First air date December 1, 1975 | Branding Community Radio | |
Frequency 89.9 MHz FM Radio (also on HD Radio) Format Community Radio (news/talk/variety) | ||
WORT (89.9 FM) is a listener-sponsored community radio station, broadcasting from 118 S. Bedford St. in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. WORT offers a range of programming.
Contents
- Programming
- Music programming
- News and public affairs programming
- Organizational structure
- History
- Affiliations
- Awards
- References
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.
Programming
WORT broadcasts a mix of music and talk programming. All of WORT's music programs are produced by local DJs. WORT airs 33 hours of news and public affairs programming per week, 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.
Music programming
The weekday music schedule includes:
The weekend music lineup includes a range of genres. Saturday's programming is divided into two-hour shows, including:
Sunday's music has more variety, including:
News and public affairs programming
Organizational 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.
Volunteers provide most of the on-air programming. In addition, many volunteers contribute to off-air operations.
History
WORT went on the air in 1975.
Radio host Michael Feldman became a volunteer in 1977, broadcasting "The Breakfast Special" from a diner on Madison's east side every morning for several years before joining Wisconsin Public Radio.
Affiliations
WORT is a member of the National Federation of Community Broadcasters and the Grassroots Radio Coalition. The station hosted the GRC-5 Conference in 2000 and GRC-11 in 2006.
WORT is an affiliate of the Pacifica network, the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC), and the Public Radio Satellite System, which is how it broadcasts programs like the BBC, supplied in the U.S. by Public Radio International. The station is also a member of the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association.
WORT also has a standing rebroadcast agreement with Madison Indymedia.
Awards
WORT has been voted "Madison's Favorite Radio Station" in the Isthmus Annual Manual (readers' poll) sixteen times. 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 two Wisconsin Broadcasters Association Merit Awards for its 2006 documentary on Uganda's "invisible children" and its 2005 documentary on the Hurricane Katrina aftermath. It 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.