CORPORATE

Happy New Year, from me personally and the WHRO team!

January is a time when I reflect on the past year's achievements and prepare for the many exciting ventures we have in the works at the station. It is certainly a very busy time here at WHRO Public Media as we continue to grow our local newsroom, prepare for highly anticipated PBS program premieres, and plan more community events.

I am proud to say that in this new year, the WHRO newsroom officially has nine full-time journalists staff, each of whom is committed to covering local news stories in our area. Our plan is to add three additional reporters in 2023. We intend to start sharing a WHRO Reports newsletter early this year, and I am excited to let you know that we have 120,000 email addresses that will receive this informative newsletter. We hope to grow our journalism endowment to $10 million dollars by the first quarter of 2023 and to reach fifteen million by the end of the year. Local journalism carries the responsibility of accurately reporting news and information that the public deserves to know. WHRO is eager to continue the expansion of our newsroom to bring our community trusted, local reporting.

Animal and pet lovers, get ready for Season 3 of All Creatures Great & Small! WHRO is excited to host an ACGS Season 3 premiere screening and reception at the station on Thursday, January 5th at 6:30 p.m. For those who can't make it to the celebratory screening, Season 3 will premiere on WHRO TV 15 Sunday, January 8th, at 9 p.m. For those who haven't yet discovered All Creatures Great & Small, the show follows a young veterinary surgeon as he treats animals throughout the Yorkshire Dales in the 1930s. The series is one of our favorite PBS programs, and for those who don't know, my wife Missy, and I are devoted cat lovers. We have four cats; Marcus, Annie, Rocher, and Godiva. Our cats were foster kittens that my wife and I fell in love with and kept. Fortunately, she keeps me around as well.

WHRO is once again partnering with Independent Lens. Mark your calendars for an upcoming documentary screening series that is being put together by WHRO's Emerging Leaders Board. Throughout the year, the board will be working with Independent Lens, America's home for independent documentary film, to provide Indie Lens Pop-Ups, a neighborhood series that brings people together for film screenings and community- driven conversations. The upcoming season features stories of people facing adversity and overcoming incredible odds. You can check out the full Indie Lens screening schedule by visiting whro.org/events

Lastly, I hope you have been enjoying WHRO's newest oldies radio station, WFOS Time Machine Radio, broadcast on 88.7 & 99.3 FM or online at TimeMachineRadio.org where you can stream live—anytime, anywhere. The new station has quickly become a staff favorite. Folks are specifically loving Today In Rock History, a morning radio show hosted by Paul Shugrue, which presents a 60 second journey through time—full of factoids, historical moments, and the sounds that shaped musical history from that day. I look forward to seeing how Time Machine Radio flourishes this year, as I am thrilled with the feedback we have received thus far!

The work we do at WHRO would not be possible without your support. As we start 2023, I want to say thank you for being so generous throughout the last year. We look forward to serving you this year by continuing to provide the informative news, programs and music that you enjoy.

Bert Schmidt
President & CEO