and other national program  
providers, increased employee benefits charges from the State, and  
the ever present prospect of reduced federal funding through the  
Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). These factors mean that  
the station must now allocate its resources in a different way.

WFCR is also now more than just 88.5FM.  It is a media organization  
operating on multiple platforms.  It will continue to serve all of  
the constituents it currently serves across its platforms:  88.5FM  
WFCR; 88.5FM WFCR HD2; 1430AM WPNI; and wfcr.org where there will be  
multiple links and where 88.5FM and HD2 are also streamed.  This is  
the direction that all media organizations are headed in. We are able  
to do things we haven’t been able to do before.  Yet cuts on one  
broadcast platform are required as we pursue the station’s core  
mission and meet its strategic goals on multiple platforms.

We are also committed to expanding the programming on 1430 AM to  
Springfield, which is vitally important to serving listeners. If such  
an expansion becomes possible, it would lead to additional operating  
expenses.

In addition, the demography of WFCR’s listening area has changed, so  
we are hiring a reporter who can speak Spanish. We are committed to  
better serving WFCR’s audience by bringing more, diverse voices to  
the airwaves.  This increases WFCR’s ability to stay in touch with  
the region at large, with more reporting in English on emerging and  
established communities of color.

Part of the rationale behind these changes, is to make the  
programming we offer more consistent, which is key to audience growth  
and to the financial health of the station. Jazz can now be heard 6  
nights a week from 8-11 PM: Jazz a la Mode, Monday-Friday from 8-11  
PM and Jazz Safari on Saturdays from 8-11 PM.  As you may know, The  
Thistle and Shamrock and Afropop can be heard Sunday nights on WAMC,  
90.3 FM, between 7 & 9 pm.  Afropop also maintains a list of stations  
on its website,  afropop.org, where you can stream the program live.

WAMC also airs folk music at several times in its program schedule.  
The Hudson River Sampler airs on Saturdays from 8-10:30 PM.  Mountain  
Stage features some folk groups (Mountain Stage is a two-hour radio  
show recorded before a live audience in Charleston, West Virginia.  
Now in its 20th year, the show has established a long tradition of  
featuring national and international acts in almost every style of  
music).Mountain Stage is on Monday nights from 9-11 PM. WRSI, 93.9  
FM, also airs folk music Saturdays from 9 AM to noon on their  
program, “The Backporch.”  In addition, WFCR is adding a link on our  
website, www.wfcr.org, to our sister station, WUMB-FM, at UMass  
Boston, which has 5 on-demand folk streams available.

Thanks so much for writing. I'd be happy to talk with you in further  
depth about this if you'd like to call me.

Helen Barrington
Program Director, WFCR
413 577 0541
=============

WFCR 88.5 FM wrote:
> ----- Forwarded message from Marty Nathan <martygjf at comcast.net> -----
>     Date: Sat, 13 Jan 2007 08:33:55 -0500
>     From: Marty Nathan <martygjf at comcast.net>
> Reply-To: Marty Nathan <martygjf at comcast.net>
>  Subject: Valley Folk, Thistle and Shamrock and Afropop Worldwide
>       To: WFCR <radio at wfcr.org>
>
> There is a rumor circulating that you are planning to eliminate  
> Valley Folk,
> Thistle and Shamrock and/or Afropop Worldwide. Are you planning or  
> even
> thinking about doing any of these things? If so, I am a high-donor  
> (dollar a
> day) and have been for many years and would stop donating. If not,  
> please
> clarify.
>
> Thank you.
>
> Marty Nathan MD
> Northampton, MA
> ----- End forwarded message -----
>
>
>
>
>
> There is a rumor circulating that you are planning to eliminate  
> Valley Folk, Thistle and Shamrock and/or Afropop Worldwide. Are you  
> planning or even thinking about doing any of these things? If so, I  
> am a high-donor (dollar a day) and have been for many years and  
> would stop donating. If not, please clarify.
>
> Thank you.
>
> Marty Nathan MD
> Northampton, MA

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