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September 3, 2010

The Voice of Community Radio: WFHB

In this issue...

  • General Manager's Report
  • Music Report
  • News Report

Hello WFHB friends.  This is the first e-newsletter we've sent out in a while and we hope to deliver one to you monthly from here on out.  WFHB's e-news will contain information on what's happening at the station, upcoming events with contributions from the General Manager, news and music departments.  As always feedback is appreciated at manager@wfhb.org.

General Manager's Report from Will Murphy

WFHB: The Next Generation
This is a summer of major transition for WFHB. Perhaps the most significant milestone is the negotiation for a permanent home for Bloomington Community Radio.  Although many were concerned when the future of the John Waldron Art Center (and WFHB’s home base) was in doubt earlier this year, we hope to soon have a finalized agreement with Ivy Tech Community College guaranteeing the station a permanent, rent-free space. Many thanks to former WFHB board President Mark Need (an IU law prof) for helping to steer the conversations with the City of Bloomington and Ivy Tech to a successful conclusion. Thanks also to the board members and volunteers who joined in the discussion, and  to former GM Brian Kearney, who was instrumental in providing perspective on the intentions behind the original donation of the Waldron Center almost 20 years ago. And thank you to Chancellor John Whikehart and our friends at Ivy Tech—we’re looking forward to many years of productive and happy collaboration….

The Year of Living Digitally
As we head into fall secure in the Firehouse, we’re completing work on the digital conversion—a year-long effort to replace WFHB’s aging transmitter with a state-of-the-art digital transmitter. The project began last fall, when we successfully submitted a grant to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to help fund the project. The federal government will provide about $56,000 toward the $87,000 cost. The rest was generated by local contributions, including substantial grants from the Community Foundation of Bloomington/Monroe County and from the City of Bloomington. Support also came from literally dozens of community radio supporters, and the conversion wouldn’t have been possible without them. And we have to thank 9th District Congressman Baron Hill, who wrote a letter of support for our grant application to the CPB.

Since the transmitter arrived in late spring, engineer Jeffrey Morris has been actively tinkering with the equipment, making sure all the electronic i’s are dotted and t’s crossed. He’s spent a lot of time at the transmitter site (thanks, by the way, to WFHB volunteer Kirby Thompson, for helping to prepare the tower site for installation of the new transmitter), and it looks like all systems are go. Jeffrey got a lot of help from former GM Markus Lowe and computer network guru Johrdan Vicstein, both of whom were instrumental in setting up the linking system between the studio and the transmitter site 12 miles south of town.

The new transmitter means an improved, CD-like sound for the main station frequency, 91.3. Plus, down the road, we will be able to provide even more community-based programming on a secondary channel. We’re just beginning the process of figuring out what that content should be, and welcome ideas and suggestions. We should also note that folks who DON’T have digital radios will still be able to pick up the analog signal.

Finally, on Saturday, September 4th at 11:00am in the Ivy Tech John Waldron Firebay, we will hold a special ceremony celebrating the 35th anniversary of the filing of the Bloomington Community Radio (WFHB) articles of incorporation. We'll have Rep. Baron Hill to deliver remarks, along with Mayor Mark Kruzan, and Community Foundation of Bloomington/Monroe County CEO Shari Woodbury.

Collaborations Between CATS and Dog
This summer WFHB celebrates the one-year anniversary of its collaborative weekly news program “CATS Week,” produced in cooperation with the folks at Community Access Television.  The show provides a half-hour weekly digest of all local county, city, and school meetings—a sort of local blending of Readers Digest and C-SPAN. The program is entirely in keeping with WFHB’s focus on *local* news and public affairs. As an additional bonus, the show helps get the station’s name and logo in front of thousands of cable television subscribers on three different channels (7, 12, and 14). Initiating that program also provided a revenue stream that enabled us to hire an assistant news director (January Jones, who serves as producer for the program). Check the CATS Web site (www.catstv.net) for program air times. Having gotten this program on stable footing, we look forward to expanded collaborations with the great folks at CATS (see news director Chad Carrothers’ discussion of election coverage, for example), and are grateful for their help and guidance in these new endeavors.

Can a Dog Change His Spots?
Well, probably not. But Spot, the tireless, hardworking WFHB mascot, can at least get a fresh coat of paint. Originally designed by local artist and longtime WFHB friend Joe LaMantia, Spot has been showing his age lately, with a broken hat, a fractured tail, and a tired-looking coat. Always popular anytime we take him out for a walk, Spot will now shine brighter thanks to the ministrations of local musician and friend Steve Pollitt, who this week took a gallon of paint and gave the pooch a new lease on life. Thanks, Steve!Meanwhile, we’ve sent Spot’s hat (damaged by a firebay door when Spot was being returned to his kennel)  back to Joe for reconstructive surgery.

Taking It To The Street
Please be sure to stop by the WFHB booth at the Fourth Street Fair, which takes place September 4th and 5th. The new and improved Spot will be on hand, along with other friends of community radio!

Fund Drive!!!
Fund drive arrives a little later than usual, due in part to an earlier-than-usual scheduling of the Lotus music festival. The fund drive is set for September 24-October 3. Our goal is $45,000—a five thousand dollar bump from last fall’s drive. We’ve already sent out renewal letters to folks who contributed last year, and we thank those who’ve already sent in their financial support. What the preliminary responses indicate is that people are renewing at, or slightly below, their previous levels of support. And that trend may continue through the drive itself. What that means, if we’re to make our goal this fall, is that we need to bring in some new supporters. If we brought in just 35 new members—just three or four new contributors each day of the fund drive—that could make the difference in generating the revenue we need to keep community radio on the air.Take a minute to think of someone you know who’d enjoy WFHB’s programming. Introduce a friend to community radio. If you’re a supporter, chances are you’re a pretty good salesperson for the station! That one listener you bring to the table could make the difference. And if you haven’t yet renewed your membership, or perhaps your membership lapsed some time ago, you can go to our secure Web site and pledge for another year. Please don’t forget that WFHB—live, local COMMUNITY radio—is volunteer-powered and LISTENER SUPPORTED!!

And Finally…
To the volunteers who come in each day, to the folks who make a financial contribution to keep the station on the air, to our partners who work with WFHB to serve the community, to our board of directors who put in so many  volunteer hours, and to my colleagues on the staff who work too many hours for too little pay: THANK YOU for helping make the miracle of community radio in Bloomington possible for another year!



Music Report from Jim Manion

Welcome to the first edition of our revived newsletter. I hope to use this space to update WFHB listeners to music programming highlights. Your community radio station has seen a tremendous amount of growth and an upswing in new volunteers over the last two years. WFHB music programming is as unique, diverse and creative as it has ever been – a true reflection of our wonderfully music-centric community. Thanks to the over 100 volunteer music programmers who make this happen, and thanks for listening!

WFHB Acoustic Roots Festival a Big Success!
We held our third annual Acoustic Roots Festival at Story Inn on July 4th and it was a great success all the way around. No rain, a great crowd, and a wonderful lineup of American roots music from local favorites and headliner Eilen Jewell. Eilen Jewell was WFHB’s most played artist of 2009 and it was a real treat to see eilen and her dynamite band finish off the festival with a bang. Big thanks to Garden of Joy, Davy Jay Sparrow and His Well Known Famous Drovers, Bobbie Lancaster, Tim Grimm & Jan Lucas, White Lightning Boys and the Eilen Jewell band for their excellent performances – and for their generosity that made this a successful benefit for WFHB. We raised about $2500 for the station. We could not have done it without our WFHB volunteer crew – Shane Young, Jim Lang, Tilman Piedmont, Kelley Wherley, Roscoe Medlock, Emily Jackson, Allison Strang, Beth Garfinkel, Mark Richardson, Beth Moses, Mike McAfee, Rachael McAfee, Catherine Rademacher, David Smith, and Kyrie Greenberg. And, of course, big thanks to Rick Hostetter and his staff at Story Inn. Get out your 2011 calendar and circle the date – our next Acoustic Roots Festival is Monday, July 4th!

WFHB Local Music Celebration – Saturday, September 4
WFHB is celebrating the 35th anniversary of our non-profit organization’s official “date of birth” on September 4th. As a part of the festivities, we will be airing nothing but local/regional music on Saturday, September 4th from 6am-10pm. LPs, cassettes, CDs, archived WFHB studio sessions, audio from our very first benefit at the Bluebird on July 9, 1975, and more - all day long. WFHB spins local music every day, but this will be a truly special day.

WFHB LP/CD Sale – Saturday, September 11
In 1993, WFHB inherited about 15,000 LPs from Cable FM WQAX. Since then, we have received thousands more as folks transitioned to CDs in their home collections. Our CD music library is also busting at the seams. It’s time to clean house!  WFHB music volunteers have been combing through our collections to purge multiple copies and identify LPs and CDs that no longer get much airplay. We will be holding a sale of these library discards on Saturday, September 11 from 1pm-6pm. If you are looking for obscure, one-of-a-kind LPs and CDs - or just weird record jackets to decorate your rumpus room - don’t miss this sale.  As we reorganize the “keepers” for easier access by our volunteer DJs, you will be hearing more classic LPs and current vinyl releases on the air. Bring on the “Vinyl Revival”!

Krista Detor CD Release Show Live Broadcast – Saturday, September 11
Bloomington singer-songwriter Krista Detor will be celebrating the domestic release of her long-awaited new CD Chocolate Paper Suites at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater on Saturday, September 11th at 8pm. WFHB will be broadcasting the entire show LIVE for Krista’s fans here at home and around the world.

WFHB Lotus Festival Programming – September 16 & 17
Since 1995, WFHB has dedicated the Friday of Lotus Festival weekend to recordings of Lotus Festival artists and live studio sessions from visiting musicians from around the world. In 2008 we expanded this all-Lotus programming to Thursday afternoon as well. It is too early to confirm who will be in our studios for Lotus Festival 2010, but I guarantee it will be worth tuning in for as the excitement builds and the Lotus tents and stages go up all around us. In the weeks leading up to the festival, Lotus artists are always prominent in our music mix. WFHB is the only place on your radio dial to get familiar with the sounds of Lotus.

Fund Drive Live – September 24-October 3
Fund Drive Live has become an important feature of our semi-annual on-air membership drives. Every day of the drive we air at least two live musical performances from our studios, during which time local artists and bands offer up their recordings as thank you gifts for those who pledge support. WFHB is blessed to be on the air in such a vital music community and our musical supporters are much appreciated. Tune in, enjoy the music – and don’t forget to pledge!

Local Live On Location
In 2009, thanks to new technology that allows us to stream live music back to the radio station from any location with a good wireless connection, WFHB began monthly live broadcasts of our Local Live feature from Russian Recording. We have also done live broadcasts from Midwest Audio and Farm Fresh Studios as part of this series. After taking a few months off this summer, we will return to regular monthly live broadcasts on Local Live, alternating between Russian, Midwest and Farm Fresh. We will be broadcasting from Midwest on September 9, from Farm Fresh on October 6, and from Russian on November 3. Featured artists for these shows will be posted on our website, and all shows are free and open to the public. Big thanks to Mike Bridavsky (Russian Recording), Rich Morpurgo (Midwest Audio), and Jake Belser (Farm Fresh Studios) for inviting us into their studios!



News Report from Chad Carrothers

Greetings from the “newshounds” in the WFHB News Department, headquartered in the bustling “hound pound” newsroom - that’s the last office on the left at the end of the hallway, don’t trip on our chewtoys!

WFHB News Wins ELEVEN State Journalism Awards
Congratulations to the WFHB News Team, which this year brought home a record ELEVEN awards for excellence in broadcasting from the Indiana chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. In each category there is a first, second, and third place, and an honorable mention. This year we earned 5 first-place awards, 3 second-place awards, 2 third-place awards, and 1 honorable mention.  Our most impressive wins include Best Radio Newscast of 2009, Best Social Justice Reporting, and Best Radio Writing.  Here’s a rundown of the winners:
  • BEST NEWSCAST: 1st Place - Daily Local News 10/22/09 - Joy Laughter, Scott Weddle, Chad Carrothers, January Jones, Mark Fishman, Kelly Wherley, William Morris, Andrew Anderson.
  • BEST NEWSCAST: 3rd Place - Daily Local News 8/27/09 - Joy Laughter, Scott Weddle, Chad Carrothers, Drew Daudelin, Kelly Wherley, William Morris, Jarrod Linne.
  • BEST RADIO WRITING: 1st Place - “My Secret Abortion” - Shana Ritter, Chad Carrothers.
  • BEST RADIO WRITING: 2nd Place - “The True Meaning of Thanksgiving” (holiday edition of "EcoReport") - Nathan Harman, Chad Carrothers.
  • BEST CONSUMER REPORTING: 2nd Place - “We Buy Houses! Now! Cash! Fast!” (segment of “Bloomington Beware!”) - Rich Fish, Chad Carrothers.
  • BEST CONSUMER REPORTING: 3rd Place - “Rubbing Out RoboCalls” (segment of “Bloomington Beware!”) - Rich Fish, Chad Carrothers.
  • BEST RADIO DOCUMENTARY OR SPECIAL: 1st Place - “The Bloomington Storytelling Project” (as broadcast on "Standing Room Only") - Laura Grover, Chad Carrothers.
  • BEST SOCIAL JUSTICE REPORTING: 1st Place - “The Food Stamp Challenge” - Chad Carrothers.
  • BEST CRIMINAL JUSTICE REPORTING: 1st Place - “Jail Lawsuit Settled, Problems Persist” - January Jones, Chad Carrothers.
  • BEST COVERAGE OF CHILDREN’S ISSUES: 2nd Place - “A King’s Legacy: Kids Talk About MLK” - Kai Grise, Thomas Smith, Chad Carrothers.
  • BEST EDUCATION COVERAGE: Honorable Mention - “State Proposal To Change Teacher Certification” - David Murphy, Bill Daugherty.

Kudos to all our winners, especially to the teams responsible for our near-sweep of the Best Newscast category. It should be noted that these awards are open to ALL Indiana radio stations, not just community or public radio, so we are competing with radio newsrooms that have exponentially more resources. We are the only community radio station that competes as far as I know, and our peers in the Society of Professional Journalists have sent us a clear message: YOU ROCK!

Brown County Hour
After nearly a year of planning and fundraising, on July 24th a group of more than two dozen volunteers launched the Brown County Hour, an hour-long radio program to celebrate and share the culture of Brown County, Indiana and provide a dedicated and open forum for people to explore this unique community.  This is a program that has been talked about for a long time, since a few years ago when volunteers successfully raised the money needed to erect a radio tower in Brown County to broadcast community radio WFHB on a new frequency, 100.7, specifically serving the Brown County area.  Things really heated up in December, when another fundraiser garnered the funds necessary to purchase studio equipment and field recorders for show production.  But perhaps the most important development in the show’s production is our new partnership with the Brown County Historical Society, which agreed to give the show a studio home inside the Traditional Arts Building in downtown Nashville.  The pilot episode has a summer theme, with stories and poetry from the hot and sticky porches of Brown County.  The volunteer staff are already hard at work preparing an autumn program for broadcast on October 16.  The show staff will then evaluate whether the show is ready to switch from quarterly to monthly broadcast.  The first show has already racked up more than a thousand downloads at www.wfhb.org/news/browncountyhour.  There is also an official show page at  www.browncountyhour.com.

Farmer's Market Reports
This summer WFHB launched Farmer's Market Live, hourly updates broadcast live from the Bloomington Community Farmers' Market.  Hosted and produced by the powerhouse trio of Kirby Thompson, Joe Estivill, and Tilman Piedmont, Farmer's Market Live is your connection to the bustling Saturday market.  Every Saturday at every hour at twenty 'til the hour between 8am and 1pm, this team of roving reporters talk to market staff, activists, patrons, vendors, and anyone else with something to say.  It’s the next best thing to being there.

Bloomington Storytelling Project
Laura Grover is a self-professed public radio fanatic. In particular she loves to listen to stories, like those she hears on her favorite radio program, “The Moth” on public radio WNYC. Her love of storytelling compelled her to create the Bloomington Storytelling Project, and for about a year now WFHB has partnered with the BSP to host live storytelling events.  Now that partnership deepens with the development of a weekly story showcase, tentatively set to launch in October.  Grover has assembled an amazing crew of nearly a dozen people to preserve the tradition of oral history and build community by providing a platform for local people to share their true stories.  This is a show you won’t want to miss!

Rock The Vote!
WFHB’s annual election coverage is by far the most intense project we commit to every year.  While other WFHB News annual traditions like the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day programming and the Homelessness Marathon require a similar concentrated burst of volunteer power, election coverage requires more complex, extended levels of volunteer coordination and advance planning.

Fall coverage starts in summer actually, with short stories on the Daily Local News about issues candidates raise as part of their campaign platforms.  It kicks into high gear about four weeks before the election, as we begin producing our Candidate Spotlight series of campaign speeches, to air several times a day in the week prior to the election.  Also about four weeks out we dedicate every edition of our weekly programs Interchange and Standing Room Only to election coverage - SRO is airing four on-location tapings of local candidate forums and Interchange will be four solid weeks of live in-studio interviews with candidates in contested local races.

Meanwhile, as the election draws closer the Daily Local News includes more and more campaign coverage, and local shows like Bring It On! and Hola Bloomington reach out to minority voters to make sure they know about issues like our state’s strict voter ID law.  One week to go and as Candidate Spotlight hits the airwaves we begin mapping out coverage for the Big Night, built around our exclusive live feed from the county clerk’s office but also featuring embedded reporters at both local party headquarters and a steady stream of pundits in the main studio.  All this great programming will be online at wfhb.org/news- click on “Election” or the individual show links.  This year we will deepen our partnership with Community Access Television Services, with CATS televising many of our forums and providing a live video feed of our election night coverage.

Are You A Tweeter?
You're invited to join the more than 400 "followers" of the WFHB News Twitter account.  This is a great way to get breaking news AND updates on what's going on behind-the-scenes and on the air with WFHB News. Go to twitter.comand search for WFHB News.  Or, you can always you can visit the WFHB news website at www.wfhb.org/news.

Bark at the Dogs
The newshounds want to hear from you.  We’ll listen to your ideas, your comments, your suggestions - we’re all (big floppy) ears, as they say.  If you have questions or comments, drop me a line at news@wfhb.org.  Thanks for reading and see you next time with more fleas to scratch!



Don't forget, WFHB is volunteer-powered and listener-supported. You can always pledge your support for the station on our secure web site at www.wfhb.org. You are receiving this message as a subscriber to the WFHB Spotlight Newsletter.