Public Radio Thrives In North Carolina – Thanks To Private Support From Lawyers, Firms
The headline is intended to draw attention to the role that lawyers and firms play in making public radio available across the state. From Blue Ridge Public Radio in Western North Carolina to UNC Public Radio whose reach extends to the Outer Banks, and all points in between, there is scarcely a stretch of highway in North Carolina where the motorist is not within reach of a public radio station.
For the purposes of this article, the highlighted public radio stations and networks represent a sampling of stations available on a leisurely weekend drive from Wake County to Mecklenburg County, traversing what some may know as the Piedmont Crescent.
I have depended on 88.5 WFDD for years. The station is based in Winston-Salem on the campus of Wake Forest University (thus, Wake Forest Demon Deacons). It is billed as the state’s charter NPR (National Public Radio) member and “longest continuously broadcasting public radio station in North Carolina.”
WFDD has the best traffic reports – they cut in whenever there’s a wreck and tell you where it is. Simple as that.
On this particular Saturday morning, there’s nothing much to report in the way of accidents. The regular programming has been paused momentarily, and a familiar voice comes on the air. It’s NCBA member Kevin Williams of Bell, Davis & Pitt in Winston-Salem.
Pondering the good deeds and great works of North Carolina lawyers, it strikes me that his firm’s support of WFDD has been going on for years. It also occurs to me that other lawyers, law firms and legal organizations are providing similar support to public radio stations throughout the state.
“I would venture to guess that we have been underwriting or sponsoring the station longer than any firm,” Williams said. “It goes back so far we cannot confirm how long it’s been. It predates me.”
Williams joined the firm in 1998, fresh out of Wake Forest University School of Law. He is completing his fourth year as president of the firm.
“Like other firms and businesses,” Williams said, “we are trying to get our brand out and associate our name with trusted media, and to an audience that we are trying to connect with. In today’s political climate, having your name associated with a valued and trusted news source is important.
“The demographic that is listening to public radio includes small business owners and middle market companies in the Triad, and they are the bread and butter of our law firm. People just associate Bell, Davis & Pitt with WFDD. I cannot tell you how many dozens if not hundreds of people have said something to me about the firm’s relationship with WFDD, whether they heard my voice or not. Other people have done the underwriting messages over the years, and it has really served us well. We really feel like we are part of the community.”
advertisement
To that end, Williams added, the firm’s support of WFDD is part of a three-legged marketing stool upon which it also supports the Winston-Salem Symphony and YMCA of Northwest North Carolina.
“Those three marketing efforts and community outreach efforts have really served us well,” Williams said, “and hit at various demographics in and around the Triad. Our sponsorship of WFDD has been the anchor of that, and will continue to be for the foreseeable future.
“For a while there we were the only law firm on WFDD, but now you hear different law firms come and go. They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and the fact that other firms are following in our footsteps seems to confirm that this is a good thing.”
Making my way into Mecklenburg County, I come across WDAV 88.9, the classical public radio station of Davidson College. Will Keible, director of marketing and corporate support, later confirms my suspicions that lawyers and law firms have long been essential to the success of the station.
“The support WDAV Classical Public Radio receives from the legal community is vital to our existence, and the benefit is reciprocal,” Keible said in reference to the station’s relationship with Daisley Legal. “Other firms that have supported WDAV over the years include (NCBA-member firms) Terpening Law, Kelli Y. Allen Elder Law, and Landon Dunn, PA.”
The legal community has also been vital to the success of WFAE 90.7, an independent public radio station based in Charlotte. NCBA member Jon Buchan of Essex Richards previously served six years on the station’s board of directors, including two years as board chair.
“Fact-based journalism is the oxygen of our democracy,” Buchan said. “Lawyers know the rule of law is a critical part of our democracy and is based on finding facts and the truth. It’s a natural fit for lawyers to support even-handed, fact-based journalism from an independent source like public radio.”
Buchan added that his former firm, Helms, Mulliss & Wicker, was also a sponsor and underwriter of WFAE.
Another NCBA member, former N.C. Sen. Dan Clodfelter, now serves on WFAE’s board, along with several other Charlotte attorneys. Clodfelter previously practiced with Parker Poe and Moore & Van Allen, and presently serves on the N.C. Utilities Commission. He is a former member of the Charlotte City Council and in 2014-15 completed the unexpired term of the city’s mayor.
“It has been a great thing,” Clodfelter said of his service on the WFAE Board of Directors. “I really enjoy it, in large part because we have a very dynamic leadership team. (President and CEO) Joe O’Connor came down from Rhode Island Public Radio and has put together an incredible team, which he has assembled not just from local sources but also from public radio stations all around the country.
“I give special credit to the current leadership team for launching our new digital platforms. When I joined the board the station was just sticking its toe in the water in terms of a digital presence, and that has now absolutely exploded.”
Carolyn G. Shaw (Kirk Palmer & Thigpen), Scott Anderson (Womble Bond Dickinson), Charles E. Johnson (Robinson Bradshaw) and Diana Quarry (Morrison & Foerster), he added, have also provided volunteer leadership to the station.
“And I may be missing someone else,” Clodfelter said. “It is a natural fit when you think about it. Lawyers are taught to pay attention to facts and give consideration to the credibility of sources, to ask tough questions and not make unfounded assumptions. Those are the same skills that are strongly in evidence in public radio.
“It’s a natural.”
I have long enjoyed listening to WNAA-FM 90.1 when passing through Greensboro, although I never knew the station’s rich backstory until now. According to the website of North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, the station originated in 1966 as WANT-AM. It was built by a group of electronics students as a class project.
Tony Welborne (Photo Credit: Greensboro News & Record)
One of those students, Tony Welborne, has served as general manager of the station since 1983. He graduated in 1969 and also earned his master’s degree from N.C. A&T in 1972, and has served with the university in multiple roles for most of his career.
“A local radio station, 1510-AM, gave our department a piece of equipment, a control board, because they had gotten a new one,” Welborne said. “We used it for a senior project and built a radio station – we set the whole thing up.
“We got a license from the FCC to run a low-wattage station and transmitted into different buildings around campus. You could basically pick it up anywhere on campus.”
WNAA-FM, he added, was established in 1979 and shortly thereafter boosted its power from 10 watts to 10,000 watts.
“The station provides an alternative to commercial radio,” Welborne said. “That has always been part of our mandate – we don’t compete with commercial radio in any way, shape or form.
“The station is also a training laboratory. We have a station where students can actually practice working in a radio station – they don’t walk in the door wondering what to do. We have hundreds of former students who are in radio and program direction, including several who are the No. 1 announcers in their market.”
Throughout its existence, the station has benefitted from the support of the legal community, including that of Steve Bowden of R. Steve Bowden & Associates. The relationship began two decades ago when the station experienced a cutback in state funding.
“My fraternity (Omega Psi Phi) raised $50,000 for the station,” said Bowden. “We raised it in one night, and the firm has been a sponsor since that time.”
Bowden is a graduate of Wake Forest University and Campbell Law School, but the longtime NCBA member has practiced law in Greensboro for 41 years. He established the personal injury firm that bears his name in 1983. He also co-hosts the area’s longest running call-in show on WNAA.
“WNAA is a great institution that has tremendous respect in the community,” Bowden said. “Its programming is geared toward providing the community with true information. WNAA also gives the community the opportunity to hear different views, competing ideas, and provides truth in what they put forth.
“The station is not political and it is not dogmatic. The station feels obligated to provide the community with a true picture, and it is an institution here in Greensboro. It is an outstanding college radio station.”
advertisement
Back in the Research Triangle Park, WUNC 91.5 provides an excellent array of news and feature programming, including NPR and BBC content. My favorite reason for listening to the station, however, is the longstanding Back Porch Music series, which has been “bringing the world of folk and acoustic music to WUNC listeners since 1977!”
Bob Kastl, corporate sales manager, affirmed the importance of support from the legal community, including scores of NCBA members.
“We do have many law firms that support us during the year,” Kastl said. “Most typically will buy an annual agreement and stay on all year. By far our biggest is the Southern Environmental Law Center which makes up about half of our Legal Services/Law Firm category revenue.”
Ward and Smith, Nexsen Pruet, Parker Poe, Robinson Bradshaw, Kennon Craver, Kendall Page Attorney and Legal Aid of North Carolina also support the station.
“About 7 percent of our overall underwriting comes from the legal field.”
Russell Rawlings is director of external affairs and communications for the North Carolina Bar Association.
< Previous article — Next article > | february 2021 issue page