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From the President

  Contact: norms@wxxi.org

 

Twitter's labeling of NPR

By Norm Silverstein ~ Posted Thu, 04/13/2023 - 4:25pm
You couldn’t have listened to the news this week without hearing something about the "War of Words" between John Lansing, president of NPR, and Elon Musk, billionaire, inventor, and owner of the social media site Twitter. Musk has gotten it into his head that because NPR receives a small amount of funding from the federal government, it should be labeled as government-funded, with the implication that NPR is beholden to power brokers.
 
Let me assure you, nothing could be further from the truth.
 
NPR doesn’t pay member stations like WXXI to run their programming. We pay dues to NPR for the right to air their programming, helping to keep our members and our community informed. And where does that support come from? Member support, corporate underwriting, grants, bequests, and the generosity and interest of our listeners.
 
Why do people contribute? Because they know this is the place for fact-based journalism. This is Rochester’s place for news that matters. And, our reporters, announcers and editors are among the best.
 
In the more than 25 years that I’ve been at the helm at WXXI, I have never had a politician or government official call and try to influence me or get me to change a story. You’ve heard our pledge drives and may have made a gift yourself.
 
With your continued support, we’ll keep our community strong with news that matters, not confusing gibberish that seeks to undermine the truth. That’s what people expect from their WXXI… and that’s what we intend to deliver.
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More Recent Messages

Our Move to Include initiative is going national

By Norm Silverstein ~ Posted Wed, 10/02/2019 - 1:46pm

I’m proud to share the news that WXXI was recently awarded a grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to lead five public television stations in a pilot project to expand WXXI and the Golisano Foundation’s local Move to Include initiative.

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WXXI and the City of Rochester launch "What's Good Rochester"

By Norm Silverstein ~ Posted Fri, 06/14/2019 - 10:04am

You may have heard about a new multimedia effort called “What’s Good Rochester” that we are launching in partnership with the City of Rochester. The initiative invites filmmakers, journalists, organizations and others looking to tell Rochester’s story to submit community-created videos and photographs highlighting positive and interesting aspects of life here.

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Our merger with CITY Newspaper is officially complete.

By Norm Silverstein ~ Posted Mon, 05/20/2019 - 9:25am

Last December WXXI announced that we had signed a letter of intent to acquire the weekly publication CITY Newspaper and its digital platforms. I am proud to report that on May 1st the acquisition was completed and we are excited to have the opportunity to ensure CITY’s long-term success in our community.

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WXXI celebrates spring with a host of special events in April

By Norm Silverstein ~ Posted Thu, 04/04/2019 - 12:21pm

We recently had the pleasure of hosting in Rochester PBS Nature executive producer Fred Kaufman and Emmy award-winning filmmaker Ann Johnson Prum for a visit in anticipation of their three-part series Nature: America Spring LIVE, which premieres at the end of this month.

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