Station Announcement

Why WRVO?

There are plenty of reasons to donate to your public radio station and you hear most of them on-the-air during fundraisers from WRVO staff. But why do the WRVO staff members themselves donate? In fact, why do they work at the station? Why do they have their radios tuned to WRVO?We take the time to find out when we ask, "Why WRVO?"

Why WRVO? Keeping you updated during the coronavirus pandemic

WRVO | By WRVO Public Media

Published May 21, 2020 at 5:37 AM EDT

WRVO sounds the same these days. You hear in-depth news coverage, the context behind the story and thoughtful questions from reporters and hosts. There are details daily on reopening plans and the economic impact of the pandemic from Tom Magnarelli, Ellen Abbott and Payne Horning. We’re keeping you up-to-date.

But what if we told you -- as many of our neighbors and community members -- we’re working from home (for the most part). We had to make some pretty drastic changes in early March to facilitate our work: interviews are primarily conducted by phone, home offices are set up with microphones and foam mattress toppers to control sound, and meetings are conducted virtually.

It’s not as convenient as seeing each other every day, as Station Manager Bill Drake remarks, but we still keep in touch with fellow staff members.

“They’re doing a great job making sure we continue bringing you fact-based journalism and news about coronavirus’ impact on our community. I appreciate their work very much, and hope you do, too,” Drake said.

You may have noticed a lot of work is going into regular news updates, especially as regulations change and we move into the next phase of reopening in New York state.

“In addition to the national and international news coverage during this unprecedented period, WRVO provides daily updates on COVID-19 with Governor Cuomo’s daily briefing, the impact on Onondaga County and central New York with daily briefings from Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon,” said Underwriting Account Manager Tom Herbert.

All of this coverage is thanks to listener support like yours. We’re here for you, but we’re also here because of you.

“No matter how the world changes, WRVO has been a constant in your life,” said Senior Producer Mark Lavonier, host of “All Things Considered” and “Tuned to Yesterday.”

Senior Producer Mark Lavonier in his home studio.

"Accurate news, insightful perspective and voices from all over the world helps to make sense of everything we're going through, and that is worth supporting."

Bill Gowan working from home with underwriting clients and other members of the sales team.

News is essential during this time. As Underwriting Account Manager Bill Gowan reminds us, “WRVO Public Media continues to serve the upstate New York region with daily NPR programming and local community news coverage of our listeners during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Please consider making a contribution today so WRVO can stay financially strong as we move forward in 2020. Our fundraiser ends this Friday evening, May 22. Donate now.