Community

Megaphone

We’re a community resource. You’re the community!

WORT has been a vector of communication between the individual and the community since its inception, so whatever you need to say, we have a tool or process to help you speak up. We have different tools for different entities, depending on whether you are a person, a business or a fellow non-profit.

Here are a few ideas for no-cost ways that WORT can help you get the word out about your organization and events.

Here’s a pdf of this information: Get the Word Out.

Insurgent Radio Kiosk

Weekdays at 5am, 6:30am, 9am and 2pm.

The Insurgent Radio Kiosk is a five minute segment that includes a two-minute commentary, the day-in-history, and a calendar of free and low-cost community events. Event announcements are generally run on the day of the event or on Friday for the Weekend Action Calendar. For on-going announcements or events requiring pre-registration, send in the announcement well in advance of your deadline and ask the Kiosk producers to include this item as often as time allows.

How to Submit Kiosk Announcements

Prepare a two- or three-sentence description with all of the essential details—name of sponsoring organization, time, place, contact person, phone number, and ticket cost, if any. (Prices will not be mentioned; however, to be included, the cost must be under $20.) Since the Kiosk has only one minute for announcements each day, it is not always possible to include every announcement that is submitted. Announcements are included in the Kiosk at the discretion of the volunteer producer. Send announcements at least ten days in advance to:

Or e-mail announcements to kioskevent@wort-fm.org

Kiosk Commentaries

Prepare a commentary to highlight an issue and inform listeners how to get involved. Since WORT is licensed as a non-commercial station, we cannot air commentaries that promote for-profit businesses or commentaries that sound commercial. Practice reading the commentary so that it can be read in an unhurried manner in less than two minutes. To arrange for recording your commentary, leave a message for the Kiosk by phone (608-256-2001) or e-mail kioskevent@wort-fm.org.

Host the Access Hour!

Mondays 7pm – 8pm

Each Monday a different community group or individual hosts the show. Assistance is provided with recording a promotional announcement to be aired the week prior to the show and with sound board engineering the night of the show. In order to keep the show accessible, any individual or group is limited to one show per year. The Access Hour is often booked several months in advance. To sign up to host an Access Hour show, call Ken Rineer at (608)256-2001 on Monday evenings or e-mail accesshour@wort-fm.org.

Non-Profit Group PSA

As an expression of WORT‘s commitment to public service, the station airs live-read public service announcements (PSAs). We do NOT air pre-recorded PSAs.
To be considered a PSA, the events must be sponsored by a non-profit, tax-exempt organization or a community group. Announcements should be submitted to the PSA mailbox at least ten days in advance of the event. WORT policy does not permit volunteers to accept PSAs over the phone. Please do NOT submit PSAs via e-mail.

Business Promotional Exchange

(requires 4-8 weeks advance planning!)

Music, news, and public affairs events in the community that are in line with WORT‘s mission may be eligible for promotional exchanges. In a typical promotional exchange, WORT airs a pre-recorded announcement of the event about 20 times in the week or two leading up to the event. In exchange, WORT‘s logo is included on all posters and tickets for the event; a WORT banner is displayed at the event; WORT is provided a table or space to distribute station materials; and WORT‘s promotion of the event is announced and thanked at the event. In some cases, WORT may also be offered space for an ad in a program booklet. WORT also receives several free pairs of tickets to the event, typically five pairs for on-air giveaway and three pairs for station staff and volunteers.
Please remember that you must plan ahead to include the WORT logo on promotional materials. Logos are available in a variety of formats: epst. .jpg, .tiff. Promotional Exchanges are undertaken at the discretion of the staff. WORT cannot do more than a few of these at any given time.

If you are interested in a promotional exchange for a music event, e-mail: musicdirector@wortfm.org or ask for Sybil at (608)256-2001.

For non-music promotional exchanges e-mail volunteer@wort-fm.org or ask for Glenn at (608)256-2001

Underwriting and Sponsorship

The community megaphone methods listed on this page are all no-cost avenues for getting your announcement out. Again, they are included based upon volunteer programmers’ discretion and time availability. If you’d like to guarantee promotion of your event and financially support WORT Community Radio at the same time, you may want to consider our paid underwriting options. WORT has underwriting packages for all budgets that will meet your needs and target the specific communities you want to reach.

Interested? Find out more at our Underwriting and Sponsorship page.

Community Calendar

Think of it as the family calendar for Madison.

Music Calendar

A rolodex of good times.

Fliers! Fliers! Fliers!

A lot of people pass through our station, and we have a free literature area. Mail or bring as many copies as you would like us to distribute. (Note: Station resources do not allow us to copy your announcements!) Be sure to include a contact name and phone number on all materials. If you mail your flyers, in the upper right hand corner of each sheet mark the specific mailbox or bulletin board that you want the flier to be distributed to. Mail to:

(For information about having announcements read on specific WORT shows, see below: “Where Does Your Announcement Belong?”)

Pitch a guest or story idea

If you have a story idea or would like to come on to one of our shows, please send a BRIEF pitch via e-mail to the News Facilitator at news@wort-fm.org.

Start a New Program

What are we missing? What can you bring?

Where Does Your Announcement Belong?

General Announcements

Eight O’clock Buzz (Monday-Friday), A Public Affair (Monday-Friday), In Our Back Yard, PSA Notebook, Community Events bulletin board. (Note: for the Buzz and APA, you must supply a separate copy of the announcement for each day’s show if submitting hard copies.)

For Music announcements and events

Please send hard copies for music announcements and events. Include one copy for each genre of music included in the event (e.g. classical, folk/international, jazz, blues, rock, experimental). Additional copies may be included for the Music Director, individual programmers and the Music Events bulletin board.

For announcements relating to…

The African-American community

Best of Gospel

Tuesday 8 O’clock Buzz

Dusties Storm

PanAfrica

Universal Soul Explosion

The Spanish-speaking/Latino community

En Nuestro Patio

Rock en español

Los Madrugadores

Thursday 8 O’clock Buzz

La Junta

The Hmong community

Hmong Radio

Women

Her Turn

Her Infinite Variety

Other Voices

LGBTQ communities

Queery

Literature/Spoken Word

Radio Literature

Labor

Labor Radio

Global South & Development issues

Third World View

A Public Affair

Science

Perpetual Notion Machine

Health policy

Health Writers on the Air

Local news & issues

In Our Backyard

8 O’clock Buzz

A Public Affair

(Note: Please remember that the content of all on-air offerings is determined by the volunteers who produce those programs. Staff members pass on information, but do not determine program content.)