Tag: WVPB Radio

WVPB Underwriting Team Steps Up To Help Struggling Small Businesses

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — In response to the economic crisis resulting from COVID-19, West Virginia Public Broadcasting has offered a series of free radio announcements to independent and locally owned restaurants and small businesses that are still open and following social distancing guidelines during the pandemic.

More than 40 small business responded. Each business that met the criteria received a three-week rotation of underwriting spots on the statewide WVPB radio network. Most are still playing in rotation.

“Because the Mountain State has a multitude of small businesses, we know the struggle is immense for these companies and their employees,” said Jane Wright, Director of Grants and Underwriting. “We simply want to help them, and we are able to do it in the spirit of all that public broadcasting represents — service to our state.”

While working with current underwriters whose businesses were closed or organizations whose events were canceled, the underwriting team became inspired to help other struggling businesses that aren’t affiliated with WVPB yet. Two waves of selections followed, the first focused on locally owned restaurants and the second targeted the broader classification of small businesses.

“As with all of our underwriters — new or current — we hope that our loyal WVPB fans will support these businesses both during this uncertain time and when we get back to business as usual,” Wright said.

The first wave was open to locally owned restaurants offering take-out or delivery meals and included:

  •     Guesthouse Lost River, Lost River
  •     Swiftwater Catering, Charleston
  •     Nomada Bakery, Huntington
  •     Pies and Pints, Fayetteville, Charleston, Morgantown
  •     Southside Junction Tap House, Fayetteville
  •     Appalachian Tea, Charleston
  •     Sargasso of Morgantown, Morgantown
  •     Ristorante Abruzzi, Charleston
  •     Tacoholix, Wheeling
  •     daVinci’s Italian Restaurant, Williamstown
  •     Duckie’s Bar and Grill, Piedmont
  •     The Candlewyck Inn, Keyser
  •     Starlings Coffee and Provisions, Charleston
  •     Bluegrass Kitchen, Charleston
  •     Stella’s Gelato and Specialty Market, Charleston
  •     Terra Cafe, Morgantown

 
The second wave was open to any small business, including locally owned restaurants and included:

  •     Hill and Hollow, Morgantown
  •     Talking Across the Lines, Elkins
  •     Joey’s Bike Shop, Elkins
  •     Mountaineer Technology Consultants, Morgantown
  •     Two Rivers Treads, Ranson
  •     Cheerful Heart Catering, Charleston
  •     Kanawha Valley Veterinary Emergency Hospital, South Charleston
  •     Wood Iron Eatery, Fayetteville
  •     Edith’s Specialty Store, Lewisburg
  •     Coal River Coffee, St Albans
  •     Full Circle Gifts and Goods, Huntington
  •     Darnold and Lyons Heating, Cooling and Plumbing, South Charleston
  •     Walters Law Firm, Charleston
  •     Tulsi at the Market, Huntington
  •     Wild Ramp Farmers Market, Huntington
  •     The Empty Glass, Charleston
  •     The Haute Wick Social, Huntington
  •     Raleigh Playhouse and Theatre, Beckley
  •     Turnrow Appalachian Farm Collective, Lewisburg
  •     Pathfinder of West Virginia, Morgantown
  •     Lost Mountain BBQ Company, Romney
  •     Wholi Moli, Barboursville
  •     Beckley Pediatrics, Beckley
  •     Melange Cafe, Charleston
  •     The Wandering Caravan, Davis
  •     Animalia Veterinary Care, Berkeley Springs
  •     Short Story Brewing, Rivesville

‘America Amplified: Election 2020’ Initiative Announces Partner Networks Including WVPB/OVR

KANSAS CITY, MO. — As the election season kicks off, the “America Amplified: Election 2020” initiative, led by KCUR 89.3 in Kansas City, is pleased to announce the eight public media networks that will produce innovative journalism from community engagement efforts, including the Ohio Valley ReSource, which partners with West Virginia Public Broadcasting.



Each of these collaborations will receive funding from the initiative, which is supported by a $1.9 million grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.



Chuck Roberts, executive director of West Virginia Public Broadcasting, said the news team is excited to be able to continue its relationship with OVR, which is a regional public media collaborative that includes seven stations across Kentucky, Ohio and the Mountain State. They include Louisville Public Media (WFPL in Louisville, Kentucky); WVPB (West Virginia Public Broadcasting); WOUB (Ohio); WEKU (Richmond, Kentucky); WKYU (Bowling Green, Kentucky); WMMT, (Whitesburg, Kentucky); and WKMS (Murray, Kentucky). 



Brittany Patterson is the energy and environment reporter for WVPB and the OVR. She covers a broad range of topics including the oil and gas industry, coal industry, utilities, conservation, water quality issues and climate change across West Virginia and the Ohio Valley.



“In the past, collaborating with OVR has produced substantive, original reporting on regional issues important to all West Virginians and we’re so proud of Brittany’s work and the service it provides for the Mountain State,” Roberts said. “Now, to give regional insight on voting during an election year will be really valuable information for our listeners.”



The networks and their commitments to “America Amplified” are as follows:


  • Ohio Valley ReSource: Connecting rural communities online and in person through events and web-based outreach.
  • StateImpact Pennsylvania: Working with Keystone Crossroads to embed seven reporters in Pennsylvania communities underrepresented in local media
  • Side Effects Public Media: Building engagement strategies around health issues, with a Midwest emphasis
  • Mountain West News Bureau: Organizing various initiatives to listen to the concerns of underrepresented rural, Latinx and Indigenous communities along the region’s Great Divide.
  • I-4 Votes: Engaging non-voters and underrepresented communities along the Interstate 4 corridor, from Tampa to Orlando to Daytona Beach, Florida.
  • New England News Collaborative: Reimagining how talk shows can reflect the concerns of communities
  • Harvest Public Media: Rethinking how we listen to and report on rural communities across the Midwest and Great Plains
  • WABE, Atlanta, Georgia: Using community engagement to strengthen relationships with and understanding of issues important to diverse women voters in the South


The partner public radio stations will collaborate to gather data and engage communities in a variety of ways, including listening events, public forums, texting clubs and social media. The stations will share insights, stories and content with national broadcast collaborators such as NPR, PBS, the BBC and podcast producers.


Donna Vestal, managing director of the initiative for KCUR, said: “We’re excited to see how these efforts will change the reporting narrative in the election 2020 season,” Vestal said. “Plus, we’ll be sharing what we learn far and wide.” 



“America Amplified: Election 2020” is also partnering with The Public Agenda/USA Today Hidden Common Ground Initiative, which is exploring where Americans stand on critical issues of the day through original research and creative communications. Through this partnership, “America Amplified” will explore how Americans across the country find themselves united and/or divided.



A team of seven is leading “America Amplified: Election 2020,” which aims to strengthen collaboration within public media, build trust in local journalism and deepen understanding of America’s needs and aspirations. The team comprises Donna Vestal, Alisa Barba, Jennifer Tufts, Kathy Lu, Andrea Tudhope, Matthew Long-Middleton and Ann Alquist, who is on loan from The Public’s Radio in Rhode Island.  



Follow “America Amplified: Election 2020” on Twitter at @amplified2020 or e-mail the team atelection2020@kcur.org.


About CPB


The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), a private, nonprofit corporation created by Congress in 1967, is the steward of the federal government’s investment in public broadcasting. It helps support the operations of more than 1,500 locally owned and operated public television and radio stations nationwide. CPB is also the largest single source of funding for research, technology, and program development for public radio, television, and related online services. Since 2009, CPB has invested $35 million to develop regional journalism collaborations throughout the United States.

For more information, visit www.cpb.org and follow us on Twitter @CPBmedia, Facebook, LinkedIn, and subscribe for other updates.



About the collaborative networks


  • StateImpact Pennsylvania: WITF (Harrisburg), PA Post (statewide), WHYY (Philadelphia), WESA (Pittsburgh) and The Allegheny Front (Pittsburgh)
  • Side Effects Public Media: Indiana Public Broadcasting; WFYI (Indianapolis, Indiana); WOSU (Columbus, Ohio); WFPL (Louisville, Kentucky); Iowa Public Radio (Des Moines, Iowa); KBIA (Columbia, Missouri); WILL (Champaign-Urbana, Illinois); WSIU (Carbondale, Illinois) and WNIN (Evansville, Indiana)
  • Mountain West News Bureau: Boise State Public Radio (Boise, Idaho); Wyoming Public Radio (Laramie, Wyoming, but statewide distribution); KUNR (Reno, Nevada); KRCC (Colorado Springs, Colorado); KUNC (Greeley, Colorado); KUNM (Albuquerque, New Mexico); and the O’Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West University of Montana.
  • I-4 Votes: WUSF Public Media (Tampa); WMFE (Orlando)
  • Ohio Valley ReSource: Louisville Public Media (WFPL in Louisville, Kentucky); WVPB (West Virginia); WOUB (Ohio); WEKU (Richmond, Kentucky); WKYU (Bowling Green, Kentucky); WMMT, (Whitesburg, Kentucky); and WKMS (Murray, Kentucky)
  • New England News Collaborative: New England Public Media: WFCR (Amherst, Massachusetts) and WGBH (Boston, Massachusetts); Connecticut Public Radio (Hartford, Connecticut); WSHU Public Radio Group (Fairfield, Connecticut, but serves Connecticut and Suffolk County in New York); WBUR (Boston, Massachusetts); Maine Public Broadcasting Network; The Public’s Radio (Rhode Island); New Hampshire Public Radio (Concord, New Hampshire, but serves statewide and parts of Massachusetts, Vermont and Maine); Vermont Public Radio (Colchester, Vermont).
  • Harvest Public Media: KCUR (Kansas City, Missouri); NET (Lincoln, Nebraska); Iowa Public Radio (Des Moines, Iowa); WILL and the Illinois Newsroom (Urbana-Champaign, Illinois); Associate Partners KBIA (Columbia, Missouri), KVNO (Omaha, Nebraska), Prairie Public (Fargo, North Dakota), St. Louis Public Radio (St. Louis, Missouri), KRCC (Colorado Springs, Colorado), KSMU (Springfield, Missouri), KOSU (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) and the Kansas News Service (HPPR [Garden City, Kansas, serving western KS, the Texas Panhandle, Oklahoma Panhandle and eastern CO], KMUW (Wichita, Kansas), KPR (Lawrence, Kansas).

About KCUR


KCUR 89.3 is the flagship NPR station in Kansas City, exploring thought-provoking ideas and stimulating conversations through its daily talk shows, in-depth reporting and entertainment programming. KCUR shares news, art, music and life in a way that inspires, challenges and connects people. A charter member of NPR, KCUR holds itself to the highest journalistic standards in service to the citizens of Kansas, Missouri, the broader Midwest and the nation. The station also leads Harvest Public Media and the Kansas News Service, among other collaborations. KCUR’s live stream, local news coverage and talk show podcasts are available at kcur.org. KCUR is operated as an editorially independent community service of the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

About WVPB


West Virginia Public Broadcasting engages more than 2 million people every year utilizing its radio and television towers, as well as its news site, wvpublic.org. 

WVPB is an indispensable resource for education, news and public affairs, emergency services and economic development for West Virginia. Headquartered in Charleston, West Virginia, the agency has locations and/or reporters in Morgantown, Wheeling, Shepherdstown and Beckley. 

The entire WVPB team, from production to news, and education to programming, aspires to inform, educate, protect, and inspire our listeners and viewers of the Mountain State’s public broadcasting organization.

StarDate's Sandy Wood to retire; Billy Henry to take helm

Sandy Wood, the popular and charismatic announcer of the StarDate radio program aired during Morning Edition and Weekend Edition on WVPB, is retiring after 28 years on the air. Her final episode will air July 16.

StarDate is the longest-running nationally syndicated science program on American radio. Produced by The University of Texas at Austin’s McDonald Observatory, the program began in 1978 bringing a daily two-minute message of astronomy and skywatching to 2.3 million weekly listeners via more than 300 stations across the country. Wood took over from original announcer Joel Block after the program’s first dozen years.

“Since 1991 I’ve been with you every day, telling you about the wonders of the universe,” she says at the end of the July 16 episode. “Recent health problems, though, have left me unable to continue, so this is my final episode. My thanks for all of the support from our StarDate audience — the best in the universe!”

Wood’s first broadcast aired September 16, 1991, and she recorded a total of 10,166 episodes. She has been a broadcaster since the 1960s, serving as a radio DJ and talk-show host, and voicing programs and commercials for local, regional, and national clients, including NASA.

Voice talent Billy Henry will be taking over for Sandy Wood beginning July 17.  Billy is no stranger to public radio, serving as the voice for Brain Stories and going on to record hundreds of voiceovers for TV, radio and film. He is also a composer, musician, teacher, sound designer, and “maker of things,” including musical instruments.

Stardate_BillyIntro.mp3
Billy Henry says hello to StarDate audience.

“While I might not be able to stick it out for 28 years like Sandy did, I’m looking forward to telling you about the universe for a long time to come,” Henry said.

Exit mobile version