WORT

WORT (89.9 FM) is a listener-sponsored community radio station, broadcasting from 118 S. Bedford St. in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. WORT offers a range of programming.
WORT's FM signal reaches a roughly 50-mile radius around Madison. In early 2006, the station began webcasting all of its programming in both high-quality (96k) and low-quality (32k) streams. WORT also maintains an archive of recent news and public affairs programs available for podcast, download, or stream.
Programming.
WORT broadcasts a mix of music news and talk programming. All of WORT's music programs are produced by local DJs. WORT airs 30 hours of news and public affairs programming per week, 21.5 hours of which are reported and hosted by volunteers. All of the programmers at the station are volunteers from the community, including DJs, hosts, reporters, and engineers.
Music programming.
The weekday music schedule includes:
The weekend music lineup includes a range of genres. Saturday's programming is divided into two-hour shows, including:
Sunday's music includes:
Organizational structure.
The organizational structure of WORT reflects the station's principles of democratic decision making; the paid and unpaid workers (the volunteers) at the station elect the Board of Directors; the Board sets policy and hires full-time and part-time paid staff. The full-time staff is organized as a collective that operates within sound management practices and written policies established by the Board. The staff collective oversees the day-to-day operations of the station.
Volunteers provide most of the on-air programming. In addition, many volunteers contribute to off-air operations.
History.
WORT went on the air in 1975, broadcasting at 89.7 FM. The frequency was later changed to 89.9 FM.
Radio host Michael Feldman became a volunteer in 1977, broadcasting "The Breakfast Special" from a diner on Madison's east side every morning for several years before joining Wisconsin Public Radio.
2018 studio shooting.
Early in the morning of August 5, 2018, a masked suspect entered the station's studios and began shooting. Five shots were fired at three hosts, with on-air personality Eugene Crisler’EL taking a shot in his right buttock; he was treated and released from the hospital quickly after the incident, and some minor studio damage occurred. The station remained in dead air for 6½ hours until Madison Police finished their evidence gathering procedures and allowed broadcasting to resume, and have said the incident was not random, but targeted at the station.<ref name="Aug. shooting CBS/AP"></ref>
Affiliations.
WORT is a member of the National Federation of Community Broadcasters and the Grassroots Radio Coalition. The station hosted the GRC-5 Conference in 2000 and GRC-11 in 2006.
WORT is an affiliate of the Pacifica network, the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC), and the Public Radio Satellite System, which is how it broadcasts programs like the BBC, supplied in the U.S. by American Public Media. The station is also a member of the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association.
WORT also has a standing rebroadcast agreement with Madison Indymedia.
Awards.
WORT has been voted "Madison's Favorite Radio Station" in the "Isthmus" Annual Manual (readers' poll) sixteen times. Several of its programs have made the top three list of favorite radio shows, including Mel & Floyd (multiple years), Back to the Country, and Pan-Africa.
WORT received two Wisconsin Broadcasters Association Merit Awards for its 2006 documentary on Uganda's "invisible children" and its 2005 documentary on the Hurricane Katrina aftermath. It won best documentary in 2005 from Public Radio News Directors Incorporated for its investigation of pollution at the Madison Kipp factory. It also received a WBA Merit Award for its 2005 election lead-up coverage.