From the Nantucket Inquirer and Mirror

October 3, 1996: Public radio listeners, rejoice. Your favorite programs like "All Things Considered" and "Morning Edition" will soon be broadcast on Nantucket at 91.1 FM.

Public radio, like Nantucket, is considered by many a bastion of cultural elitism and highbrow snobbery. It is consistently lauded for award-winning, commercial-free news, but ridiculed by some for being "too classical."

Nantucket has no public radio access. The closest high-powered public radio stations are in Boston, although a small operation, with a signal that does not reach the island, is up and running in Provincetown.

The station hasn't received its call letters yet, but should be on the air by the winter of 1997, said Jay Allison, a veteran public radio producer and president of the new station. The station recently received a $173,000 federal grant to construct a broacast facility. "Our area is one of the last in the country with any population that doesn't have a public radio station," said Allison. "The need is probably the keenest on Nantucket. We liken it to trying to get conservation land. There is precious little room left on the radio, and it is being controlled by a few who are buying up the airwaves."

The station will broadcast from Woods Hole, with a separate, low-power transmitter on Nantucket, he said. Listeners from the Upper Cape to Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket should receive the station's signal [on 90.1FM]

At first, programming will be provided primarily by National Public Radio, but the station will branch out into local and regional news programs after establishing itself, said Peter Christianson, a consultant with the station.

"It's too early to give a definitive program list, but I think it's safe to say we won't have monolithic national programming, nor will it be amateurish college radio," he said. "We are not intended to be a generic media outlet. Our goal is to tailor the programming to the needs of our listeners."

Eventually, Nantucket will have its own station, with its own programming, Allison predicted. "Nantucket has its own frequency, and initially, it will be repeating the programming from the Woods Hole station. Eventually, it can build its own facility and develop its own programs," Allison said. Nantucket audio producer Gregory Whitehead agreed.

"It's really up to us to decide what we want to do with our frequency," said Whitehead, who has a background in audio-media productions. "In time, I hope there will be enough energy and enthusiasm to turn it into something special." Whitehead is the radio station's vice president.

Former substance abuse counselor Pat Martin is on the station's board of directors. She looks forward to its first broadcast. "I've always enjoyed public broadcasting, and radio has been a passion of mine," she said. "It's a wonderful opportunity to do local programming. We receive some information through channel three, but the majority comes from the print media. There is a lot the print media can't cover. There are certain things that come through best live."