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UMass Boston and Kennedy Library to Co-Sponsor Presidential Debate on October 3, 2000 |
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Commonwealth Journal: A Public Affairs Show for Massachusetts |
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College of Nursing Graduates Receive Pins at December 21 Ceremony |
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Women in Community Development: Changing the Tradition from Poverty to Leadership |
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WUMB 91.9 FM is getting ready to re-launch the Commonwealth Journal, an exciting radio program which did not deserve its fate-the loss of federal funding that silenced the program after a successful initial stint from 1987 to 1992. Beginning in March, the station will add the reborn Commonwealth Journal to its program lineup.
The weekly program that will focus on a variety of local and national cultural, social, and political topics, all from a Massachusetts perspective, featuring information pertinent to living in Massachusetts as well as commentary and insights from leading scholars and activists. The Journal aims to promote critical inquiry among Massachusetts citizens and to raise the level of their interest in and understanding of state affairs. It will explore issues related to social and cultural diversity, the humanities, politics, science, business, the environment, and education. UMass Boston's own WUMB-FM Public Radio network, with support from the Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities, is producing Commonwealth Journal, each episode of which will comprise two or three 8 - 15 minute segments. The program will be distributed weekly to radio stations across Massachusetts, who will either air it in its entirety, or select segments to broadcast in conjunction with their own public affairs programming. Already, more than ten stations have signed up to receive the program.
The revived project's very enthusiastic executive producer is WUMB-FM general manager Patricia Monteith. "We're trying to create topics and feature guests that are very exciting," she says. "Even if a topic doesn't appeal directly to a listener, we'll come from angles that will cross different disciplines."
The program host is also a UMass Bostonian: Dr. Elizabeth Sherman, senior fellow at the McCormack Institute of Public Affairs and director of the Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy. Sherman also provides political commentary on National Public Radio, WBUR, CNN, WBZ-TV, WHDH-TV, and WGBH-TV. She is often quoted on a variety of contemporary and social issues in major print media. With her diverse professional and educational interests, Sherman is an appropriate choice for host of the equally multiform program.
What the folks at WUMB are especially eager to find out about is the audience's reaction to something the former Commonwealth Journal did not include: an interactive website. Previously, listeners responded to topics by contacting WUMB, where they were referred directly to the guest. Now, each individual station airing the journal can provide such information to its own listeners, and each station's audience will be able to participate directly in discussions on the program's website. Monteith anticipates that it will be up in about a month in the form of a virtual forum containing interactive chat, links, and information about program topics and guests
Commonwealth Journal's planning committee includes UMass Boston Assistant Chancellor for Urban Affairs, Hubie Jones; Assistant Chancellor for Communications, Annemarie Lewis-Kerwin; Director of the Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities, David Tebaldi; and Executive Producer and General Manager Monteith. Elizabeth Sherman also maintains an active voice in topic planning.
Commonwealth Journal's first topic is to be mental health. In conjunction with Women's History Month, Ellen Rothman, from the Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities, will discuss Dorthea Dix, a pioneer in improving conditions for the mentally ill. Another segment of the same program will address homelessness and the mentally ill, focusing specifically on the deinstitutionalization movement of the 1970s, which resulted in thousands of mentally ill patients being released from hospitals, many of whom became homeless.
Other initial topics will include a discussion with Sonia Nieto, author of The Light in their Eyes: Creating Multicultural Learning Communities. Nieto will address the issue of communication between the Black and Hispanic communities. Roger Dell, Director of Education at the Fitchburg Art museum, will speak about the new, public art-based magnet school in that city, which integrates the arts into all areas of its curriculum.
What is truly unique and appealing about the Commonwealth Journal is its dedication to framing a Massachusetts perspective on local, statewide, and national affairs. Listen for it on your radio next month.