News Release

NPR favorite Dick Gordon joining
North Carolina Public Radio-WUNC

CHAPEL HILL – Encouraged by unprecedented listener interest and support, North Carolina Public Radio-WUNC (91.5 FM) has hired popular National Public Radio (NPR) personality Dick Gordon, formerly host of the national news/talk show, The Connection. The station will create and produce a new, nationally syndicated talk/interview program hosted by Gordon.

"There is a strong bond between this area and Dick Gordon, and our listeners’ participation in his previous program will form a solid foundation for this show going forward," said Joan Siefert Rose, North Carolina Public Radio-WUNC general manager. The new show presents an opportunity to serve public radio listeners by creating a high-quality show that’s different from what is currently on the air, and will spotlight North Carolina throughout the country, she said.

The new one-hour talk/interview show, which is yet to be named, will air weekdays, most likely in the early afternoon. Hosted by Gordon, the show will not be a rebirth of The Connection, which was produced by WBUR Boston – and aired on North Carolina Public Radio-WUNC weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon – before being cancelled this summer. Nor will it be a traditional call-in show. Listeners will hear less from the pundits and more from the real experts: individuals impacted by the news, whose stories add context and deepen our understanding of national and international issues and trends, Rose said. In addition to focusing on events of the day, this show will also address arts, culture, ethics, and other issues that impact Americans.

"We call this ‘public’ radio, but we don’t often hear from the public in a form outside the call-in show, which doesn’t give people the time to really share their points of view," Gordon said. "For this show, we plan to reach out to the public by building a program on the stories of people whose lives are directly affected by the news."

With a tone set by the qualities that have made Gordon so popular with listeners throughout the U.S. and his native Canada – his strong journalistic principles, thoughtful intelligence, skillful interviewing, awareness of today’s major issues, and expertise at framing these issues – this show will provide a provocative new forum for civil discourse that will engage and enlighten listeners. Gordon is an internationally respected foreign correspondent and journalist. He has covered politics in the United States, issues in the Indian subcontinent, and the Persian Gulf War. He looks forward to returning to his reporting roots, spending more time out of the studio, in the field conducting interviews.

Gordon and his wife, Barbara, will relocate to Chapel Hill. He officially joins North Carolina Public Radio-WUNC on Dec. 1, with a goal of assembling a production staff and airing pilot shows on North Carolina Public Radio by early 2006. The station will work with a national program distributor on a limited national release early next year, and will team with several partner stations around the country to secure feedback to refine the show to ensure its long-term success and strong national carriage upon rollout.

To produce a show on par with other nationally syndicated public radio programs, North Carolina Public Radio–WUNC must invest significant resources. The station has launched a special campaign to raise funds to produce and distribute the show over its first critical years.

North Carolina Public Radio-WUNC is a service of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, broadcasting at 91.5 FM in the Triangle and Triad, at 90.9 FM in Rocky Mount/Wilson, and at 88.9 FM on the Outer Banks.

For more information about this show, visit www.wunc.org or contact General Manager Joan Siefert Rose at 919-966-5454 or jsrose@wunc.org.

To make a gift to North Carolina Public Radio-WUNC’s fall fundraiser or specifically in support of the new Dick Gordon-hosted program, contact Jennifer Fusco at (919) 966-5454. Such gifts count toward the university’s Carolina First Campaign goal of $2 billion. Carolina First is a comprehensive, multi-year, private fund-raising campaign to support Carolina’s vision of becoming the nation’s leading public university.

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North Carolina Public Radio-WUNC contact: Joan Siefert Rose, (919) 966-5454 or jsrose@wunc.org
News Services contact: Lisa Katz, (919) 962-2093 or lisa_katz@unc.edu