Purpose of Station

Our mission is to be an open voice to inform, connect, amplify, and entertain the diverse communities of Baton Rouge. Programming is created by the community and we generally expect to broadcast a diverse mixture that entertains and educates people's musical, literary, and cultural interests; inspires action-oriented listeners who seek civic improvement and fresh visions for Baton Rouge; nurtures ongoing dialogues across races and cultures; and fosters collaboration for community progress.

Audience Identification & Targeting

Our audience include people committed to:

1. environment and conservation
2. education innovation, showcasing, and reform
3. youth-oriented and youth-conducted programming
4. civic engagement, leadership, and neighborhood action
5. community work of and by special populations, i.e., women’s issues, crime abatement, and transportation
6. “think tank” seekers of innovative civic ideas from other communities to build  local knowledge and discourse
7. arts and cultural expansion including the process of creation in multiple mediums, the writing and reading of poetry, and the up-close look at local artists and musicians engaged in the craft of creation

Audience Outcomes/Impact on the WHYR listeners

1. Involve: Content in all talk and educational programming must be imbued with substance and leave an action oriented, motivated feel for the listener.
2. Connect: Articulate the vision of community unity and growth of the forward-thinking populations in the city
3. Provide: Offer dependable program slots to import new ideas, especially those around civic change in the city; i.e., the design of Future BR or the capital improvements plan or mass transit expansion and usage
4. Facilitate: Serve as a public channel “billboard” for community building events and the introduction of new ideas and exchange; the marketing of WHYR will be offering the station as the “progressive Think Tank” of Baton Rouge.
5. Inspire: Ignite a desire to contribute to and link up with the network of change-makers within the city.  This is through the showcasing of special action; i.e., follow-up to the town meetings on crime reduction on a neighborhood level
6. Build: WHYR will devote its interns to extracting and telling the story of grassroots action and concerns from civic associations, and business success stories. We hope to interview entrepreneurs and neighborhood presidents….not done by traditional media on a routine basis.
7. Educate: Produce informational shows on topical issues for community improvement hosted by the entities who are specialists in topic fields such as the La. Wildlife Federation, EBR Recycling Office, the YWCA Dialogue on Race task force on talks today, and art professors from LSU, Southern, and BRCC on cultural enrichment and art expansion in BR.

Guidelines

• Not sure what kind of show to submit? See the station vision to the left, as well as our list of local show ideas.
• It should go without saying, but anyone interested in hosting a program or DJ’ing on WHYR should become a member of the station. Your membership indicates a commitment to the radio station, its vision, and the idea that community radio should flourish.
  
• This is a volunteer-run station. All show hosts work on a volunteer basis.
• WHYR seeks new programming that is unique to the Baton Rouge area and offers something different than other stations. If an individual is submitting a proposal for a local music program, for example, the proposal should articulate how the program will distinguish itself from other local shows on the dial. 
  
• WHYR would like to bring something new and different to the Baton Rouge community. WHYR is not interested in topics and areas of interest that have already saturated the airwaves. Individuals proposing a program should understand WHYR’s programming prospectus, program grid, and understand how their program fits into the mission of the community radio station.
  
• Shows are typically 30 minutes, 1 hour, or 2 hours in length, and are typically run once-a-week. But we welcome unique proposals that are exceptions to this rule: for example, we would welcome a daily-produced 5-minute "cultural calendar" to be run a few times each day.
  
• Programming candidates should plan ahead. There are 52 weeks in a year. Hosting a radio program requires a lot of work and much preparation. It is easier to start with a 30-minute slot to get used to the amount of work involved, and then expand to a longer time slot when you are prepared to do so.
• All show hosts and DJs are considered ambassadors of WHYR and must display professional and polite behavior when performing duties in WHYR studios and interacting with the public on behalf of WHYR.
  
• Show hosts and DJs will be expected to help raise funds for WHYR by seeking potential underwriters for their program, participating in on-air fund-drives, and/or being present at WHYR fundraising events and public functions.
• WHYR’s broadcast license is noncommercial, meaning we are, as a measure of our right to be on the air, not allowed to commercially broadcast. Prospective programmers should disclose conflicts of interest during the proposal process. Proposals that are submitted and focused on promoting one's products, record label, books, etc. will not be considered.

Selection Process

Application and Sample

Potential programmer submits the following:

Program Selection Committee Review

• If approved, the committee requests an in-person meeting with the programmer to discuss any issues or concerns with the proposal. 
• If rejected, the Program Director contacts the applicant and informs him or her of the committee’s decision. 

Interview With the Programmer

The programmer meets in-person with the Program Director and/or Programming Committee to discuss issues or concerns.

• If the committee accepts the programmer’s ideas, the committee will request the first full show to be reviewed by the committee for final approval.
• If the committee and the programmer agree that the program is not a good fit for WHYR, the programmer may decide to withdraw the proposal, or re-submit with edits.

Full Show Review