Radio Station Revives News Department

In what a station officer called "the resurrection of the news department," Harvard radio station WHRB (95.3 FM) will begin airing an interview-and information-driven show this Sunday afternoon.

Professor of History William E. Gienapp, who offers a first-year seminar on the history of baseball, will be the first guest on the program, according to WHRB News Director Nina A. Mitchell '97.

The show will air Sundays from 1 to 1:30 p.m., Mitchell said.

"The show will be organized in the style of National Public Radio [NPR]," said News Comp Director Henry Wei '98.

It will feature interviews with subjects ranging from noteworthy professors to Spare Change vendors, and will also present national and international summaries and community updates.

"WHRB is the only radio station to cover Cambridge politics," Mitchell said. "Now, we are going to mix top headlines, features, sports, the arts and upcoming local events."

"This is something WHRB has always wanted to do, and it is finally coming about," she added.

In addition to the Sunday afternoon show, WHRB News will begin broadcasting speeches from the Institute of Politics.

"We plan to widen our audience and bring Harvard to the Cambridge community," Mitchell said.

WHRB's news department was weakened when the station moved its headquarters from Memorial Hall to Pennypacker Hall this past summer, because the new location has fewer studios, Wei said.

"We are looking forward to a few years down the road when WHRB news is a full-fledged department, and listeners can count on us," Wei said.