New England Public Media is a

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

that operates the

public broadcasting Public broadcasting involves 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 ...

outlets in

Western Massachusetts Western Massachusetts, known colloquially as “Western Mass,” is a region in Massachusetts, one of the six U.S. states that make up the New England region of the United States. Western Massachusetts has diverse topography; 22 colleges and u ...

, including the Springfield area. It operates the region's

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

member, Amherst-licensed

WFCR WFCR (88.5 MHz) is a non-commercial FM radio station licensed to Amherst, Massachusetts. It serves as the National Public Radio (NPR) member station for Western Massachusetts, including Springfield. The station operates at 13,000 watts ERP f ...

(New England Public Radio) and its associated satellites, and the region's

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

member, Springfield-licensed

WGBY-TV WGBY-TV (channel 57) is a PBS member television station in Springfield, Massachusetts, United States. Owned by the Boston-based WGBH Educational Foundation, it is a sister station to that organization's flagship and namesake, WGBH-TV (channel ...

. The formation of New England Public Media was announced on April 11, 2019, by Martin Miller, CEO of WFCR, and Anthony Hayes, general manager of WGBY. WFCR, owned by the

University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts and the sole public land-grant university in Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Founded in 1863 as an agricultural college, ...

, and WGBY, owned by the

WGBH Educational Foundation The WGBH Educational Foundation (also known as GBH since August 2020) is an American public broadcasting group based in Boston, Massachusetts. Established in 1951, it holds the licenses to all of the PBS member stations in Massachusetts, and ...

, had been exploring ways to collaborate since 2017. Hayes and Miller felt joining forces would expand their local journalism efforts. Miller said that many people in the area already believed WFCR and WGBY were linked, despite having had separate owners for decades. New England Public Media officially took control of the stations in the summer of 2019. New England Public Media is led by a board comprising members of WFCR's fundraising arm, the New England Public Radio Foundation, and WGBY's board of tribunes. Miller is president and CEO, while Hayes is chief operating officer and general manager. The merged organization operates WFCR and WGBY under program service operating agreements with UMass Amherst and the WGBH Foundation, which retain the licenses for WFCR and WGBY, respectively. The NEPR Foundation retains operation of the "NEPR News Network," which runs an expanded schedule of NPR news programming. The merged organization has 78 employees, including a 21-member newsroom; it intends to increase its newsroom to 30 journalists by 2022.

References

External links

* {{Official website, https://www.nepm.org/ Public television in the United States Public radio in the United States Mass media companies established in 2019 2019 establishments in Massachusetts Non-profit organizations based in Massachusetts