WILL Press Room
Special 9/11 Programming
Thursday, August 25, 2011
A special day of programming on WILL radio, television and online will observe the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, and examine how individual lives and the nation have changed since that day. In the week leading up to the anniversary, Illinois Public Radio News reporters will bring you stories on how 9/11 continues to affect people in central Illinois.
On the Sunday anniversary, tune in at 7:46 am for a live broadcast of the University of Illinois Black Chorus memorial concert on WILL-FM 101.1 and WILL-FM 90.9 HD2. The chorus, under the direction of Ollie Watts Davis, begins its 12-minute performance at the time the first hijacked jetliner crashed into the north tower. The U of I School of Music concert, taking place this year at Smith Music Hall, is an annual event. (Hear an interview with Ollie Watts Davis about the concert.)
From 7 am to 5 pm on WILL-AM 580, NPR News will capture the events of the anniversary from Ground Zero to the Pentagon to Shanksville and beyond, looking at how America has changed since Sept. 11.
On WILL-TV, the PBS NewsHour plans a special retrospective, America Remembers 9/11 at 7 pm, including President Obama's address at the National Cathedral, highlights from the day’s memorial events and interviews with people personally affected by 9/11. At 8:30 pm, Great Performances presents The New York Philharmonic: A Concert for New York, a performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 “Resurrection,” in honor of the Sept. 11 victims, in a free concert for the people of New York. The concert will also be featured at 7 pm Tuesday, Sept. 20, on The Evening Concert on WILL-FM 90.9.
In the week leading up to the anniversary, Illinois Public Media News reporters will bring you stories on how 9/11 continues to affect people in central Illinois. Stories they’re working on include a follow-up with Muslims we interviewed just after 9/11 when Muslims felt the burden of 9/11 weigh on them, even if the vast majority were also horrified by the attacks and abhor violence; a look at how 9/11 is being taught in central Illinois classrooms, especially for children who are too young to remember it; and a visit to the 9/11 Memorial Grove inside Champaign County's River Bend Forest Preserve, where we’ll gauge if our memorials withstand the test of fading memories. The reports will air on Morning Edition and The Afternoon Magazine, and be archived online at will.illinois.edu.
PBS Explores 9/11 Issues of the Past Decade
In the week leading up to the 10th anniversary and 9/11, Frontline: Top Secret America at 8 pm Tuesday, Sept. 6, examines how a decade of fighting terrorism―from the creation of black site prisons abroad and super-secret facilities here in America, to targeted killings and covert wars waged by special forces―has reshaped the county and whether it has made us safer.
NOVA: Engineering Ground Zero at 8 pm Wednesday, Sept. 7, follows the five-year construction of One World Trade Center and the National September 11 Memorial and Museum. NOVA captures the behind-the-scenes struggle to make the buildings safe and secure under the pressures of a tight schedule and the public’s expectations of a fitting site for national remembrance.
Frontline repeats its critically acclaimed film Faith and Doubt at Ground Zero at 9 pm Wednesday, Sept. 7, exploring how peoples’ beliefs—and unbelief—have been challenged since Sept. 11.
After the anniversary, at 8 pm Tuesday, Sept. 13, Frontline presents The Interrogator, a rare interview with Ali Soufan, the FBI agent who was at the center of the 9/11 investigations. One of only eight Arabic-speaking FBI agents, Soufan explains why he believes the attacks on the World Trade Center could have been prevented and how the use of torture failed to produce actionable intelligence.
WILL and Food Co-op Raise Funds for Food Bank
Monday, January 25, 2010
For every contribution in any amount to WILL radio during its Thursday-Saturday (Jan. 28-30) radio pledge drive, the Common Ground Food Co-op will donate the cost of three meals to the Eastern Illinois Food Bank.
As part of WILL radio’s winter fundraising campaign, WILL and the Common Ground in Urbana will work together to raise money for public radio while addressing an important community need—hunger. “Those who contribute are supporting WILL as a community resource and at the same time helping feed hungry people in eastern Illinois,” said Mark Leonard, general manager of Illinois Public Media, of which WILL radio is a part. Leonard said WILL’s economy initiative during the past year brought home the needs of the food bank, which is serving an increased number of people because of the economic downturn. “Our reporters talked to people in the community using food pantries supplied by the food bank and helped make listeners aware of the problem. Then our project helped connect people with resources to help,” said Leonard. “Those who contribute can help support more WILL projects and reporting in the community and also provide meals for those who need them.” Coming halfway through the fiscal year, the radio drive is an important step toward meeting the station’s fundraising goal of $2.1 million, he said. “We’d like to hear from at least 250 listeners who will support WILL and the food bank,” he said. Contributions can be made by calling in during the on-air pledge drive on WILL-AM 580 and WILL 90.9, and also by pledging online at will.illinois.edu/support.WILL Digital Radio on the Air!
Monday, August 25, 2008
WILL has officially launched its digital radio service.
The new FM 90.9 digital service provides three streams of content: FM 90.9 HD1—a simulcast of the FM music service; FM 90.9 HD2 and HD3—the news and information service, also available on AM 580.
To tune to the new service on your digital radio, tune to FM 90.9. After a brief delay, the radio will pull in the WILL FM 90.9 HD1 signal. If you want to listen to the AM service, dial the radio up to HD2.- Hear a clearer, more reliable sound of music from 90.9;
- Get AM 580’s news and information 24 hours a day in Mahomet, Monticello, Decatur and even further west.
Digital radio dramatically improves reception and sound quality. Within WILL-FM’s primary service area the digital signal will not be subject to interference or fading caused by buildings and other radio signals. And the background hiss heard in communities farther away from our Monticello-based transmitter (including Champaign and Urbana) is gone. The digital radio installation was funded with a $75,000 federal grant, a major gift from Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM) and generous gifts from a number of Friends of WILL.
Leonard Named General Manager at WILL AM-FM-TV
Saturday, March 18, 2006
Mark Leonard, general manager for Central Washington of KCTS-TV in Seattle, has been named the new general manager of WILL AM-FM-TV-Online and director of broadcasting for the College of Communications at the University of Illinois, pending approval of the U of I Board of Trustees. He succeeds Donald Mullally, who retired in 2005.
Announcing the appointment, effective June 15, Ron Yates, dean of the College of Communications, said Leonard’s career spans more than 27 years in public broadcasting, including senior management positions in Seattle and Yakima, Wash., and at WXXI in Rochester, N.Y., where he was vice president for television. “He brings vision, energy and creativity to WILL and the Division of Broadcasting at a time when public broadcasting needs such qualities,” Yates said. As general manager for Central Washington at KCTS-TV, Leonard manages all station operations of KYVE, KCTS’ Yakima station. He was chief administrative officer at KCTS-TV from 2000-2003. Leonard said he is looking forward to heading up WILL’s operation, in part because it’s a combined public media service with radio, television and new media. “It’s an opportunity to innovate with new models of service for public media,” he said. WILL is a station with a long history and great tradition that has already built a solid history of service to its local communities, Leonard said. His experience at other stations has reinforced his understanding that localism is an essential value of public broadcasting, he said. “With the overall consolidation of commercial media, localism is an increasingly rare but important asset. As a result, public broadcasting has a unique opportunity to build and expand upon local strengths,” said Leonard, who worked briefly in television production for WILL-TV in 1982. Leonard is a past president of the Washington State Public Broadcasters Association, where he successfully reversed declining state support for public television. He is a graduate of the State University of New York at Plattsburgh, and participated in the Executive Development Program at the William E. Simon Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of Rochester. ### Contact: Mary Barrineau Public Information Coordinator WILL AM-FM-TV 217-333-1070