Jason Sandford
Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.
Big changes at WCQS. From the Asheville Citizen-Times:
ASHEVILLE — Public Radio station WCQS is expanding its local and regional content by hiring a fulltime “Morning Edition” host and reporter and by adding new reports for morning and afternoon drive times from news director David Hurand.
Because of Hurand’s new focus, the station will no longer be producing “Byline,” “Conversations” and “Evening Rounds,” evening programs hosted by Hurand, said Jody Evans, executive director.
This will be the final week of these programs.
“This is really about expansion,” she said. “We want more local content … it’s an issue of taking the resources we have now and refocusing so that we can reflect the region more than we do now.”
From the WCQS website:
Along with community sources with whom WCQS listeners are familiar – gardeners, veterinarians, weather experts – new voices from across the region will be added. Hurand is planning regular conversations with local bloggers, shop owners, authors and booksellers.
Along with the expansion of the news department WCQS is also adding two new national programs to its schedule.
Marketplace is public radio’s daily magazine on business and economics news “for the rest of us.” The 30-minute program—with an irreverent reporting style all its own—airs on more than 320 public radio stations nationwide and boasts the largest audience for any business program in the United States on radio, cable or network television. Marketplace will air weekday evenings at 6:30, beginning February 21st.
The Splendid Table is a cultural culinary program that celebrates food and its ability to touch the lives and feed the souls of everyone.
Spots by Executive Director Jody Evans also started airing today in which Evans says federal funding of public radio is threatened. She urges people to support the station financially.
Seems kinda of odd to announce the cancellation of 3 locally produced programs and the addition of 2 national programs in the same breath of indicating an increased focus on local content.
Sounds like the typical "doublespeak" which flows out of Wash DC.
I'm a big fan and frequent listener of both of our regional public radio stations. But the local CQS programs being cancelled are one of the things which I consistently turned to the dial to 88.1 for in the past.
I'll miss the local shows that are leaving and am trying to maintain a "wait and see" attitude as how the new "local content" plays out.
I'm cautiously optimistic that the new programming will live up to the claim of increased local content.
Culture, it's all part of the new-look WCQS, I think.
What's up with those corny promos WCQS has been running?