The Internet is, in many ways, a wonderful thing. When I started my career in broadcasting, all TV and radio stations had one channel, and if you missed a show, you may or may not be able to get a recording by contacting your station or NPR for a tape. Now you can find just about anything we broadcast at WHQR online and listen again for free. On last week’s Newsroom program, our News Director Ben Schachtman discussed community safety with Frankie Roberts, Executive Director of LINC, which helps people rejoin the community after being incarcerated. One listener wrote “I listened to your show with Frankie Roberts today, but didn't make note of when it would be re-played.” Unfortunately, we didn’t get the email request until after the Saturday repeat of the NewsRoom. Program Director Ken Campbell responded, sending the link to the program on the WHQR website.
Another listener sent us digging further into the NewsRoom program list with this question: “Several weeks ago, I heard a news segment on my way into work that went into the history of the opportunity scholarship in North Carolina that I'm trying to locate to share it with my UNCW students. This segment included information about how charter schools are under-regulated in comparison to other states and that many charter schools were started to foster religious
instruction that parents wanted. It then proceeded to talk about the proposed expansion of the opportunity scholarships for charter and private schools. This segment might have even been in November or December.” Our Education reporter Rachel Keith responded, saying “Was it our end of year round up on the NewsRoom?” with a link to that program on our website.
We had another listener write us asking “there was an interview with a female mystery author talking about a book that she had written and recently translated. If possible could you send me her name and the name of the book?” Judging by the time this email came in, we assumed that this listener heard this on Morning Edition, and a search of the NPR website came up with the answer: The author interviewed was Pulitzer Prize winner Cristina Rivera Garza, and the book was “Death Takes Me.” We could not only answer the question, but we also sent the listener a link to that interview on the NPR website.
Kelly Kenoyer’s reporting on Rebuild NC’s running out of money to help repair and rebuild area homes damaged by hurricanes Matthew and Florence got a few comments from listeners. One wrote “I've been dealing with them since 1999 and so many things that are bad! Rescue construction had never come back to fix things. I'm 70 years old and widowed. I have had a nervous breakdown bc I couldn't quit crying.” Another wrote simply “Kelly is God Sent To the People of Wilmington Investigation News.”
We love to get your questions, comments and criticisms. You can find us on Facebook, X, Instagram and Bluesky. You can email us at feedback@whqr.org. Thanks for your feedback, and we look forward to hearing from you.