WRFA-LP 107.9 FM

A listener supported, non-commercial, low power FM radio station in Jamestown, NY.


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About

WRFA Staff – Front: Julia Ciesla-Hanley and Gavin Paterniti. Back: Anthony Merchant and Jason Sample.

WRFA is a listener supported, non-commercial, low power FM radio station provided as a public service by the Reg Lenna Center for the Arts (Formerly known as Arts Council for Chautauqua County). We broadcast at 107.9 FM in Jamestown, NY.

WRFA is dedicated to providing access to the arts, cultural and educational programming and a forum for the discourse of public affairs.  In addition WRFA provides community outreach through programs at area public schools, the East Side YMCA and the Boys and Girls Club of Jamestown and Hispanic Youth Radio. The station also relies of participation from local volunteers, who produce a wide variety of news, cultural and entertainment-related programming.

General inquiries can be sent to us using the Contact Page on our website, or by emailing WRFA@RegLenna.com.

For employment and volunteer opportunities, visit the “Join the WRFA Team” page.

WRFA EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT

  • General Manager: Jason Sample (email: Jsample @ RegLenna.com /phone: 716.664.2465 ext 209)
  • Reg Lenna Executive Director: Hillary Meyer (email HMeyer @ RegLenna.com / phone: 716.664.2465)

WRFA STAFF

  • Public Affairs Director: Julia Ciesla-Hanley (email: Julia @ RegLenna.com / phone: 716.664.2465 ext 222)
  • Programming Coordinator: Gavin Paterniti (email: gpaterniti @ RegLenna.com)
  • Arts & Entertainment Correspondent: Anthony Merchant (email: amerchant @ RegLenna.com)

WRFA GOVERNING BOARD

WRFA’s license is held by the Reg Lenna Center for the Arts and the RLCA Board of Directors serves as the station’s governing board.

A copy of Reg Lenna Center for the Arts latest annual report may be obtained, upon request, from the Arts Council or from the New York State Attorney General’s Charities Bureau,120 Broadway, New York, NY 10271.

WRFA COMMUNITY ADVISORY BOARD

All Community for Public Broadcasting grantees, other than those owned by a state, political or special purpose subdivision of a state, or public agency, must have a Community Advisory Board (CAB). The CAB’s responsibilities include the: a. right to review the station’s programming goals; b. right to review the service provided by the station; c. right to review significant policy decisions rendered by the station; and d. obligation to advise the station’s governing body on whether the station’s programming and other significant policies are meeting the specialized educational and cultural needs of the communities served by the station, and to make recommendations that the CAB deems appropriate to meet such needs.

  • Current WRFA CAB Members
    • Robb Jones – President
    • Chris Anderson – Secretary
    • Dennis Drew
    • Heather Felton
    • Greg Johnson
    • Mark Olson
    • Walt Rittman
  • CAB Public Meetings
    • 2022
      • March 21 at 5 p.m. – Reg Lenna Center for the Arts
      • June 13 at 5:30 p.m. – Southern Tier Brewing Company
    • 2021
      • May 17 at 5:30 p.m. – Southern Tier Brewing Company
      • August 31 at 5:30 p.m. – Reg Lenna Center for the Arts
      • November 8 at 5:15 p.m. – Reg Lenna Center for the Arts

 

WRFA Annual Report – Not Available

WRFA Diversity Statement

As a community outreach program of the Reg Lenna Center For The Arts (RLCFA), WRFA-LP is committed to fostering a culture of diversity and inclusion by providing a wide variety of educational, informational and cultural content that addresses the diverse gender, age, race, ethnicity, language, religion, sexual orientation, disability, national origin and economic status of the greater Jamestown region.

WRFA rigorously supports RLCFA’s non-discrimination policies, ethics policies, and commitments to equal opportunity, affirmative action and diversity. These policies are applied equally to all functions of WRFA including the selection of contractors and suppliers of goods and services.

WRFA Diversity Goals

  • To provide diverse non-commercial educational content for unserved and under served audiences
  • To provide equal opportunity in employment while recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce, volunteer force and community advisory board
  • To educate our management, staff and listeners in best practices for maintaining an inclusive and diverse work environment
  • To revive our dormant Hispanic Youth Radio Program
  • Participate in minority or other underserved population’s job fair, health fair and education fair.

Diversity at WRFA

WRFA has 2.5 employees with a very low turnover rate. WRFA will continue to recruit diverse candidates for future open positions, internships, volunteers and community advisory board members.

2020 Local Content and Services Report

Our goal in 2020 was to improve the region’s quality of life by engaging the community on as many levels as possible, on and off the air, listening to and addressing their needs. Starting in March, our goal was to cover the pandemic, keeping listeners informed of the latest news and notices from local, state, and national agencies. As part of this, we increased the number of interviews with our County Executive, as well as covering various press conferences provided by the County Health Department. WRFA also spoke with numerous other elected officials and community leaders and shared those conversations with our listeners, both over the airwaves and also “on demand” via the WRFA website.

In November 2020, WRFA also hosted and moderated three debates featuring candidates for local and state office: New York State Assembly, Chautauqua County District Attorney, and Chautauqua County Executive.

WRFA also continued to provide local news updates three times each weekday morning, and expanded our news updates by offering one during the afternoon drive, in response to the need to keep listeners better informed during the pandemic.

And WRFA continued to provide its regular coverage of local public affairs by talking with elected officials and community representatives on a wide variety of issues not specifically tied to the pandemic.

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting makes most, if not all the public affairs programming possible. It has allowed us to hire our news/public affairs director. CPB Funding makes the myriad of Public Service Announcements and regular weekly arts coverage possible at no cost to cultural and arts groups. It has facilitated the partnerships we’ve made that enrich the entire community. The Funding allows us the very special outreach opportunity at Jamestown High School.
(updated March 2021)

WRFA CODE OF INTEGRITY

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WRFA LP 107.9 FM is licensed by the Reg Lenna Center for the Arts in Jamestown, NY.