WRIR 97.3 FM Seeks Refresheverything.com Grant for Community Newsroom

WRIR is asking for a grant to diversify locally-produced radio news in a market big enough to need it, strong enough to volunteer for it and brave enough to air it. With the Community Newsroom, WRIR will train more citizen-journalists to collect and report independent radio news.

WRIR LP 97.3 FM, Richmond’s independent radio station, is seeking the community’s help to get a grant to fund construction of a Community Newsroom. WRIR would use this broadcast studio to gather and report more local, independent news. Presently WRIR has volunteers who produce the local news segments aired every weekday. With the Community Newsroom, WRIR will train more citizen-journalists to collect and report independent radio news. WRIR’s proposal is in the running for a $50,000 grant and will compete for votes at www.refresheverything.com/wrir. Refresheverything.com is an online competition to fund projects that will have a positive impact on their community. You can vote online or via your twitter or Facebook accounts. You are allowed to vote every day in September with the last vote taken on September 30th.

“WRIR is very excited about this grant. It is a different approach to fundraising. Our listeners, supports and volunteers decide if we get the grant by voting every day either online or by text. If they do, WRIR has the chance to build a state-of-the-art studio with limitless potential! WRIR will also use the studio as back-up in the event of equipment failure in our main studio. It is our responsibility as the City of Richmond’s official emergency broadcast outlet” —  says Liz Humes, President of Virginia Center for Public Press the parent non-profit of WRIR.

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