Annual Review
The following is NYPR's Annual Review for the Fiscal Year ending June 30, 2011. [PDF]
1. Mission Statement
New York Public Radio's mission is "to make the mind more curious, the heart more tolerant and the spirit more joyful through excellent radio programming."
2. NYPR Board of Trustees (current as of June 2011)
Herb Scannell, Chair
Alexander Kaplen, Vice Chair
Cynthia King Vance, Vice Chair
Howard S. Stein, Treasurer
Alan G. Weiler, Secretary
Laura R. Walker, President & CEO
Jean B. Angell
Tom Bernstein
David R. Caplan
Andrea Collins
Charles M. Diker
Martha Fleischman
Susan K. Freedman
Pamela Kindler
Kate D. Levin, ex officio
Anton J. Levy
Joanne Matthews
Zarin Mehta
Bethany Millard
Richard A. Pace
Ellen Polaner
John S. Rose
Jon W. Rotenstreich
Joshua Sapan
Irwin Schneiderman
Lauren Seikaly
Susan Rebell Solomon
Anne Spitzer
Mayo Stuntz
Nicki Newman Tanner
Andrea L. Taylor
Keith Thomas
Wilma S. Tisch
Frank D. Yeary
3. Latest audited financial statements (attached as a PDF)
Overview of NYPR Radio Income and Expenses for Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 2011
Total Support & Revenue: $53,711,502
Program Services
Radio Programming: $30,468,906
Technical Operations: $4,338,576
Marketing: $2,542,498
Total Program Services: $37,349,980
> Total Expenses: $53,046,690
Total Assets: see report
Total Liabilities: see report
Net Asset Balance: $88,081,217
4. Most recent IRS Form 990 (attached as a PDF)
5. Senior Staff
Laura Walker, President and CEO
Tom Bartunek, Vice President, Planning & Special Projects
Dean Cappello, Senior Vice President, Programming; Chief Content Officer
Thomas Hjelm, Vice President; Chief Digital Officer
Margaret Hunt, Vice President, Development
Noreen O'Loughlin, Vice President, Integrated Marketing & General Manager, The Jerome L. Greene Performance Space
Graham Parker, Vice President, WQXR
Cindy Prater, Vice President, Human Resources & Organizational Effectiveness
Michele Rusnak, Vice President, Finance & Administration; Chief Financial Officer
6. New York Public Radio Articles of Incorporation (attached as a PDF)
New York Public Radio Bylaws (attached as a PDF)
New York Public Radio Conflict of Interest Policy (attached as a PDF)
New York Public Radio Good Standing Certificate (attached as a PDF)
Absolute Charter of the WNYC Broadcasting Foundation (attached as a PDF)
7. MISSION AND HISTORY
As the most listened-to radio station in Manhattan — commercial or otherwise — and the most listened-to public radio station in the country, WNYC Radio reaches over 1.1 million listeners each week. Consisting of AM 820, FM 93.9, and wnyc.org, WNYC aims to inform the public locally and globally on current events, politics, and civic affairs; export New York’s arts and cultural riches to the rest of the world; and give voice to diverse audiences. WNYC provides the most comprehensive news, music, and cultural programming radio has to offer, completely free of charge. Established in 1924 as a municipal radio station and operated as such for seventy-four years, WNYC, New York Public Radio, is now run as an independent, not-for-profit organization. The station has more than 100,000 members, giving it one of the largest membership bases of any institution in the city.
WQXR
WNYC acquired WQXR from The New York Times, enabling New York City’s only dedicated classical music station to continue broadcasting exemplary classical music 24 hours a day, seven days a week. WQXR went on the air on 105.9 FM in October, and operates out of WNYC’s facilities on Varick Street in Hudson Square. Now operating as a noncommercial listener-supported station, WNYC expands its long-term commitment to cultural excellence by preserving classical music on the radio for New Yorkers.
The Jerome L. Greene Performance Space
WNYC entered a new dimension in 2009 with the opening of The Jerome L. Greene Performance Space. The Greene Space is a state-of-the-art, multimedia performance space and broadcast studio that redefines the relationship a public radio station has with its home community. The Greene Space hosts broadcasts and live tapings of WNYC’s signature programs, including The Brian Lehrer Show, The Leonard Lopate Show, Soundcheck, Radiolab, Studio 360, On The Media, The Fishko Files and Jonathan Schwartz. In addition, WQXR-related music concerts and festivals, audio theater, literary readings, art exhibits, political debates, symposia, town hall meetings and other exciting public events are presented in the space. The Greene Space was created to galvanize conversations around the life, arts, and politics of our city and our world, and to be a platform for innovation and experimentation. For the first time, New Yorkers are welcomed inside WNYC to experience great radio as it is created.
PROGRAMMING OVERVIEW
WNYC produces more than 125 hours a week of original local and national programming, which includes the Peabody Award-winning programs On the Media, Studio 360, and Radio Rookies, as well as the innovative science program Radiolab. Other content produced by WNYC includes the Peabody-Award winning The Brian Lehrer Show (which Time hailed as "New York City's most thoughtful and informative talk show"); The Leonard Lopate Show (a talk show with a roster of guests that are a “who’s who” in culture and the arts); Soundcheck (daily talk and live musical performances); New Sounds (a daily exploration of world, ethnic, and jazz music); and Jonathan Schwartz’s Saturday and Sunday shows (songs from the Great American Songbook).
Public Radio Favorites
With original programming and content from National Public Radio (NPR), Public Radio International (PRI), and other public radio distributors, WNYC also airs the finest public radio favorites from across the country such as Morning Edition, Fresh Air, This American Life, A Prairie Home Companion, and Car Talk.
News and Information:
In-Depth, Informed, and Connected to Our Community
At the heart of WNYC’s news and information effort is our award-winning newsroom that believes that independent information sources are vital to democratic societies. WNYC-produced pieces are frequently aired on the nationally distributed programs Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and Marketplace. The goals of our news and information programs are to deliver in-depth news reporting, promote informed discussion on the issues of our time, and encourage people to actively participate in the life of their community.
The Brian Lehrer Show
Supplementing the work of the newsroom is one of our listeners’ favorite programs, The Brian Lehrer Show. During his daily two-hour interview/talk program, Brian Lehrer synthesizes the major issues of the day and provides a conduit for analysis between his interviewees and callers, and moderates a discussion that always covers both sides. Recent notable guests have included Governor Jon Corzine and Governor David Patterson, Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Krugman, astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, documentary filmmaker Michael Moore, reporter Christiane Amanpour, and linguist Noam Chomsky.
On the Media
On the Media takes a magnifying glass to the American media machine and enlightens and entertains us with their findings through analysis, investigative reporting, and satire. Hosted by Brooke Gladstone and Bob Garfield, On the Media is a co-production with NPR and distributed nationally as a weekly show. Since On the Media was re-launched in 2001, it has been one of NPR's fastest growing programs, heard on 206 public radio stations. It has won Edward R. Murrow Awards for feature reporting and investigative reporting, the National Press Club's Arthur Rowse Award for Press Criticism, and a Peabody Award. In January 2005, On the Media became the first public radio program to offer its content via podcast. On the Media is downloaded nearly 300,000 times per month.
Radio Rookies
WNYC’s Peabody-award winning Radio Rookies program provides teenagers with the tools and training to create radio documentaries about themselves and their communities. Since 1999, WNYC has conducted Radio Rookies workshops across the five boroughs in predominantly under-resourced neighborhoods, training young people to use words and sounds to produce stories that open windows into worlds rarely represented authentically in the media. Radio Rookies stories are broadcast on WNYC during the local edition of NPR's Morning Edition, and also have been heard on NPR's All Things Considered and PRI's This American Life. The Peabody judges hailed the Radio Rookies’ reporting as “remarkably immediate and illuminating.”
The Takeaway with John Hockenberry and Celeste Headlee
In April of 2008, WNYC launched an interactive live national morning news program. Hosted by John Hockenberry and Celeste Headlee, The Takeaway combines reporting, lively conversations, and on-line comments from listeners at www.thetakeaway.org. The Takeaway is a unique partnership and co-production of global news leaders including PRI (Public Radio International) and WNYC Radio, in collaboration with the BBC World Service, The New York Times, and WGBH Boston. The Takeaway uses the vast newsgathering resources of its editorial partners to access local intelligence, gather authentic voices, and feature a range of perspectives.
SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS
In recent years, WNYC has added new reporters and production/editorial staff members to the station’s news force. This expanded editorial capability allows us to better report on complex issues that affect New Yorkers, such as immigration, public safety, education, healthcare, economy, and affordable housing. Current Special Investigations include:
Uncommon Economic Indicators
In this special user-generated-content feature, The Brian Lehrer Show invites listeners to tell their story, or report on what they see, on how the current economic situation affects their daily lives in New York City. This multimedia project collects local stories about the recession with the help of listener calls, photographs, video and writing on our website. Listeners have noted halted real estate developments, higher unemployment, and local businesses closing in their neighborhood. Uncommon Economic Indicators received a Notable Entry in the Knight-Batten Awards for 2009.
Financial 411
In response to the current fiscal crisis, WNYC launched a news segment devoted to the financial industry. In September of 2008, WNYC's Amy Eddings began hosting a five-minute overview of each day’s financial news. This daily financial summary delivers highlights and a preview of what to expect, all with WNYC's context, clarity, and a New York perspective. The Financial 411 airs afternoons at 4:30 on WNYC and is available via podcast.
Main Street NYC
The Main Street project is spending a year looking closely at six blocks to see how the economic downturn is being experienced on the street level, and why Main Street might matter more than Wall Street. Locations include 161st Street in The Bronx, Victory Boulevard in Staten Island, Jersey City, the Bowery in Manhattan, Smith Street in Brooklyn, and Flushing, Queens.
CULTURAL PROGRAMMING
The Leonard Lopate Show
The Leonard Lopate Show is the cornerstone of WNYC’s New York-based cultural programming. Broadcast every weekday from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m., this interview show covers everything from hip-hop operas to haute cuisine to home repairs. Leonard also branched out into hard news with Underreported, a weekly series in which Leonard covers issues ignored by other media. Recent topics included political corruption in Kenya, how the economic recession is affecting human rights around the world, and the psychology behind swine flu hysteria.
Studio 360
Studio 360 is a weekly one-hour look at the intersection between art, popular culture and everyday life. Hosted by novelist and journalist Kurt Andersen and distributed by Public Radio International, Studio 360 is heard on 142 stations nationwide. Through richly textured stories and insightful dialogue about everything from opera to comic books, Studio 360 presents ideas that are provocative, moving and always engaging. Discussions have included Woody Allen musing on how jazz shaped American culture; rapper Guru on the repetition in music, art and dance; Eric Bogosian and William Styron talking about drugs in the art world; and Teller of Penn & Teller in a rare speaking role discussing secrecy in all its guises.
Radiolab
Radiolab is an innovative national science program about discovery and wonder. Each hour-long Radiolab episode centers on a core scientific theme, such as “Choice,” “Stochasticity,” “Race,” or “Memory and Forgetting,” highlighted by vivid audio production featuring an expansive use of sound through a pastiche of conversation, theater, and story. Each program explores the specific theme through a textile of people, sounds, stories, and experiences that are artfully framed and illustrated by co-hosts Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich.
MUSIC PROGRAMMING
WNYC’s rich legacy of bringing its listeners the best in music — from classical to jazz to emerging artists — is evidenced today with programs that reflect the broad spectrum of cultures and interests of our audiences. Now, with the acquisition of WQXR, WNYC expands its long-term commitment to cultural excellence by preserving classical music on the radio for New Yorkers.
New Sounds and Soundcheck
Each weekday, John Schaefer hosts New Sounds at 11 pm, which explores the vistas of contemporary music. Soundcheck, also hosted by John Schaefer, is our daily afternoon interview program about music, and a showcase for the region’s best new cultural offerings. These programs are a key component in realizing WNYC's goal of igniting passion for classical and other types of music, educating listeners about music, and motivating participation in music and art.
The Jonathan Schwartz Saturday and Sunday Shows
When WNYC announced in 1999 that celebrated Sinatraphile Jonathan Schwartz was coming to WNYC, The New York Times, Daily News, Newsday, and the Gannett Journal were just a few of the papers that heralded the radio return of New York’s ‘Dean of The American Standard.’ Every Saturday and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m., Jonathan Schwartz hosts the Jonathan Schwartz Saturday and Sunday Shows. featuring Schwartz’s favorite picks from the world of jazz and popular standards presented in an engaging mix of music and commentary with cultural insight, acclaimed guests, and storytelling.
WQXR
Operated as a non-commercial public radio station on the 105.9FM frequency, WQXR now delivers more music with fewer interruptions each hour. WQXR at 105.9FM provides a new environment for audiences to access, learn about, and enjoy works from the European and American classical canon as well as compositions written by 20th century and contemporary masters. Listeners of Classical WQXR 105.9 will continue to hear many of their favorite shows at the same times as in the past, such as the Metropolitan Opera Radio Saturday Matinee Broadcasts, The Philharmonic This Week on Thursday evenings, McGraw Hill Young Artists Showcase on Wednesday evenings, and Symphony Hall each weeknight. They will also hear more programming from the city's cultural organizations such as the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. A new radio station called "Q2" was launched simultaneously with Classical WQXR 105.9, which features "500 Years of New Music" with a contemporary focus. It also features large-scale festival programming and concerts from WNYC’s Greene Space and other venues around New York City.