It is probably harder to raise $340k ... that is the yearly budget of community radio station WPKN 89.5 FM from Bridgeport (with it's twin in Montauk at 88.7 FM). As a staff member and producer at the station I want to ask you to help keep alternative (to NPR, commercials, underwriting and blah) radio alive on the air and streaming at wpkn.org.
That's the station that broadcasts Democracy Now! with Amy Goodman (10 pm weekdays) , Free Speech Radio News and a diverse spectrum of musical genres from hip-hop and reggae to jazz, blues and classics and now - direct from the South Fork - folk music dished out by local musicians Caroline Doctorow and Mick Hargreaves (1st Saturday each month from 7 to 8 pm). Other programs produced here on the East End include "Tidings from Hazel Kahan", a series of interviews and essays on topical subjects and "East End Ink" with readings from poetry and prose works recorded at Canio's Books in Sag Harbor and other east end venues.
When local non-profits need a boost WPKN/M airs appeals from organizations such as the Bridgehampton Child Care and Recreational Center or the East Hampton Food Pantry.
btw: You may not know that you can send your organization's announcements now to psa@wpkn.org or if you are staging a rally or political event to the White Rose Political Calendar at whiterosewpkn@gmail.com. (Send me a copy at eastendnewsteam@yahoo.com). Your announcement will be read on air and find its way onto our new web site (wpkn.org)*.Keeping this going is getting harder with the deep recession we're going through! Contributions have been falling off but our expenses haven't, although with an all-volunteer staff (with the exception of the general manager and a part-time secretary) we keep our costs as low as they can possibly be.
Starting Saturday October 17 and extending through Sunday October 25 WPKN will be asking for your help. Tune in and hear some unusual entertainment including 'Covering the Beatles' and the 'Best of WPKN'. Get in the spirit and call our on-air fund-raising line at 203-384-wpkn (203-384-9756) during those days or contribute at www.wpkn.org * here you can visit our on-line store
Thanks for listening
Tony Ernst
631-259-2482
* new web site to be launched this weekend
