WORT
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| WORT | |
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| City of license | Madison, Wisconsin |
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| Branding | Community Radio |
| Frequency | 89.9 MHz FM Radio |
| First air date | December 1, 1975 |
| Format | Community Radio (news/talk/variety) |
| ERP | 2 kW |
| HAAT | 286 m |
| Class | B1 |
| Facility ID | 3596 |
| Transmitter Coordinates | 43° 03' 3.00 " N 89° 29' 13.00" W |
| Callsign meaning | Chosen after original call requests for WOMB and WART were turned down |
| Affiliations | Pacifica Radio BBC World Service |
| Owner | Back Porch Radio Broadcasting, Inc. |
| Webcast | Live Stream Archives |
| Website | wort-fm.org |
WORT (89.9 FM) is a listener-sponsored community radio station, broadcasting from 118 S. Bedford St. in Madison, Wisconsin, USA. WORT offers a whole host of programming made possible by listener sponsors.
WORT's FM signal reaches a roughly 50-mile radius around Madison. In early 2006, the station began webcasting all of its programming in both high quality (96K) and low quality (32K) streams. WORT also maintains an archive of recent news and public affairs programs available for podcast, download or stream.
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[edit] WORT mission statement
WORT-FM is a non-commercial, listener sponsored, member controlled community radio station broadcasting to south central Wisconsin. WORT volunteers and staff provide quality programming and services to a broad spectrum of the community through:
- promotion of communication, education, entertainment, and understanding by providing a forum for both the discussion of public issues and the expansion of musical and cultural experience;
- facilitation of community expression and provision of community access to the airwaves for the purpose of sharing music, culture, news, and information;
- challenge of the cultural and intellectual assumptions of our listeners through unique and diverse programming;
- orientation towards the audience with concern for those under-represented by other media.
WORT is committed to radio programming with a human perspective - respecting all peoples and their environments.
[edit] Programming
WORT broadcasts a mix of music and talk programming. All of WORT's music programs are locally produced by local DJs. WORT airs 33 hours of news and public affairs programming, 21.5 of which are locally produced. All of the programmers at the station are volunteers from the community, including DJs, hosts, producers, reporters, and engineers.
[edit] Music programming
The weekday music schedule includes:
- Classical - 5-8am
- Folk, bluegrass, and world - 9am-noon
- Jazz - 2-5pm (except Fridays - Rock 2-5pm)
- Rock, techno, metal, etc. - 8pm-5am
- Blues - Fridays 6-8pm
The weekend music lineup includes all sorts of genres. Saturdays are divvied up into two-hour shows, beginning with traditional Mexican music at 6am. At 8:00, WORT airs classic R&B, then vintage jazz and swing, then reggae, then music from all around Africa, then salsa and latin jazz, then rock 'n' roll oldies, then blues, then hip-hop all night.
Sunday's music has yet more variety, including medieval and renaissance music in the morning, womyn's music in the early afternoon, followed by showtunes. World music in late afternoon, kids music at 6:30, then gospel, electronic, experimental, and avant garde music through the night.
The whole schedule is posted online.
[edit] News and public affairs programming
- Insurgent Radio Kiosk - 4 times each weekday - commentaries, "this day in history" notes, and community event info ("Action Calendar")
- Eight O'Clock Buzz - 8:00-9:00am weekdays - mix of music, culture, information, news and interviews
- A Public Affair - 12:00-1:00pm weekdays - call-in show on issues of international, national and local importance
- Democracy Now [1] - 1:00-2:00pm Mon-Thurs, 4:30-5:30pm Fri
- Mel & Floyd - 1:00-2:00pm Fridays - Two wacky guys sit down each week to discuss news, views and things you need to know.
- BBC News [2] - 5:00-6:00pm Mon-Thurs
- Free Speech Radio News [3] - 6:00-6:30 Mon-Thurs
- In Our Backyard - 6:30-7:00pm Mon-Thurs - Alternative local and state news
- En Nuestro Patio [4] - 7:00-8:00pm Tues - Local, national, and international news and interviews in Spanish.
- Labor Radio - 5:30-6:00pm Fri - News for, by, and about working people
- Access Hour - 7:00-8:00pm Mon - A different host from the community every week.
- Radio Literature - 7:00-7:30pm Thursday - Poetry, fiction, non-fiction readings and discussion
- Queery - 7:00-7:30pm Wed - local and national news affecting Madison's LesBiGayTrans community
- Perpetual Notion Machine - 7:30-8:00pm every other Thurs - Science news and features
- Health Writers - 7:30-8:00pm every other Thurs - health care policy and advocacy for a grassroots health care movement
- Hmong Radio - 6:00-8:00am Sundays - News, announcements, interviews, and music in Hmong language
- Her Turn - 11:00-11:30am Sundays - News by and about women, though all are encouraged to listen
- Third World View - 5:00-6:00pm Sundays - News from the "Third World" from a left-critical perspective
- Salamat - 6:00-6:30pm Sundays - A weekly window into the vastly varied population of Arabs
- Pachyderm Parade - 6:30-7:00pm Sundays - The only by-kids, for-kids radio show in Madison
- Universal Soul Explosion / After Hours - 12:00-6:00am Saturday Night - Hip-hop, R&B, old and new with music and social commentary
[edit] WORT's structure
The organizational structure of WORT reflects the station's principles of democratic decision making; the paid and unpaid workers (the volunteers) at the station elect the Board of Directors; the Board sets policy and hires full-time and part-time paid staff. The full-time staff is organized as a collective that operates within sound management practices and written policies established by the Board. The staff collective oversees the day-to-day operations of the station.
WORT is nothing without the more than 300 volunteers who walk through the doors each week. Volunteers provide most of the on-air programming. WORT's distinct programming is the product of the knowledge, hard work, and creativity of the on-air volunteers. In addition, many volunteers contribute to myriad off-air operations.
[edit] Affiliations
WORT is a member of the National Federation of Community Broadcasters and the Grassroots Radio Coalition. WORT hosted the GRC-5 Conference in 2000 and GRC-11 in 2006.
WORT is an affiliate of the Pacifica network and the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC).
WORT is an affiliate of the Public Radio Satellite System, which is how it broadcasts programs like the BBC. The station is also a member of the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association.
WORT also has a standing rebroadcast agreement with Madison Indymedia [5]
[edit] Recent awards
WORT has been voted "Madison's Favorite Radio Station" in the Isthmus Newspaper's Annual Manual (readers' poll) for seven of the last eight years. Several of its programs have made the top three list of favorite radio shows, including Mel & Floyd (multiple years), Back to the Country, and Pan-Africa.
WORT received Wisconsin Broadcasters Association Merit Awards for its 2006 documentary on Uganda's "invisible children" and its 2005 documentary on Hurricane Katrina aftermath. WORT won best documentary in 2005 from Public Radio News Directors Incorporated for its investigation of pollution at the Madison Kipp factory. It also received a WBA Merit Award for its 2005 election lead-up coverage.
[edit] External links
- WORT's official webpage
- Query the FCC's FM station database for WORT
- Radio Locator information on WORT
- WORT Board of Directors meeting minutes and committee reports (blog format)
- Community radio station celebrates 30 years of diversity The Daily Cardinal
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