{{Short description|Community radio station in Madison, Wisconsin, United States}} {{About|the radio station|other uses|wort (disambiguation)}} {{Use American English|date=February 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2026}} {{More footnotes needed|date=January 2009}} {{Infobox radio station | name = WORT | logo = | city = Madison, Wisconsin | country = US | area = | frequency = {{Frequency|89.9|MHz}} | branding = {{ubl|Eighty Nine.Nine FM|Community Radio}} | format = community radio | affiliations = {{hlist|BBC World Service|Pacifica Radio}} | owner = Back Porch Radio Broadcasting, Inc. | airdate = {{start date|1975|12|01}} | callsign_meaning = The third choice after original choice WOMB was turned down at an early station meeting and second choice WART was unavailable.<ref>[https://www.wortfm.org/about/worts-history/ "WORT's History,"] from wortfm.org (accessed September 7, 2020)</ref> | licensing_authority = FCC | facility_id = 3596 | class = B1 | erp = 2,000 watts | haat = {{convert|286|m|sp=us}} | coordinates = {{Coord|43|3|3.0|N|89|29|13.4|W|type:landmark_region:US-WI_source:FCC}} | webcast = | website = {{URL|https://www.wortfm.org/}} }} '''WORT''' (89.9 MHz) is a listener-sponsored community radio station in Madison, Wisconsin.
thumb|The exterior of the WORT studio building. thumb|John Kraniak at the controls during his show, "Entertainment", in WORT's main studio.
==History== WORT went on the air on December 1, 1975, broadcasting at 89.7 FM from Winnebago Avenue. The station later moved to Bedford Street, and the frequency was later changed to 89.9 FM.
Radio host Michael Feldman became a volunteer in 1977, broadcasting "The Breakfast Special" from a diner on Madison's east side every morning for several years before joining Wisconsin Public Radio.<ref name="feldman">{{cite web | url=http://www.notmuch.com/wyk/michael-feldman | title=Michael Feldman | Whad'ya Know? | access-date=January 23, 2014}}</ref>
===2018 studio shooting=== Early in the morning of August 5, 2018, a masked suspect entered the station's studios and began shooting.<ref name="Aug. 2018 shooting WORT announcement">{{cite web |title=Announcement Regarding 8/5/18 Shooting - WORT 89.9 FM |url=https://www.wortfm.org/announcement-regarding-8-5-18-shooting/ |website=WORT 89.9 FM |access-date=August 7, 2018 |date=August 5, 2018}}</ref> Five shots were fired at three hosts, with on-air personality Eugene Crisler'EL taking a shot in his right buttock; he was treated and released from the hospital quickly after the incident, and some minor studio damage occurred. The station remained in dead air for 6½ hours until Madison Police finished their evidence gathering procedures and allowed broadcasting to resume, and have said the incident was not random, but targeted at the station.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://isthmus.com/news/news/police-say-wort-shooting-incident-was-not-random-violence-against-the%20media/|title=WORT DJs vow to continue show after shooting|last=Brogan|first=Dylan|date=August 9, 2018|work=Isthmus|access-date=August 10, 2018}}</ref><ref name="Aug. shooting CNN">{{cite web |title=Masked man enters radio station studio and shoots DJ in Wisconsin |url=https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/06/us/radio-station-shooting-wort/index.html |publisher=CNN |date=August 6, 2018 |access-date=August 7, 2018}}</ref><ref name="Aug. shooting CBS/AP">{{cite web |title=DJ shot by masked gunman inside Madison, Wisconsin radio station |publisher=CBS News |date=August 6, 2018 |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/madison-wisconsin-radio-station-shooting-wort-fm-dj-shot-by-masked-gunman/ |access-date=August 7, 2018 |language=en}}</ref>
==Affiliations== WORT is a member of the National Federation of Community Broadcasters and the Grassroots Radio Coalition. The station hosted the GRC-5 Conference in 2000 and GRC-11 in 2006.
WORT is an affiliate of Pacifica Radio, the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC), and the Public Radio Satellite System, which is how it broadcasts programs like the BBC, supplied in the U.S. by American Public Media. The station is also a member of the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association.
==Awards== WORT has been voted "Madison's Favorite Radio Station" in the ''Isthmus'' Annual Manual (readers' poll) sixteen times.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.thedailypage.com/annualmanual/ | title=Madison, Wisconsin: Isthmus Annual Manual : Madison City Guide | publisher=thedailypage | access-date=January 23, 2014}}</ref> Several of its programs have made the top three list of favorite radio shows, including Mel & Floyd (multiple years), Back to the Country, and Pan-Africa.
WORT's news department frequently wins awards from the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association as well as the Milwaukee Press Club.
WORT received two Wisconsin Broadcasters Association Merit Awards for its 2006 documentary on Uganda's "invisible children" and its 2005 documentary on the Hurricane Katrina aftermath. It won best documentary in 2005 from Public Radio News Directors Incorporated for its investigation of pollution at the Madison Kipp factory. It also received a WBA Merit Award for its 2005 election lead-up coverage. In 2016, it received three Milwaukee Press Club awards, including a first-place award for coverage of the 2015 shooting of Tony Robinson.<ref>{{Cite web|title=WORT News Department Goes 3 for 3|date=May 23, 2016 |url=https://www.wortfm.org/wort-takes-the-gold/|access-date=June 5, 2021}}</ref> In 2020, it received two Milwaukee Press Club awards for best news coverage, for stories on protests after the firing of a local school security guard and a local community grocery store.<ref>{{Cite web|date=May 26, 2020|title=2019 Excellence in Journalism Awardees {{!}} Milwaukee Press Club|url=https://milwaukeepressclub.org/2019-excellence-in-journalism-awardees/|access-date=June 5, 2021|website=milwaukeepressclub.org|language=en-US}}</ref>
In 2021, the station received five Wisconsin Broadcaster's Association awards, including a first-place award for a report on the removal of a neighborhood's postal services.<ref>{{Cite web|date=May 5, 2021|title=WORT Takes Home the Gold (and More) in WBA Awards|url=https://www.wortfm.org/wort-takes-home-the-gold-and-more-in-wba-awards/|access-date=June 5, 2021|website=WORT 89.9 FM|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Awards for Excellence Winners List 2020|url=https://www.wi-broadcasters.org/wp-content/uploads/2020-Winners-List-with-hyperlinks-1.pdf|access-date=June 5, 2021|website=Wisconsin Broadcasters Association}}</ref> It also won five awards from the Milwaukee Press Club, including a gold award for a report on the Dow Chemical Company protests in 1967, and a gold award for reporting on disparate medical treatment and outcomes for Black women in Dane County.<ref>{{Cite web|date=May 25, 2021|title=WORT News Department Wins 5 Milwaukee Press Club Awards|url=https://www.wortfm.org/the-wort-news-department-wins-milwaukee-press-club-awards/|access-date=June 5, 2021|website=WORT 89.9 FM|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Milwaukee Press Club 2021 Awards list|url=https://milwaukeepressclub.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/OAY_2021_FINAL.pdf|website=Milwaukee Press Club}}</ref>
==See also== * List of community radio stations in the United States
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{officialwebsite|https://www.wortfm.org/}} * {{FM station data|3596|WORT}}
{{Madison FM}} {{Authority control}}
Category:1975 establishments in Wisconsin Category:Community radio stations in the United States Category:Culture of Madison, Wisconsin Category:Mass media in Madison, Wisconsin Category:Radio stations established in 1975 ORT