Press Clippings
Public Cape Stations Proposed
From the Boston Globe, May 30, 1996
Public Cape Stations Proposed
By Susan Bickelhaupt, Globe Staff, 05/30/96
Independent producer Jay Allison of Woods Hole has big plans for radio on
the Cape. Specifically, noncommercial radio on the Cape.
He and his wife, Christina Egloff, have founded the Cape and Islands
Community Public Radio organization and applied to the Federal
Communications Commission to obtain two public radio frequencies - one to
cover the upper Cape and the Vineyard, and the other to reach Nantucket.
``We're underserved down here,'' Allison said. ``We're one of the only
populaces in the US that is not covered by the primary signal of any public
station.''
He said he can sometimes get Boston's WGBH-FM (89.7), ``but we're not
within their coverage.'' (WBUR-FM is repeated on stations in Harwich,
Sandwich and West Barnstable, so can be heard on parts of the Cape).
Allison, 44, has good credentials when it comes to public radio. He has
racked up almost two dozen awards in his career and recently traveled to
Washington to pick up the Edward R. Murrow Award. Not only is it public
radio's highest honor, Allison's receiving it marked the first time it went
to a producer.
``My whole life in public radio has been out in the wilderness, working on
the fringe, the edge, so this was meaningful to come into the fold,'' he
said of the award that has gone to NPR heavies like Susan Stamberg, Cokie
Roberts and Garrison Keillor.
Allison has never had a full-time job or received benefits from NPR but has
worked as an independent producer for them for 19 years.
One of his more notable works is a series called ``Life Stories'' that airs
on ``All Things Considered.'' In addition, he has worked for ABC's
``Nightline'' as a writer, reporter and producer for the past four years.
Now his goal is to get funding and grants to realize his dream of bringing
public radio to the Cape.
``Our intention is to run NPR programming and do stories of local and
regional interest,'' said Allison, who is convinced that there is a market
for such a station.
``In the future people will want this even more as commercial stations are
being bought up by a few people,'' he said. ``So reserving one frequency
for the community itself, I think, is a gift that will last a long time.''
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