New NPR station to launch at DSU

State government and weather reports centered in Maryland or Pennsylvania do little for Delawareans driving to work in the morning. Beginning in summer, Cape Region nine-to-fivers can expect to hear Route 1 traffic issues, local police reports and what the weather is like on the beach, all from their car radio.

Delaware First Media plans to launch WDDE-FM 91.1, the first-ever Delaware-based National Public Radio news station. The station will be available in Georgetown, Lewes and Rehoboth Beach. Residents outside the listening area can listen to live streaming of the station through wdde.org.

One NPR alumnae is jumping at the opportunity to help get the station off the ground. Liane Hansen, who hosted Weekend Edition Sunday for 22 years, spoke to about 50 people at a meeting of Shore Democrats at Slainte Pub in Fenwick Island. Hansen retired from NPR in 2011 and now lives in Bethany Beach.

“It is truly a grassroots station,” she said. “It’s going to give us a chance to tell our stories to one another.”

Hansen spoke about the importance of public radio in promoting civil discourse. Public radio encourages listeners to think, Hansen said, not be told what to think. “The commercial broadcasters are told what to put on the air and when to put it on the air,” she said.

Hansen also said she is excited to tell the story of Delaware through its residents. “I feel like it’s a keg ready to be tapped,” she said.

Susan Swan, of the nonprofit Delaware First Media, said she wants to help create a shared sense of community among Delawareans that cuts the divide between upstate and downstate residents.

Swan also said Hansen might recruit more NPR alumni to help. “She’s been having conversations with her NPR pals, and they’ve said, ‘Sure,’” Swan said.

Swan said the station will also feed stories to NPR stations across the country. “This is so good for the state in so many ways,” Swan said.

Swan, who was a news editor at the Christian-Science Monitor for 10 years, said she helped start Delaware First Media two years ago. Last month, Swan said, the organization purchased WDDE-FM from Salisbury University. “They were thrilled to have someone take that license,” she said.

The station will broadcast from the campus of Delaware State University in Dover, which will sponsor the station with University of Delaware.

Swan said the station will be similar to WSDL, which is broadcast from the campus of Salisbury University in Salisbury, Md. The station will broadcast popular NPR programs, such as Morning Edition and All Things Considered, but it will feature local programming from Delaware, instead of reports from Maryland communities. News about the Delaware Legislature, local weather and traffic will be featured throughout the day.

“This will be the first-ever Delaware-based NPR news station,” Swan said. “NPR is thrilled,” she said. “It makes it truly a 50-state network.”

Once it is up and running, the station will cost $1 million to $1.5 million annually to operate, Swan said.

Speaking after the April 25 meeting, Swan said meeting with the Shore Democrats was the beginning of a campaign to garner bipartisan support from Delaware communities. “All Delawareans should feel a sense of ownership in this station,” she said. “Our goal is to provide a marketplace of ideas because no one party owns all the answers, and healthy exchange is the path to solving problems.”

For more information, visit dfmnews.org.