WPKN (89.5 FM) is a non-commercial

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...

licensed A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...

by the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction ...

(FCC) to

Bridgeport, Connecticut Bridgeport is the List of municipalities in Connecticut, most populous city and a major port in the U.S. state of Connecticut. With a population of 148,654 in 2020, it is also the List of cities by population in New England, fifth-most populous ...

. WPKN is a

freeform radio Free-form, or free-form radio, is a radio station programming format in which the disc jockey is given total control over what music to play, regardless of music genre or commercial interests. Freeform radio stands in contrast to most commerci ...

station, staffed by volunteer programmers presenting a wide variety of music and public affairs programming. The syndicated weekly radio newsmagazine ''Between the Lines,'' a weekly show, was first produced in 1991 with Scott Harris, Denise Manzari, Bob Nixon, environmental journalist

Jim Motavalli Jim Motavalli (born 1952) is a journalist, author, and speaker who specializes in environmental issues, particularly green cars, climate, transportation, and various aspects of sustainable energy. He writes for '' E–The Environmental Magazine' ...

and many others at WPKN. Since 1993, Harris has been Between The Lines' executive producer.

History

WPKN was founded in 1963 as the college radio station of the

University of Bridgeport The University of Bridgeport (UB) is a private university in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The university is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education. In 2021, the university was purchased by Goodwin University; it retain its own n ...

, but became independent of the university in 1989. The call letters originally stood for "Purple Knights Network," named after the university's sports teams. Many stations below the 92 MHz FM band receive funds from commercial entities despite being part of the non-commercial radio band. This is thought by some to present the potential for conflicts of interest. WPKN only takes funds from private donors with no stipulations for their expenditure attached. This allows the music and news programmers complete freedom to produce their own shows with no outside pressure. WPKN also had a carrier current on 540 AM. In a 2021 article for

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

David Owen David Anthony Llewellyn Owen, Baron Owen, (born 2 July 1938) is a British politician and physician who served as Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs as a Labour Party (UK), Labour Party MP under James Callaghan from 1977 t ...

labeled WPKN "the greatest radio station in the world", praising its human-made playlists in comparison to "corporate algorithms" on other radio stations.

References

External links

* Radio stations established in 1963 University of Bridgeport Mass media in Hartford County, Connecticut PKN Mass media in Bridgeport, Connecticut Mass media in Fairfield County, Connecticut Community radio stations in the United States 1963 establishments in Connecticut {{Connecticut-radio-station-stub

History

See also

References

External links