A Look Inside WBUR

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WBUR is..

...a major source of news and information in New England and one of the country's pre-eminent public radio stations. WBUR provides thorough and intelligent coverage of national, international and regional news, plus extensive reports from National Public Radio (NPR), the BBC, Public Radio International, American Public Media and WBUR's own newsroom. WBUR produces more than 25 hours of original news and programming each week that are distributed to other public radio stations around the country, on XM satellite radio and podcasts, and streamed on WBUR.org.

Mission Statement

As New England's leading source of news and information, The WBUR Group believes that responsible, in-depth, objective journalism can help people better understand issues affecting them, can assist them in making informed decisions, and can improve the world around us. We provide access to different voices and different viewpoints so that all of us might understand how events can change the lives of others and change the way in which we, ourselves, view the world. WBUR’s highest ideal is to contribute meaningfully to an informed, engaged and caring citizenry.

History

WBUR-FM went on the air at 4:00 PM on March 1, 1950, as a 400-watt non-commercial educational FM station licensed to Boston University. In its early years, the WBUR-FM staff was a mixture of amateurs, professionals, volunteers and students.

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Through the 1960s, more and more radio professionals joined WBUR and gradually transformed the station’s format. By 1971, WBUR had enough full-time employees to qualify for status as a public radio station and applied to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) for certification. In 1980, the station began to receive programming from NPR via satellite. By 1982, WBUR had established its identity as a news station, with NPR's "Morning Edition" and "All Things Considered" broadcast each weekday and local news programming produced by a staff of young reporters. These changes coincided with the significant recognition WBUR began to receive at the local and national levels. In 1984, the station won three Associated Press (AP) Awards for news coverage. In May, 1987, WBUR won the 1986 George Foster Peabody Award -- the most prestigious national award for broadcasters -- for "Liberation Remembered," a four- part series on the Holocaust. Since then, WBUR has won the Peabody two more times, including an award for "Car Talk" in 1993.

John F. Kennedy in 1951, during a WBUR interview in his first political campaign.

In March, 1999, WBUR-FM was named "News Station of the Year" by the New England Associated Press (AP), an award it has since received three times from both the Regional AP and the Radio and Television News Directors' Association (RTNDA).

Today, WBUR broadcasts with an effective radiated power of 40,000 watts and the station has continued to grow substantially in size and stature. Two daily programs are broadcast live from our Boston studios and distributed throughout the nation on NPR-member stations. These are "On Point," hosted by Tom Ashbrook (10am-12noon, M-F; rebroadcast 7-9pm), and "Here & Now," hosted by Robin Young (12-1pm, M-F). In addition to these award-winning programs are two others broadcast from WBUR studios on a weekly basis: the fêted "Car Talk," with "Tappet Brothers" Tom and Ray Magliozzi; and "Only A Game," hosted by Bill Littlefield. "Car Talk," distributed by NPR, is heard on more than 350 stations nation-wide and is one of NPR's most popular offerings. NPR assumed national distribution of "Only a Game" in 1997 and "On Point" in 2004. Public Radio International began distributing "Here & Now" in 2005 to NPR affiliates across the nation.

Within the past decade, WBUR has garnered dozens of prestigious awards both for its news coverage and its website, wbur.org. This includes recognition from RTNDA, CPB, Public Radio News Directors, the Public Radio Program Directors, the Massachusetts Broadcasters' Association, Ohio State University, Columbia University, the American Bar Association, the American Medical Association and many other professional and academic organizations. Most recently, these awards have included the Regional AP award for 'News Station of the Year' in 2005 and 2004, and RTNDA awards for 'Overall Excellence,' 'Feature Reporting,' and 'Regional Broadcast-Affiliated Website Winner' in 2005. In fact RTNDA has named wbur.org 'Regional Broadcast-Affiliated Website Winner' for the last five consecutive years.

The WBUR Group is currently managed by Paul La Camera, a veteran of broadcast journalism, who came on board as General Manager in October, 2005. Sam Fleming heads News and Programming, Jeff Hutton directs the station’s corps of engineers, Corey Lewis is Station Manager and Jean Wong is Director of Finance. For additional biographies of WBUR’s senior-level management team, click here.