Through the fall, the Monroe County Radio Project took steps toward expanding its local radio offerings. The community news program, “Monroe County Today,” which airs on WHFI-FM three times a week, Tuesday through Thursday, increased from a five- to 10-minute segment to a full 15. The goal is to make it a five-day-a-week program and launch the project’s website by March 1.
Project Director Maryanne Reed, dean of West Virginia University’s Perley Isaac Reed School of Journalism, reports that “the technical and editorial quality of the show has improved dramatically.” The AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer, who is the show’s primary reporter but had no previous journalism experience, has been covering town meetings and producing other hard-news pieces. High school students at Monroe County Technical Center, where WHFI is housed, have stepped up their involvement, voicing and producing features. “Monroe County Today” added new “franchises” to the report, including Business Spotlight, Coaches Corner, Health Minute, a cooking segment by a local restaurant and Future Farmers of America Minute.
Twelve WVU students also have chipped in; five of them have produced stories for the station on such topics as state elections, watershed protection and WVU activities. The project garnered local publicity in November when West Virginia Public Television aired an 11-minute story, produced by Reed, about the program.
“Monroe County Today” has filled a void as the only broadcast news coverage this community receives, Reed says. But she notes that progress has been slower than expected. The expansion of the program and website launch have been pushed back two months. The debut of a half-hour public affairs program, originally slated for January, is now set for the summer. “We believe the timetable we presented in the grant application was unrealistic, given the enormity of the project and its scope,” Reed writes.
Another area that has required additional effort is attracting community-reporter volunteers. A WVU contingent will host a second training seminar in Monroe County this spring, targeting community members. Project leaders will also hire one part-time person, and perhaps more, to post content to the website.
Distance has been an issue. WVU is a four-hour drive from WHFI. WVU student and instructor feedback on the news program had been sent via e-mail only and came across as too critical and condescending to WHFI volunteers. Reed says the project leaders at WVU realize they need to visit in person more often. “We thought we could do a lot of this via e-mail, but it’s just not enough,” Reed says. Without face-to-face visits, “it’s an abstraction. And we’re viewed as the experts from our ivory tower and not helping them really with their daily problems.” Part of the goal of the spring training session, Reed says, is “to strengthen our relationship and to demonstrate our commitment.”
