There are three employees of WRFA: General Manager-Dennis Drew, Public Affairs Director-Jason, and Content and Programming Coordinator-Gaven Paterniti who is responsible for syndicated programming.
The station provides public affairs programming on local, state and national politics. Syndicated programs include: Democracy Now, Star Talk, Commonwealth Club of California, lectures from Chautauqua Institution, medical and health programming, Milk Street Radio, Splendid Table and short features-radio vignettes.
Local programming includes daily news three times in the morning and, since COVID 19, once in the afternoon. WRFA stayed open throughout the shutdown to provide local updates. There are also local news stories on the web, such as write ups of City Council or County Legislature. These are also posted on the Face Book. Community Matters is a weekly talk show. Arts on Fire is another platform for musicians and artists. The station also airs public service announcements.
Last year, WRFA hosted public debates before elections. To do this, they collaborated with WJTN and Western NY News Now. Thanks to CRCF funding, there was live video as well as streaming on YouTube. Due to COVID restrictions, the holiday music show usually held at the Reg was recorded and released by WRFA.
Jason noted that music programming is what he categorizes as “off the beaten path” music, this includes Rush Hour which airs local music every week day from 4-5 pm.
There are opportunities for volunteering, both on the air and off. Specialty shows are done such as Rolling Hills Radio with Ken Hardley. Even now, back issues are played weekly and are available on the web. Other examples are the Swedish Hour-in English and Swedish and Latin Inspiration-in Spanish. One unusual one is “Nobody’s watching this NFL podcast”.
Besides the debates, other collaborations include the Western New York History podcast with Jason, Noah Goodling and Ashley Senske. Jason also works to be a bridge with local organizations including Infinity, the Jackson Center and others.
How do we stay on the air? Funding comes from several sources, including underwriting by businesses, donations from individuals, fundraisers such as the Great American Picnic at Southern Tier Brewery. Underwriters are recognized with general support announcements, since advertising is not permited. Additionally, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting provides funding based on local contributions.
More information is at WRFA's website
www.WRFALP.com and also on Face Book and Twitter.
Questions and Answers:
Q:Jennifer Johnson wanted to know if Jason wanted to weigh in on the historical county divide? Jason has addressed the issue, starting when he was at the Star newspaper. The newspaper worked to attract County-wide readership. There are many efforts to make people more aware of the “other half”. Jennifer suggests that we brag about all the attributes that CHQ County should boast.
Q. Greg Jones. What are your average listener numbers? Arbitron ratings give these numbers, however it is expensive to subscribe, so WRFA does not have the statistics. The station tracks analytics on web useage where there are about 5,000 visits a week. People stream and read the news items. About 25-50 people stream a day. There are about 75-80,000 people in the listening area.
Q: David Troxell. WRFA is a great asset to Jamestown. There is a lot of focus on balance in media. What is it that goes into your thought process that make your decisions? Jason, as Public Affairs Director tries to be objective and balanced. WRFA needs to cover issues that people should be aware of and if there are differing opinions, people need to be made aware of this. Jason tries to be educated on the topic so that he can challenge statements not based in fact. He does not think local issues are as polarizing as national issues.
Vince Horrigan stated that he admires Jason’s focus on issues and his preparation. He noted on the north/south divide there are efforts underway. The united ways and community foundations both north and south are working together. Mark Geise is working on a county wide effort to coordinate investments through the IDA. Efforts to encourage SUNY Fredonia students to participate in the local community continue.
Q: Lynne Gruel noted that Jason is celebrating 10 years at WRFA in July. What is the biggest change? The biggest change has been the recent renovation of Reg Lenna Complex which included the multi-media arts studio on the top floor. The video opportunities have greatly increased and surely will expand in the next ten years. Other opportunities may be identified by the Community Advisory Board and Dennis Drew. On demand style programming might be an expanding opportunity.
Q: David Troxell asked, will you ever go commercial? A license is much more expensive and also has a lot more record keeping. Jason isn’t aware that there is any initiative in this direction.
Joni thanked Jason for a most informative presentation.
