WAMC
Encyclopedia
WAMC is a public radio
network headquartered in Albany, New York
. As of April, 2011, the network comprised 11 transmitters and 11 translators. The organization's legal name is "WAMC" and it is also known as "WAMC Public Radio" or "WAMC Northeast Public Radio Network."
In addition, the station operates The Linda, WAMC Performing Arts Studio, a performance venue in Albany located near its Central Avenue studios.
A member of NPR
and affiliate of Public Radio International
and American Public Media
, WAMC is a charitable, educational, non-commercial broadcaster meeting the requirements of Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. §501(c)(3))
WAMC is a public radio
network headquartered in Albany, New York
. As of April, 2011, the network comprised 11 transmitters and 11 translators. The organization's legal name is "WAMC" and it is also known as "WAMC Public Radio" or "WAMC Northeast Public Radio Network."
In addition, the station operates The Linda, WAMC Performing Arts Studio, a performance venue in Albany located near its Central Avenue studios.
A member of NPR
and affiliate of Public Radio International
and American Public Media
, WAMC is a charitable, educational, non-commercial broadcaster meeting the requirements of Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. §501(c)(3))
WAMC is a public radio
network headquartered in Albany, New York
. As of April, 2011, the network comprised 11 transmitters and 11 translators. The organization's legal name is "WAMC" and it is also known as "WAMC Public Radio" or "WAMC Northeast Public Radio Network."
In addition, the station operates The Linda, WAMC Performing Arts Studio, a performance venue in Albany located near its Central Avenue studios.
A member of NPR
and affiliate of Public Radio International
and American Public Media
, WAMC is a charitable, educational, non-commercial broadcaster meeting the requirements of Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. §501(c)(3))Guidestar.org: The organization's IRS Form 990 - 'Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax'. It had total annual revenues for the fiscal year 2009 of $6.49 million.
Its corporate officers include Anne Erickson, chair of the board of trustees and Alan S. Chartock, president & chief executive officer (since 1981).
and Albany Medical College
. Albany Medical Center is a large tertiary-care hospital serving the upper Hudson Valley, and the medical school (with which it is affiliated) is one of the country's ACGME-accredited medical schools. The affiliation with Albany Medical Center was the source of the call letters "WAMC."
The station's 24/7 non-commercial classical musical format served a large listener base and was popular amongs music aficionados. The earliest years also included broadcasts of health information and lectures from visiting professors. Early on, part of WAMC's regular programming was the broadcast of live concerts by the Boston Symphony Orchestra
from Tanglewood
and Boston. When the NPR network was founded in 1970, WAMC signed-on as one of NPR's original ninety 'charter' members. Around 1980, financial pressures caused the hospital and medical school to divest the station. In 1981, the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) license on 90.3FM was transferred to a 501c3 tax-exempt entity, WAMC, which had been set up by a group of five corporators (amongst them the current CEO and president, Alan S. Chartock) affiliated with the State University of New York
and New York State government. In the years since the transfer, the station has cut back on most classical music programming (live BSO concerts are still broadcast) while becoming a producer of information-based, non-music programming, providing a variety of interview-format programs to radio stations across the country via the station's in-house subsidiary, National Productions.
Community and corporate contributions (often obtained during regular fund drives) have helped the original single station grow over the years into a network of 22 facilities with large primary service contour
s covering New York's capital district, western Massachusetts, southern Vermont, and parts of New Hampshire, Connecticut, and New Jersey. WAMC-FM's main transmitter and antenna are atop Mount Greylock
in Adams, Mass., the highest mountain in the state, giving the flagship 90.3 MHz signal a large radius for a transmitter of its size.
It has been a custom on WAMC to play two songs to mark the end of every fund drive: Kate Smith
's "God Bless America
" and Ray Charles
' rendition of "America the Beautiful
".
A Washington-based NPR news producer, who requested anonymity, stated that Alan Chartock, the station's president and a frequently heard voice on the station, presents politically-biased commentary. The producer stated that he was "driving through upstate New York and listening to the local public radio station, and there was this guy on the air ranting." "He was talking about the war in Iraq and how wrong it was and how we’re being held hostage as a country by this right-wing administration." The NPR producer assumed he had tuned into a Pacifica
radio station, one of a small network of community radio stations that broadcast left-of-center advocacy-journalism programs. "But then I nearly couldn’t believe it when this guy said, ‘In just a few moments we’ll be returning to NPR’s All Things Considered
.’ The NPR producer was listening to a pledge drive hosted by (WAMC CEO) Alan Chartock.
"If you took a photo of me in the car,” says the NPR producer, “my jaw would have been on the floor. It really freaked me out. As a producer, I want NPR to be viewed as middle-of-the-road. I want people to think that NPR is fair. But when someone like Chartock gets on the air, it makes us look like a left-of-center organization, just as we believe Fox cable news is a right-wing organization because they mix commentary with news. And I guarantee you that Joe Listener out there is not making a distinction between the crazy local guy and the reasonable national organization."
Chartock responded that WAMC’s editorial neutrality is maintained by "including as many conservative commentators on the air as liberal ones".
In 2005, WAMC's board of trustees established a "First Amendment Fund" to promote and preserve the First Amendment and the right of free speech by providing a source of funding "to support WAMC if special situations or needs should arise". The contributions in this "unrestricted, board designated" fund reported on WAMC's 2006 IRS Form was $482,577.
Public broadcasting
Public broadcasting includes radio, television and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service. Public broadcasters receive funding from diverse sources including license fees, individual contributions, public financing and commercial financing.Public broadcasting may be...
network headquartered in Albany, New York
Albany, New York
Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...
. As of April, 2011, the network comprised 11 transmitters and 11 translators. The organization's legal name is "WAMC" and it is also known as "WAMC Public Radio" or "WAMC Northeast Public Radio Network."
In addition, the station operates The Linda, WAMC Performing Arts Studio, a performance venue in Albany located near its Central Avenue studios.
A member of NPR
NPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
and affiliate of Public Radio International
Public Radio International
Public Radio International is a Minneapolis-based American public radio organization, with locations in Boston, New York, London and Beijing. PRI's tagline is "Hear a different voice." PRI is a major public media content creator and also distributes programs from many sources...
and American Public Media
American Public Media
American Public Media is the second largest producer of public radio programs in the United States of America after NPR. Its non-profit parent, American Public Media Group, also owns and operates radio stations in Minnesota, California, and Florida. Its station brands are Minnesota Public Radio,...
, WAMC is a charitable, educational, non-commercial broadcaster meeting the requirements of Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. §501(c)(3))
WAMC is a public radio
Public broadcasting
Public broadcasting includes radio, television and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service. Public broadcasters receive funding from diverse sources including license fees, individual contributions, public financing and commercial financing.Public broadcasting may be...
network headquartered in Albany, New York
Albany, New York
Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...
. As of April, 2011, the network comprised 11 transmitters and 11 translators. The organization's legal name is "WAMC" and it is also known as "WAMC Public Radio" or "WAMC Northeast Public Radio Network."
In addition, the station operates The Linda, WAMC Performing Arts Studio, a performance venue in Albany located near its Central Avenue studios.
A member of NPR
NPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
and affiliate of Public Radio International
Public Radio International
Public Radio International is a Minneapolis-based American public radio organization, with locations in Boston, New York, London and Beijing. PRI's tagline is "Hear a different voice." PRI is a major public media content creator and also distributes programs from many sources...
and American Public Media
American Public Media
American Public Media is the second largest producer of public radio programs in the United States of America after NPR. Its non-profit parent, American Public Media Group, also owns and operates radio stations in Minnesota, California, and Florida. Its station brands are Minnesota Public Radio,...
, WAMC is a charitable, educational, non-commercial broadcaster meeting the requirements of Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. §501(c)(3))
WAMC is a public radio
Public broadcasting
Public broadcasting includes radio, television and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service. Public broadcasters receive funding from diverse sources including license fees, individual contributions, public financing and commercial financing.Public broadcasting may be...
network headquartered in Albany, New York
Albany, New York
Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...
. As of April, 2011, the network comprised 11 transmitters and 11 translators. The organization's legal name is "WAMC" and it is also known as "WAMC Public Radio" or "WAMC Northeast Public Radio Network."
In addition, the station operates The Linda, WAMC Performing Arts Studio, a performance venue in Albany located near its Central Avenue studios.
A member of NPR
NPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
and affiliate of Public Radio International
Public Radio International
Public Radio International is a Minneapolis-based American public radio organization, with locations in Boston, New York, London and Beijing. PRI's tagline is "Hear a different voice." PRI is a major public media content creator and also distributes programs from many sources...
and American Public Media
American Public Media
American Public Media is the second largest producer of public radio programs in the United States of America after NPR. Its non-profit parent, American Public Media Group, also owns and operates radio stations in Minnesota, California, and Florida. Its station brands are Minnesota Public Radio,...
, WAMC is a charitable, educational, non-commercial broadcaster meeting the requirements of Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. §501(c)(3))Guidestar.org: The organization's IRS Form 990 - 'Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax'. It had total annual revenues for the fiscal year 2009 of $6.49 million.
Its corporate officers include Anne Erickson, chair of the board of trustees and Alan S. Chartock, president & chief executive officer (since 1981).
History
WAMC started in 1958 as a radio station for the local hospital and medical school, Albany Medical CenterAlbany Medical Center
Albany Medical Center is the name of the umbrella organization over the Albany Medical Center Hospital and Albany Medical College in Albany, New York...
and Albany Medical College
Albany Medical College
Albany Medical College is a medical school located in Albany, New York, United States. It was founded in 1839 by Amos Dean, Dr. Thomas Hun and others, and is one of the oldest medical schools in the nation...
. Albany Medical Center is a large tertiary-care hospital serving the upper Hudson Valley, and the medical school (with which it is affiliated) is one of the country's ACGME-accredited medical schools. The affiliation with Albany Medical Center was the source of the call letters "WAMC."
The station's 24/7 non-commercial classical musical format served a large listener base and was popular amongs music aficionados. The earliest years also included broadcasts of health information and lectures from visiting professors. Early on, part of WAMC's regular programming was the broadcast of live concerts by the Boston Symphony Orchestra
Boston Symphony Orchestra
The Boston Symphony Orchestra is an orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is one of the five American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1881, the BSO plays most of its concerts at Boston's Symphony Hall and in the summer performs at the Tanglewood Music Center...
from Tanglewood
Tanglewood
Tanglewood is an estate and music venue in Lenox and Stockbridge, Massachusetts. It is the home of the annual summer Tanglewood Music Festival and the Tanglewood Jazz Festival, and has been the Boston Symphony Orchestra's summer home since 1937. It was the venue of the Berkshire Festival.- History...
and Boston. When the NPR network was founded in 1970, WAMC signed-on as one of NPR's original ninety 'charter' members. Around 1980, financial pressures caused the hospital and medical school to divest the station. In 1981, the Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
(FCC) license on 90.3FM was transferred to a 501c3 tax-exempt entity, WAMC, which had been set up by a group of five corporators (amongst them the current CEO and president, Alan S. Chartock) affiliated with the State University of New York
State University of New York
The State University of New York, abbreviated SUNY , is a system of public institutions of higher education in New York, United States. It is the largest comprehensive system of universities, colleges, and community colleges in the United States, with a total enrollment of 465,000 students, plus...
and New York State government. In the years since the transfer, the station has cut back on most classical music programming (live BSO concerts are still broadcast) while becoming a producer of information-based, non-music programming, providing a variety of interview-format programs to radio stations across the country via the station's in-house subsidiary, National Productions.
Community and corporate contributions (often obtained during regular fund drives) have helped the original single station grow over the years into a network of 22 facilities with large primary service contour
Service contour
In US broadcasting, service contour refers to the area in which the Federal Communications Commission predicts and allows coverage....
s covering New York's capital district, western Massachusetts, southern Vermont, and parts of New Hampshire, Connecticut, and New Jersey. WAMC-FM's main transmitter and antenna are atop Mount Greylock
Mount Greylock
Mount Greylock is the highest natural point in Massachusetts at . Its peak is located in the northwest corner of the state in the western part of the town of Adams in Berkshire County. Although geologically part of the Taconic Mountains, Mount Greylock is commonly associated with the abutting...
in Adams, Mass., the highest mountain in the state, giving the flagship 90.3 MHz signal a large radius for a transmitter of its size.
It has been a custom on WAMC to play two songs to mark the end of every fund drive: Kate Smith
Kate Smith
Kathryn Elizabeth "Kate" Smith was an American Popular singer, best known for her rendition of Irving Berlin's "God Bless America". Smith had a radio, television, and recording career spanning five decades, which reached its pinnacle in the 1940s.Smith was born in Greenville, Virginia...
's "God Bless America
God Bless America
"God Bless America" is an American patriotic song written by Irving Berlin in 1918 and revised by him in 1938. The later version has notably been recorded by Kate Smith, becoming her signature song ....
" and Ray Charles
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson , known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records...
' rendition of "America the Beautiful
America the Beautiful
"America the Beautiful" is an American patriotic song. The lyrics were written by Katharine Lee Bates and the music composed by church organist and choirmaster Samuel A. Ward....
".
Accusations of bias
NPR's official news policy says its affiliate stations should be "fair, unbiased, accurate, honest, and respectful of the people that are covered."A Washington-based NPR news producer, who requested anonymity, stated that Alan Chartock, the station's president and a frequently heard voice on the station, presents politically-biased commentary. The producer stated that he was "driving through upstate New York and listening to the local public radio station, and there was this guy on the air ranting." "He was talking about the war in Iraq and how wrong it was and how we’re being held hostage as a country by this right-wing administration." The NPR producer assumed he had tuned into a Pacifica
Pacifica Radio
Pacifica Radio is the oldest public radio network in the United States. It is a group of five independently operated, non-commercial, listener-supported radio stations that is known for its progressive/liberal political orientation. It is also a program service supplying over 100 affiliated...
radio station, one of a small network of community radio stations that broadcast left-of-center advocacy-journalism programs. "But then I nearly couldn’t believe it when this guy said, ‘In just a few moments we’ll be returning to NPR’s All Things Considered
All Things Considered
All Things Considered is the flagship news program on the American network National Public Radio. It was the first news program on NPR, and is broadcast live worldwide through several outlets...
.’ The NPR producer was listening to a pledge drive hosted by (WAMC CEO) Alan Chartock.
"If you took a photo of me in the car,” says the NPR producer, “my jaw would have been on the floor. It really freaked me out. As a producer, I want NPR to be viewed as middle-of-the-road. I want people to think that NPR is fair. But when someone like Chartock gets on the air, it makes us look like a left-of-center organization, just as we believe Fox cable news is a right-wing organization because they mix commentary with news. And I guarantee you that Joe Listener out there is not making a distinction between the crazy local guy and the reasonable national organization."
Chartock responded that WAMC’s editorial neutrality is maintained by "including as many conservative commentators on the air as liberal ones".
Network expansion
WAMC has grown into a network of eleven stations and eleven translators serving portions of seven New England and Middle Atlantic States, bringing news, information and cultural programming. The station's fund drive in March 2011 raised over $1,000,000 in nine days.First Amendment Fund
In 2005, WAMC's board of trustees established a "First Amendment Fund" to promote and preserve the First Amendment and the right of free speech by providing a source of funding "to support WAMC if special situations or needs should arise". The contributions in this "unrestricted, board designated" fund reported on WAMC's 2006 IRS Form was $482,577.
Original programming
WAMC produces many programs of its own. These include:- The Academic Minute
- The Best of Our Knowledge
- The Book Show
- The Capitol Connection
- Dancing on the Air (monthly presentation of Live at the Linda)
- 51%
- The Health Show
- Hudson River Sampler
- The Legislative GazetteLegislative GazetteThe Legislative Gazette is a weekly newspaper covering New York state government and politics located in Albany, New York. Published on Mondays from September through June, the publication bills itself as "The weekly newspaper of the New York state government".The Gazette prints original articles...
- Live at the Linda
- The Media ProjectThe Media ProjectThe Media Project is a weekly radio program that provides an inside look at media coverage of current events. Panelists on the discussion-based show include Times Union Editor Rex Smith, WAMC CEO Alan S. Chartock, WTEN TV Anchor Elisa Streeter, and Daily Freeman Publisher Ira Fusfeld...
- Midday Magazine
- Northeast Report
- Performance Place
- The Power of Words
- The Roundtable
- Tim Coakley Jazz
- Vox Pop
- WAMC Bluegrass Time
Former programs
- The Environment Show -- name was dropped, format changed, and program morphed into "In Our Backyard," with NYS wildlife expert Ward Stone.
- Knock on Wood -- with Steve Charney and Harry
- Me and Mario
- Music Through The Night -- Midnight to 5 A.M.
- Rachael's Place
- Weekly Rundown
- Zucchini Brothers show
National productions
WAMC also produces programs that are distributed under the name "National Productions". These include:- The Academic Minute
- The Best of Our Knowledge
- The Book Show
- The Capitol Connection
- 51%
- The Health Show
- The Legislative GazetteLegislative GazetteThe Legislative Gazette is a weekly newspaper covering New York state government and politics located in Albany, New York. Published on Mondays from September through June, the publication bills itself as "The weekly newspaper of the New York state government".The Gazette prints original articles...
- The Media ProjectThe Media ProjectThe Media Project is a weekly radio program that provides an inside look at media coverage of current events. Panelists on the discussion-based show include Times Union Editor Rex Smith, WAMC CEO Alan S. Chartock, WTEN TV Anchor Elisa Streeter, and Daily Freeman Publisher Ira Fusfeld...
Stations, wattage, service contour maps
| Call Sign Call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign is a unique designation for a transmitting station. In North America they are used as names for broadcasting stations... |
Frequency Frequency Frequency is the number of occurrences of a repeating event per unit time. It is also referred to as temporal frequency.The period is the duration of one cycle in a repeating event, so the period is the reciprocal of the frequency... |
Location Location (geography) The terms location and place in geography are used to identify a point or an area on the Earth's surface or elsewhere. The term 'location' generally implies a higher degree of can certainty than "place" which often has an ambiguous boundary relying more on human/social attributes of place identity... |
Effective Radiated Power Effective radiated power In radio telecommunications, effective radiated power or equivalent radiated power is a standardized theoretical measurement of radio frequency energy using the SI unit watts, and is determined by subtracting system losses and adding system gains... (ERP) or transmitter power output (T.P.O.) |
Service contour Service contour In US broadcasting, service contour refers to the area in which the Federal Communications Commission predicts and allows coverage.... maps |
Call sign Call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign is a unique designation for a transmitting station. In North America they are used as names for broadcasting stations... meaning |
| WAMC-FM | 90.3 FM | Albany, NY | 10.0 kW ERP (10,000 watts) | Map | see infobox |
| WAMC WAMC (AM) WAMC is a public radio station licensed to Albany, New York and owned by WAMC, Inc. The station broadcasts at 1400 kHz at 1 kW unlimited, and is an AM repeater of WAMC-FM.... |
1400 AM | Albany, NY | 1 kW Unlimited hours (1,000 watts) | Map (Day) Map (Night) |
see infobox |
| WRUN | 90.3 FM | Remsen, NY | 1.2 kW ERP (1,200 watts) | Map | Rome-Utica News |
| WAMK | 90.9 FM | Kingston, NY | 0.94 kW ERP (940 watts) | Map | Kingston |
| WOSR | 91.7 FM | Middletown, NY Middletown, Orange County, New York Middletown is a city in Orange County, New York, United States. It lies in New York's Hudson Valley region, near the Wallkill River and the foothills of the Shawangunk Mountains. Middletown is situated between Port Jervis and Newburgh, New York. The city's population was 25,388 at the 2000 census... |
1.80 kW ERP (1,800 watts) | Map | unknown |
| WCEL | 91.9 FM | Plattsburgh, NY | 0.38 kW ERP (380 watts) | Map | unknown |
| WCAN | 93.3 FM | Canajoharie, NY | 6.0 kW ERP (6,000 watts) | Map | CANajoharie |
| WANC | 103.9 FM | Ticonderoga, NY | 1.55 kW ERP (1,550 watts) | Map | Adirondack North Country |
| WAMQ | 105.1 FM | Great Barrington, MA | 0.73 kW ERP (730 watts) | Map | variation of WAMC |
| WWES | 88.9 FM | Mount Kisco, NY | 0.20 kW ERP (200 watts) | Map | |
| WANZ | 90.1 FM | Stamford, NY | 0.23 kW ERP (230 watts) |
WAMC-FM
WAMK
WOSR
WCAN
Other
Coverage maps
- WAMC's published coverage map showing counties that are covered in whole or in part
- Old service contour map - created with the intent of discrediting WAMC's coverage claims, using the map above (an outdated version predating WAMC's most recent network expansions) overlaid with FCC service contour maps (again, predating expansions) for comparison. When viewing this map, the following FCC disclaimer should be taken into consideration: "Often stations may be received at locations well beyond the displayed service contour, depending on the location of other stations on the same or adjacent channels."
External links
- WAMC Homepage
- The WAMC Performing Arts Studio -- A WAMC-owned venue in downtown Albany adjacent to their studios.
- WAMC (Inside) -- Web log at timesunion.com
- WAMC Student Town Meetings
- WAMC Northeast PIRATE Network -- A Web site critical of WAMC and its management.