Delaware Gets First State-Focused Public Radio Station

A first for the state known as “The First State”: Delaware will soon have its first ever Delaware-focused public radio station, WDDE-FM 91.1. The nonprofit Delaware First Media company owns the station, which will be a partnership among Delaware First Media, the University of Delaware and Delaware State University. Delaware State will host the station on its campus in Dover. Broadcasting will begin this summer.

A team of experienced journalists will lead management operations and programming for the new station. Beyond the valuable locally focused and produced news and information, the new broadcaster is expected to bring a variety of benefits to the local communities it serves.  Delaware First Media President Micheline Boudreau has said that the station will bring new jobs to the Dover area, provide another outlet for Delaware businesses to distribute messages through underwriting opportunities with WDDE, and export information from and about Delaware to a national audience in association with NPR.

The collaboration of the nonprofit and the two universities is an example of the type of initiatives needed to expand the availability of quality, locally produced journalism and enrich local  information ecosystems. In announcing the partnership, Delaware First Media said: “The cooperative effort responds to the recommendation of the Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Democracy to ‘increase the role of higher education, community and nonprofit institutions as hubs of journalistic activity.’”

Read more about the WDDE-FM 91.3 partnership here.