Occupation CEO, WAMC Name Alan Chartock | Spouse Roselle Chartock | |
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Born July 25, 1941 (age 82) ( 1941-07-25 ) Books Me and Mario Cuomo: Conversations in Candor Education New York University, American University | ||
Alan Seth Chartock (born July 25, 1941) is the president and chief executive officer of WAMC/Northeast Public Radio, a National Public Radio affiliate, a position he has held since 1981. He was professor of political science at SUNY New Paltz and is a Professor Emeritus of communications, at the State University of New York (SUNY) and executive publisher and project director for the Legislative Gazette, a weekly newspaper, staffed by college intern reporters, covering New York State government.
Contents
- Background
- Radio personality
- Awards
- Chartocks political views
- Support for Chartocks programming
- References
Chartock hosts the weekly Capitol Connection public radio program, and writes a syndicated column on politics which appears in newspapers throughout New York state.
Background
Born in New York City, Chartock worked in the state legislature for Senator Manfred Ohrenstein. He attended the New Lincoln School, graduated from Rhodes High School. Chartock is a graduate of Hunter College (BA '63), received an MA from American University, and a Ph.D. from New York University. He is married to Dr. Roselle K. Chartock, an author and professor of education at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts in North Adams. They reside in Great Barrington, Massachusetts and have two grown children, Jonas S. Chartock and Dr. Sarah R. Chartock.
Radio personality
Chartock participates in a broad swath of WAMC's radio programs.
Chartock increased his on-air presence after retiring from his full-time university teaching duties. He is now listed as a professor emeritus at SUNY Albany.
Awards
Chartock has won numerous awards at SUNY, including the Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching and the SUNY Council of University Affairs and Development Award for Educational achievement. He was one of the first recipients of the SUNY Award for Excellence. In 2007, Chartock was chosen to receive the 2006 Alumni Association Award for Distinguished Teacher from the SUNY New Paltz Alumni Association.
He is the recipient of an Honorary Doctorate for public service from the Sage Colleges and an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Western New England College and Westfield State College.
Chartock's political views
Chartock says he is concerned about governmental restrictions on free speech. He is dismayed by what he calls the proliferation of corporate run radio stations, which he believes express extreme right-wing views without giving opposing viewpoints. He has called Pete Seeger "an American hero".
According to Gadi Dechter of CityPaper.com, Chartock "publishes a blog on WAMC's web site that has featured sharp attacks on the Republican Party, the Bush administration, and 'neocons' in general."
Support for Chartock's programming
Stephen Yasko, manager of WTMD (89.7 FM), an NPR member station in Towson, MD which plays mostly adult-alternative music, contends that any quality-control challenges which might be created by NPR's decentralized nature are outweighed by the advantage of unique local programming.
"Public radio stations reflect the values and texture of the communities they serve," says Yasko, who has also worked in the NPR member services department. "If NPR or any national organization had too much control or input into every station's local personality, then you would lose the very thing that makes us what we are. So if Alan Chartock is what Albany and upstate New York created and what works for them, that's a beautiful thing, no matter what some outsiders might say."
Under Chartock's leadership, WAMC has grown into a network of fourteen stations (all broadcast identical programming) and a web-based service serving portions of seven New England and Middle Atlantic States, bringing news, information and cultural programming to what WAMC claims is an audience of nearly 400,000 monthly listeners. The station's thrice-yearly fund drives have a goal of one million dollars each as of 2013.