CPB Compliance

Open Meeting Policy

All meetings of WYSU-FM’s Advisory Board, Youngstown State University’s Board of Trustees, and Youngstown State Universities Board of Trustees’ Institutional Engagement Committee are open to the public.

The Youngstown State University Board of Trustees is WYSU-FM’s supervisory board, so the meetings that might address WYSU-FM business are the General Meetings and the Institutional Advancement Committee Meetings.

The WYSU-FM Advisory Board does not make station policy, but it is open to the public for observation and comments. Notices for all meetings will be posted on the WYSU-FM website – wysu.org/advisoryboard.

On-air announcements for all meetings will be made on WYSU-FM, 88.5 MHz.

Any questions about WYSU-FM’s open meeting policy can be addressed to Gary Sexton, station director, or by phone at 330.941.3363.

Donor List and Political Activities

WYSU-FM is in full compliance with the CPB Donor List and Political Activities Requirements.

WYSU-FM annually certifies to CPB of continued compliance with the laws and regulations of the Internal Revenue Service, and with all other applicable Federal law or regulations governing political activity and lobbying in effect at the time of certification;

WYSU-FM does not sell, rent, lease, loan, trade, give, donate, transfer or exchange their membership or donor names to, with or from any candidate for Federal, State or local office, political committees, or political parties for any purpose whatsoever, except as otherwise required by law or judicial process;

WYSU-FM maintains active control of their contributor and donor lists, and take all appropriate measures to ensure against unauthorized use of such lists including requiring any third party, including but not limited to list brokers, mail-list management organizations, Friends organizations, fundraising organizations, or advertising or public relations agencies, to abide by a grantees’ compliance requirements, except as otherwise required by law or judicial process;

WYSU-FM refrains from disclosing contributor or donor names or other personally identifiable information to any nonaffiliated third party unless, before the time that such information is initially disclosed, they clearly and conspicuously disclose to contributors and donors that such personal information may be disclosed to a nonaffiliated third party. If such disclosure is not required by law or judicial process, the grantee shall give the contributor or donor the opportunity to direct that such information not be disclosed to a nonaffiliated third party, and give the contributor or donor an explanation of how to exercise that nondisclosure option; and

WYSU-FM periodically remind contributors or donors of any potential for sale, rental, lease, loan, trade, gift, donation, transfer, or exchange of their names and personally identifiable information, and offer a means by which the names and other personally identifiable information may be suppressed upon request; and suppress the names as requested, except as required by law or judicial process.

WYSU-FM maintains complete, accurate, and secure records of all uses of membership and donor lists for fundraising purposes, and must furnish such records to CPB on request.

YSU Board of Trustees

Compete information about the YSU Board of Trustees members can be found on the YSU website Board of Trustees page, including Schedule of Meetings, Meeting Notices, Board Committee Agendas, Meeting Minutes, and Member Profiles.

YSU Board of Trustees Closed Meetings

Closed Meetings: YSU Board of Trustees Institutional Engagement Committee and General Meeting (The committees that oversee WYSU business.)

2020 Institutional Engagement Committee & General Meetings -- No executive sessions.
2021 Institutional Engagement Committee & General Meetings -- No executive sessions.
2022 Institutional Engagement Committee & General Meetings -- No executive sessions.
September 2023 Meetings — September 19, 2023, 2:30 pm — The YSU Board of Trustees Institutional Engagement Committee went into executive session to consider matters required to be kept confidential by federal law or regulations or state statutes; specifically to consider fiscal integrity and the academic portfolio.
2024 Institutional Engagement Committee & General Meetings -- No executive sessions.

DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION STATEMENT AND GOALS

(Updated November, 2024)

As a university licensee, the Youngstown State University Board of Trustees serves as WYSU-FM’s governing board. The Board of Trustees of Youngstown State University is composed of 11 members who are appointed by the Governor of the State of Ohio, with the advice and consent of the State Senate. WYSU does not control the selection of the board members.

Although WYSU as a university licensee is not required to have a Community Advisory Board, it does maintain one, In FY2025 The Community Advisory Council consisted of 13 members. Of those, 7 are female; 5 are male. 3 are racially diverse.

In FY2025 the WYSU staff consists of 6 full-time employees. Of those, 3 are white females, and 3 are white male. There are three part-time employees. Of those, 1 is an African-American male, and 2 are white males. WYSU also works with student employees who add additional age, race, and cultural diversity to station operations.

Youngstown State University Policies and Procedures regarding Equal Employment Opportunity, Diversity and Workplace Environment

Youngstown State University Notice of Non-Discrimination Policies

Youngstown State University does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, disability, age, religion or veteran/military status in its programs or activities.

3356-2-03 Discrimination/harassment: Establishes expectations for institutional and individual conduct, defines discrimination and harassment, aids the university community in recognizing and preventing discrimination and harassment, and provides effective reporting and response mechanisms.

3356-2-05 Title IX Sexual Misconduct Policy: The policy establishes university compliance with the U.S. Department of Education’s new regulations on Title IX.

3356-2-02 Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action Recruitment and Employment: Establishes the University’s commitment to nondiscrimination, equal opportunity, and affirmative action in recruitment and employment.

3356-7-04 Workplace and off-campus violence, threats, and disruptive behavior: Provides a process and procedure that delineates Youngstown State University’s commitment to providing a supportive work and learning environment that is safe, secure, and free from threats, intimidation, and violence.

3356-7-20 Drug-free Environment: Establishes the University’s commitment to create and maintain an environment which sustains the general health and well-being of students, employees, and visitors and to comply with the Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1988 and the Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act Amendments of 1989.

Employment Search Procedures and Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action

In order to comply with the equal opportunity requirement of The Communications Act, 89.7 and equal opportunity and affirmative action requirements established by the University, WYSU follows the search procedures established by the University when filling an open position:

A posting is established through the Office of Human Resources. The posting includes the job description, duties, minimum and desired qualifications and a summary of the position.

The position is posted on-line through the Youngstown State University Job site and on various job sites, local newspapers, and other broadcasting publications that are specific to the position being advertised and those that have requested notifications of job opportunities.

A Search Committee is established and completes on-line training in order to understand the relevant equal employment opportunity laws and University polices applicable to their actions; to evaluate applicants in an objective and consistent manner; and to recommend an applicant or applicants for hire/appointment.

Application materials are collected through the Youngstown State University's on-line application system.

The Office of Equal Opportunity and Policy Development (EOPD) monitors and approves the Search Committee’s actions to ensure compliance with applicable laws, and University policies and procedures for equal employment opportunity and affirmative action.

Once the search process has been approved for equal employment opportunity and affirmative action compliance, reference and background checks are completed.

DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION AT WYSU-FM

YOUNGSTOWN STATE UNIVERSITY

As a department of Youngstown State University, WYSU embraces and adheres to all the diversity goals, policies and procedures of Youngstown State University.

WYSU GOAL

WYSU’s diversity, equity and inclusion goal is to cultivate, promote, and preserve a welcoming culture of diversity, equity and inclusion throughout the entire organization and its operation. This culture extends to the station’s staff, advisory board, volunteers, listeners, as well as to the station’s programming and community outreach initiatives. WYSU endeavors to represent diverse perspectives in its programming and community activities.

GENERAL INITIATIVES

To reflect and reinforce this goal, WYSU will:

Foster, welcome, value, and promote diversity among staff, students, volunteers, and our community.

Provide professional programs and trainings; educating WYSU’s management, professional staff, advisory board, students, and volunteers on the best practices for maintaining an inclusive and diverse environment for everyone.

Provide programs with different cultural contexts to serve the educational and lifelong learning needs of our diverse community.

Develop the capacity to understand and address issues of difference, bias, power, and privilege.

Include diverse individuals in internships and student work experience positions.

Ensure a diverse pool of applicants for employment, by following FCC/EEO and Youngstown State University guidelines regarding job posting and recruitment; utilize the resources and training materials available from Youngstown State University’s Offices of Human Resources and Equal Opportunity; and make use of local and network public radio resources to address outreach and diversity in all position searches.

ACTIONS

1. Education and Training:

To educate and train WYSU employees on the important issues and consequences of workplace violence, discrimination, harassment, and sexual misconduct, staff members will complete the following educational/training courses annually:

Youngstown State University Discrimination, Harassment, and Title IX Training

Ohio Ethics Law: Building a Culture of Integrity

Corporation for Public Broadcasting Discrimination/Harassment & Title IX Training

2. Programming and Community Outreach:

WYSU is Continuously striving to enhance the diversity and inclusive scope of its programming. WYSU searches for and continues to add programs that focus on diverse topics and have hosts of diverse backgrounds. Some of those programs are: the news module Asian View, aired during Morning Edition; Latino USA; It’s Been a Minute; Snap Judgment; and recently added are: Open to Debate, a program that explores the extreme polarization of the nation; and On Shifting Ground with Ray Suarez.

WYSU regularly inserts local interviews into network news programs that address local topics of special interest to diverse audiences.

WYSU promotes lectures and events for diverse audiences on air and in the online Community Calendar. Recent examples include: YSU Hispanic Heritage Month Organizing Committee programs, YSU Africana Studies programs for Black History Month, Women’s History Month, events of the local Latino organization OCCHA, The Butler Institute of American Art: The Jewish Contribution to the Art of America, YSU Melnick Medical Museum & Youngstown Historical Center for Industry & Labor, YSU guest lecturers and musicians, local theater productions, as well as numerous other specific event requests that are submitted to the station.

WYSU’s locally-hosted classical and jazz program hosts, and network hosts, make a special effort to incorporate music that reflects the contributions of all cultures, especially featuring Latin-American, African-American, LGBTQ+, and women composers and musicians. Women composers and musicians are also emphasized.

WYSU provides opportunities for listeners to record and air commentaries on topics of interest to the community.

WYSU actively participates in, supports, and frequently partners in community events of interest to diverse audiences.

WYSU, in a partnership with Goodwill Industries, carries the Youngstown Radio Reading Service on its sideband. A small staff and over 100 volunteers read various materials for the sight impaired and those with other physical ailments like stroke and dyslexia.

3. Operational Initiatives:

WYSU funds, and promotes on-air, two broadcast/journalism scholarships for minority students. The annually-awarded WYSU-FM Broadcasting Scholarship and the Robert W. Peterson Scholarship, named for a former director of WYSU.

Recent part-time and student additions have expanded the diversity of our workforce.

WYSU works in conjunction with its licensee (Youngstown State University) to ensure that all WYSU facilities and its website are ADA compliant.

Financial Reports

In order to comply with open financial records requirements of The Communications Act of 1934, 89.7 WYSU, a service of Youngstown State University, provides the following reports made available for public inspection:

The FY2024 WYSU Annual Financial Report cannot be shared until approved by the YSU Board of Trustees at its March 2025 meeting.

WYSU's Annual Financial Report

WYSU's Annual CPB Financial Report

WYSU is not required to file an IRS Form 990. WYSU has no employees who meet the IRS definition of “highly compensated employees" in Form 990, Section VII A and B. WYSU has no contractors who meet the definition of “highly compensated" or are paid over $100,000.

You may request an accessible document version or hard copy of the PDFs above by contacting Gary Sexton.

LOCAL CONTENT AND SERVICES REPORT TO CPB FY2024

 Describe your overall goals and approach to address identified community issues, needs, and interests through your station’s vital local services, such as multiplatform long and short-form content, digital and in-person engagement, education services, community information, partnership support, and other activities, and audiences you reached or new audiences you engaged.

WYSU-FM’s primary goal, that shapes all other goals, is to be a community leader in fine arts, and news and information broadcasting, and to support the fine and performing arts and educational resources that Youngstown State University and the region have to offer. WYSU addresses this goal by maintaining locally-hosted classical music programming; providing a robust public community calendar; sponsoring and organizing lectures and concerts; producing local programs related to the well-being of the community – Doing Good interviews, community issues interviews -- and providing opportunities for citizen commentaries. WYSU offers informational resources on its website for state and national political events. The station also has established partnerships with local and regional news organizations to provide local and state news headlines on air throughout the day and post local stories on the website. In addition, WYSU provides unique student training opportunities as librarians, audio assistants, assistant engineers, production assistants, development assistants, and more. Everything WYSU does is with a focus on promoting life-long learning opportunities for the audience and for all constituents.

WYSU also shares the mission of its licensee, Youngstown State University, and the following goals drawn from that mission also inform everything WYSU does.

 • being a key provider of informational programs to the region at large
• fostering collaboration to enrich the region and the world
• integrating teaching, learning, scholarship, and civic engagement
• advancing the intellectual and cultural life of the city, region, and world.

WYSU continued vibrant partnerships with the Statehouse News Bureau and The Ohio Newsroom. Statehouse News Bureau stories are regularly inserted in news headlines at the top of the hour, and a state news segment produced by The Ohio Newsroom airs daily during Morning Edition and also during All Things Considered.

A local interview segment titled Doing Good airs weekly during Morning Edition and is designed to raise social consciousness and public awareness about significant concerns in our community, as well as to draw attention to the good work being done to address these issues. It has been a popular feature and brings many community leaders, YSU scholars, and local activists to the WYSU audience.

Other local interviews that air during morning network news on a weekly basis are hosted by university English professor, Dr. Tim Francisco. The program features interviews with area residents, guest speakers, visiting artists, and YSU faculty involved in the arts, education, community research and development, and politics.

In addition, listeners can submit and record commentaries on subjects of interest to them and to the general audience. These commentaries are aired during the morning network news program.

All the above local programs are archived on the WYSU website for access at any time.

Audience growth is measured, not only through traditional methods like the Nielsen rating survey, but also through advanced website and streaming metrics.

WYSU thoroughly reviews the issues and programs process each quarter. Twelve to eighteen topics of community concern are addressed every quarter using a combination of local public affairs interviews strategically placed in network news magazines, single-themed network programs, and the network news magazines themselves.

WYSU sponsors and hosts community events to meet listeners and obtain their feedback. WYSU has partnerships with other community organizations to bring in speakers, concerts, and other events for the benefit of the entire community, and to provide more engagement opportunities.

An active presence is maintained on Facebook, and now Instagram, where listeners can interact with WYSU and learn about station events.

And finally, WYSU’s Community Advisory Board continues to be a reliable sounding board for WYSU initiatives, and a valuable source of community support.

Describe key initiatives and the variety of partners with whom you collaborated, including other public media outlets, community nonprofits, government agencies, educational institutions, the business community, teachers and parents, etc. This will illustrate the many ways you’re connected across the community and engaged with other important organizations in the area.

WYSU continues to expand and enhance its on-line, interactive Community Calendar. Available to the public on the station’s website (wysu.org), the calendar concentrates on local university events, fine and performing arts events by local arts organizations, and other community service organization activities. The event sponsoring agency can enter their event data on the Calendar (subject to editing), which is available to anyone in the community. This Calendar is also the source for WYSU’s on-air public service announcements, providing these organizations with free media exposure, valued collectively at more than $40,000 over the course of a year. Continuing in 2024, a YSU student development employee continued a primary responsibility of finding and adding appropriate events to the calendar. The station’s community calendar is now more robust and informative than it has ever been. WYSU also actively shares pertinent community events (live and virtual) on the events page of the station's official Facebook and Instagram pages (which is followed on Facebook by more than 2,090 users, and Instagram by 235 users).

WYSU is also both a direct sponsor and a media sponsor for many community events (live and virtual). Station representatives attend these events (in person or virtually) to connect with other community leaders, promote the station, and promote public radio in general.

In 2024, WYSU had partnership, sponsorship, and/or underwriting agreements with the organizations listed below. These sponsorships demonstrate the station’s collaboration with its constituents, identify the goods and services offered by the station’s sponsors, and promote many community events.

A&C Beverage
Aebischer's Jewelry
Blossom Music Center
Butler Institute of American Art
Canton Symphony Orchestra
Charitable Adult Rides & Services (CARS)
Cincinnati Public Radio (Cincinnati)
Cleveland International Film Festival
Cleveland Orchestra at Severance Hall
Cleveland Orchestra Blossom Festival
DeSalvo Construction
DeYor Performing Arts Center
Elite Rare Coins
Friends of Fellows Riverside Gardens, Mill Creek Park
Gwen Erin Natural Fibers
Ideastream Public Media (Cleveland/Akron/Canton)
Internet Data Management, Inc. (IDMI)
Iron and String Life Enhancement, Inc.
Kravitz Delicatessen, Inc.
Law Firm of Attorney A. Ross Douglass
League of Women Voters of Greater Youngstown
Lit Youngstown
Mahoning County Board of Developmental Disabilities
Mahoning County Health Department
Mahoning Valley Historical Society
Mahoning Valley Sojourn to the Past
Medical Mutual
Mercy Health Foundation Mahoning Valley
Mill Creek MetroParks Davis Center
New Music Guild, Inc.
Noble Creature Wild Ales & Lagers
Ohio Education Association
Ohio Statehouse News Bureau
Opera Western Reserve
Peter Allen Inn & Event Center
Porter Wright Morris & Arthur, LLP
Premier Bank Foundation
Raymond John Wean Foundation Park
Robins Theatre
Robert Nader Family Trust
St. John’s Episcopal Church (Youngstown, OH)
Source Gallery - Lisbon, Ohio
Stambaugh Auditorium
Stambaugh Chorus
Stambaugh Youth Concert Band
Star Supply Bargain Outlet
Sunrise Entertainment of Warren
The Business Journal (Youngstown)
The Ohio Newsroom
Thomases Family Endowment
Unitarian Universalist Church of Youngstown
United Way of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley
Ursuline Sisters of Youngstown
Villa Maria Farm - Sisters of the Humility of Mary
Warren Civic Music Association
WCSU-FM (Wilberforce, Ohio)
WGTE-FM (Toledo, Ohio)
WKSU-FM (Kent, Ohio)
WOSU-FM Public Media (Columbus, Ohio)
WYSO-FM (Yellow Springs, Ohio)
Youngstown Historical Center of Industry & Labor
Youngstown Peace Race
Youngstown State University
Youngstown State University Career Exploration & Development Office
Youngstown State University Chapter of the Ohio Education Association
Youngstown State University Cliffe College Dean's Office
Youngstown State University Cliffe College's Donald P. Pipino Performing Arts Series
Youngstown State University Dana School of Music
Youngstown State University Department of Art
Youngstown State University Department of Theatre & Dance
Youngstown State University Division of University Relations
Youngstown State University Foundation
Youngstown State University McDonough Museum of Art
Youngstown State University Office of Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
Youngstown State University Office of Marketing & Communications
Youngstown State University Recycling Program
Youngstown State University Summer Festival of the Arts
Youngstown Symphony Orchestra

Continuing in 2024, WYSU remained an active founding media partner of The Ohio Newsroom. In many cities and towns across the country, newspapers and television stations are becoming a dying breed. Because of this, it is crucial now more than ever to deliver important news and information to local and regional communities. As the number of local media outlets continues to decline statewide, The Ohio Newsroom is committed to filling those information gaps and securing the funds needed to sustain into the future. The Ohio Newsroom mission and structure are the result of research and modeling funded by The George Gund Foundation and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting for expanding local journalism in Ohio.

WYSU has been in a partnership with Goodwill Industries for more than 40 years to carry the Youngstown Radio Reading Service on its sideband, providing a valuable service to sight-impaired members of the community.

WYSU partners with its parent university, Youngstown State University (YSU), to hire and provide valuable workplace experience to YSU students. Students learn hands-on broadcast communication or computer science skills while producing high-quality station content or working on other station projects. This partnership is reciprocal as WYSU benefits from student work hours, and the community doubly benefits as students of the community gain valuable work experience, and the rest of the community benefits from the services the students help provide.

WYSU is a critical link in the Emergency Alert System, a state and national warning system for severe weather and other disasters.

The station also maintains its own Disaster Response Program to better assist YSU and the region in the event of a widespread emergency.

What impact did your key initiatives and partnerships have in your community? Describe any known measurable impact, such as increased awareness, learning or understanding about particular issues. Describe indicators of success, such as connecting people to needed resources or strengthening conversational ties across diverse neighborhoods. Did a partner see an increase in requests for related resources? Please include direct feedback from a partner(s) or from a person(s) served.

WYSU-FM continues to be fully committed to undertaking initiatives and establishing partnerships that provide essential community services. Some of the services and community benefits facilitated by these partnerships are often beyond the scope of those traditionally associated with public radio stations.

Iron and String Life Enhancement, Inc. (ISLE) is an organization that provides support for developmentally disabled individuals and those with special needs in Mahoning and Trumbull County. Adrienne Liguore, their Training Director, comments on how their underwriting partnership with WYSU has helped them get the word out about their newest initiative. "WYSU has played an integral part in the advertisement of GabbaCamp. GabbaCamp is a special needs resort tucked away in beautiful Coitsville, Ohio. WYSU helped create the buzz for members of our community to learn about all of the wonderful benefits GabbaCamp had to offer to our folks with Developmental Disabilities. It has allowed us to reach viewers that have become donors of this wonderful camp. We are grateful for this partnership."

And Jimmy Sutman, the President and Founder of ISLE (and Golden String Inc. and The Purple Cat) shares his thoughts about the value of the partnership his organizations have with WYSU: "At Golden String, ISLE, and The Purple Cat our goals are to saturate the minds of our individuals with disabilities with the arts and be a bridge to the community for them. WYSU lends peace, history, and music while notifying staff and clients about education and the arts. The kindly personalities are welcoming to me and my friends with disabilities. WYSU is always at their fingertips in a world that is often overwhelming to them due to increasing speed and technology. WYSU remains a beacon of music and hope for us all. A reminder to slow down and realize the gifts around us."

The Youngstown State University Foundation is the fundraising arm of Youngstown State University (WYSU's licensee), has been a WYSU underwriter for many years, and has also served as a fiscal agent for WYSU on many grant applications and bequests. Here are some thoughts from Siobhan Bacha, Marketing Communications Coordinator of the YSU Foundation, about the value of the partnership between the Foundation and WYSU: "The YSU Foundation is an independent, nonprofit organization that supports student scholarships, student development, and career opportunities that has been serving YSU since 1966. WYSU has been an important resource to spread our mission and vision to those across the valley and beyond. Their services allow for community engagement through the delivery of local news and advertisements. We thank them for their support!"

Mahoning Valley Sojourn to the Past (MVSP) is a non-profit whose mission is to take high school students on a journey to the civil rights sites in the south, where they meet the "foot soldiers" of the civil rights movement and learn the lessons of social and racial justice, nonviolence, civic responsibility, hope, compassion, tolerance, forgiveness and not being a silent witness. The organization also annually recognizes “Ohio Nonviolence Week,” and has promoted local Ohio Nonviolence Week events by underwriting with WYSU.

Penny Wells, the Founder and Executive Director of MVSP has this to say about her organization's partnership with WYSU: "Ohio Nonviolence Week, which is the first week in October each year, was the idea of Youngstown high school students, who participated in a life changing, leadership development, history immersion journey to the Civil Rights sites in the South. Through partnering with WYSU, we have been able to have a broader reach into the community, letting them know of events occurring during Nonviolence Week, leading to greater participation. We look forward to continuing our
partnership with WYSU."

These partnerships are just three examples of the hundreds of partnerships that WYSU has committed to over the station’s 55-year history. All these partnerships illustrate the station’s devotion to its listeners, to the community at large, and to the general welfare of our entire region.

Another measurable impact of the value of WYSU’s initiatives and partnerships has been the continued growth and participation on social media platforms, particularly Facebook (and new for 2024 Instagram). Because WYSU’s Facebook and new Instagram pages are a key way for the station to publicize its initiatives and partnerships, the growth of WYSU’s Facebook and Instagram communities is an indication and measure of our constituents’ enhanced awareness, and of the impact its efforts and events have had upon constituents.

Other success indicators are primarily anecdotal and include partners who note the response to a story on WYSU; requests for information made available on the air, on the WYSU website, or on social media; and feedback from listeners who attend a WYSU sponsored event, or who visit the station.

Please describe any efforts (e.g. programming, production, engagement activities) you have made to investigate and/or meet the needs of minority and other diverse audiences (including, but not limited to, new immigrants, people for whom English is a second language and illiterate adults) during Fiscal Year 2024, and any plans you have made to meet the needs of these audiences during Fiscal Year 2025. If you regularly broadcast in a language other than English, please note the language broadcast.

WYSU’s goal is to cultivate, promote, and preserve a welcoming culture throughout the entire organization and its operation. This culture extends to the station’s staff, advisory board, volunteers, listeners, as well as to the station’s programming and community outreach initiatives.

WYSU is continually striving to enhance the scope of its programming by adding programs that explore diverse subject matter not always addressed on mainstream programs, that include a wide array of perspectives and opinions, that allow everyone to have a voice. and that have hosts and feature guests who represent various cultural and ethnic groups.

NPR anchor news programs Morning Edition and All Things Considered pay great attention to diversity in staff and subject matter. Many other network programs carried by WYSU do the same, including The World, Latino USA, It’s Been a Minute, and Snap Judgment, as well as Freakonomics Radio, The Ted Radio Hour, Radio Lab, Living on Earth, and The New Yorker Radio Hour.

Classical music has been a major format for the station since it first went on the air. Classical music has always been defined very broadly at WYSU, frequently crossing over into other music genres, and the music staff has gone much further in the past few years, looking to find and present classical music that reaches into the traditions of other cultures not traditionally represented in classical music, and trying to find common ground with other traditions. The weekend jazz programming is naturally very diverse and attracts an audience that appreciates that.

There are numerous other channels WYSU uses to reach out to diverse audiences.

WYSU puts much emphasis in providing a generous amount of free public service announcements for events and programs for organizations such as the YSU Hispanic Heritage Month Organizing Committee, Black History Month at YSU, regional Juneteenth celebrations, Women’s History Month, various YSU programs, the Jewish Community Center, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, as well as other specific event requests that are submitted to the station.

WYSU’s two local interview segments included the following people and topics:

• YSU professor Dr. Nicolette Powe on a grant she received to improve health, prevent current diseases and reduce health disparities among the African American and Hispanic populations in the Mahoning Valley.
• Mike McGiffin, president of the Youngstown-Warren regional chamber foundation, talks about a chamber-led initiative that aims to repopulate the Mahoning Valley by, among other things, attracting immigrants.
• Dr. Amanda Fehlbaum, head of YSU's Women's and Gender Studies Program, discusses the happenings of women's history month of this year.
• Christopher Colón, Northeast Ohio Regional Director of the Ohio Environmental Council, discusses the current state fracking unitization in the Youngstown area.
• Audrey Novotny, CEO of Trumbull Mobile Meals, discusses the programs offered to assist members of the community.
• Erica Horner of Mahoning County Public Health discusses various topics impacting the health of members of the community.
•  Lauren Webb of Someplace Safe, discusses its programs to reduce and prevent domestic violence.
• Guy Berney, Executive Director of the Youngstown Initiative to Reduce Violence, discusses the organization’s programs to assist members of the community.
• Kylie Christina, Marketing Director of A.C.T.I.O.N., talks about their "mobile markets" and how they bring produce to food deserts in the area.
• Rick Zeigler, of United Returning Citizens/Helps, discusses how his organization assists people coming out of prison to acclimate to life on the outside.
• Jazmin Oliver/Alumni YSU Chapter Delta Sigma Theta, discusses a free health expo geared to the African American community.
• Board member Lynn Welsh talks about the non-profit organization known, PFLAG.
• Director of Mission for Mercy Health Youngstown, Deanna Ford, discusses the Justice Round Table and the Dorothy Day House.

 WYSU remains committed to expanding its active participation and support for university and community-based events of interest to diverse audiences.

WYSU-FM continues to fund three scholarships that have the intention of reaching out to students of all backgrounds. The annually awarded WYSU-FM Broadcasting Scholarship helps to develop the next generation of broadcasters. WYSU-FM also established the Robert W. Peterson Scholarship, named for a former director of WYSU, which awards an annual scholarship to a student in English, Journalism, or Communications. And finally, there is the Barbara Krauss Scholarship, named for a former classical music host of WYSU, which awards an annual scholarship to a student in broadcast technology and production.

For more than 40 years, in a partnership with Goodwill Industries, WYSU has carried the Youngstown Radio Reading Service on its sideband. A small staff and over 100 volunteers read various materials for the sight impaired, and those with other physical ailments, like strokes and dyslexia. Listeners throughout the WYSU broadcast area receive this service using a specially tuned radio.

WYSU works in conjunction with National Public Radio and its Grove website platform to ensure that the WYSU website is ADA compliant.

Finally, with its news and information and cultural music programs, WYSU believes that all its programming is a useful, informative, and entertaining resource for all members of the community.

Please assess the impact that your CPB funding had on your ability to serve your community. What were you able to do with your grant that you wouldn't be able to do if you didn't receive it?

WYSU began broadcasting in October 1969 with the goal to offer the community high-quality arts and educational programming. This mission has only been possible due to the stability of the station’s four main funding sources: university support, membership, underwriting, and the CPB Community Service Grant (CSG). The station continues on the road to recovery from the pandemic. Underwriting support continues to improve with the return of arts-related event underwriting support, but substantial challenges remain, and new challenges are developing (i.e. the loss of large legacy station underwriters, the increasing popularity of targeted digital advertising, and the significant continued reduction of local and regional radio advertising in the market [which has resulted in a substantial reduction in the advertising rates charged by commercial radio stations]). The station development staff is doing its best to respond to these challenges. The amount of listener funding is mostly stable, but as has been the trend throughout much of non-profit fundraising, the number of donors has decreased, while those who remain give more. Thankfully, CPB CSG continues to provide steady support to the station.

The market WYSU serves will always be a challenging one. The Youngstown-Warren region has an aging population (the median age in the MSA is 44, compared to a national median age of 39), and WYSU has not been able to avoid that trend. Other demographic elements impacting audience growth include education attainment levels and poverty rates. The WYSU service area is notably lower than the national average in both these measures. Only about 15% of the population of Youngstown holds a bachelor’s degree or higher while the national average is just below 38%. Additional, the poverty rate in Youngstown is alarmingly high at 36.2%, and continues to increase (up by 1.7% over the past year). Moreover, the region’s population is rapidly declining.

Despite all this, the team at WYSU still believes in the importance of its educational, news, and arts programming for the area and its goal to make it accessible to all residents, regardless of income or education level. This is why the support CPB CSG provides to the station is more critical now than ever.
 

(Source: US Census Bureau – 2024 update)