WHYY Unveils New Dover Community News Bureau

WHYY Unveils New Dover Community News Bureau

Ribbon-cutting ceremony with WHYY President & CEO William J. Marrazzo and Dover Mayor Stephen R. Speed planned

DOVER, Del., Jan. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- WHYY, the only television station with a nightly news program dedicated to the First State, will formally unveil its new state-of-the-art Dover Community News Bureau, Wednesday, January 17 at 5:25 p.m. WHYY President & CEO William J. Marrazzo; Dover Mayor Stephen R. Speed; Molly Dickinson Shepard, Chair of WHYY's Board of Directors, dignitaries, and several other WHYY representatives will be in attendance for a ceremonial ribbon cutting that will take place inside the facility, which is located in the Citizens Bank Building (formerly Farmers Bank) at 8 Loockerman Street, Dover. Delaware Lieutenant Governor John Carney will also attend the event, schedule permitting. The ceremony will air live on WHYY TV12 as a lead-in to WHYY Delaware Tonight.

The bureau extends WHYY's broadcast and production capabilities to cover news and events throughout the entire state of Delaware. WHYY first announced plans for the Dover Community News Bureau in June of 2005.

Following the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Marrazzo, Speed and Dickinson Shepard will join other invited guests for a special reception at the Schwartz Center (226 S. State Street). Attendees will watch the 5:30 p.m. live broadcast of WHYY Delaware Tonight, which will be anchored from Dover by Delaware Tonight's Nancy Karibjanian.

"Living up to WHYY's mission to connect each of us to the world's richest ideas and all of us to each other, the Dover Community News Bureau allows WHYY to better serve the needs of all Delawareans from the rural reaches of Sussex County to metropolitan Wilmington," said Marrazzo. "I would personally like to thank the people of Delaware, the Longwood Foundation, the Welfare Foundation, and the Crystal Trust for their generosity in funding this project."

The location of the bureau, near Legislative Hall, enables WHYY to provide ongoing coverage of the political process, including live and taped reports on legislative debates and issues as they unfold. The facility will enable WHYY to be more effective and efficient in covering live news, such as the January 18th State of the State Address by Delaware Governor Ruth Ann Minner.

"The opening of WHYY's News Bureau is, itself, great news for the City of Dover. The recent rapid growth we have seen will provide more than enough material for WHYY's broadcasts," said Mayor Speed. "I speak for all of the leadership in Dover when I say that we are excited about this opening and look forward to all of the outstanding reporting which the Dover Bureau will offer."

Designed by Mitchell Associates of Wilmington with Louis Rosenberg, IIDA as Project Principal, WHYY's Dover Community News Bureau broadens the content of WHYY's nightly newscast, WHYY Delaware Tonight, seen each weekday at 5:30 P.M. on TV12; WHYY 12.1 (Comcast Channel 240); on WHYY Wider Horizons (Comcast Channel 242) at 5:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., and accessed anytime via Comcast's ON DEMAND and whyy.org. Reports filed from the Dover News Bureau will also be used in WHYY 91FM newscasts. WHYY Delaware Tonight is anchored by Nancy Karibjanian. Dover bureau chief is Patrick Mairs.

"This new broadcast facility provides Delawareans with immediate, live coverage of important issues that affect citizens throughout the First State, providing context and insight to complex subjects," said Paul Gluck, WHYY Vice President and Station Manager. "WHYY will be shedding light on legislative issues and will examine the unique stories of Kent and Sussex counties for First State viewers."

WHYY Delaware Tonight debuted in 1963 and is dedicated to reporting the news and issues of Delaware. It is produced from WHYY's Delaware Broadcast Center in Wilmington with anchor Nancy Karibjanian. News Director Micheline Boudreau is responsible for overall coverage of the news in Delaware. WHYY's current studios at 625 Orange Street were built in 1990.

Major funding for the construction of the Dover Community News Bureau, and to upgrade WHYY's Wilmington facility with digital technology, came from the Longwood Foundation. Additional support came from the Welfare Foundation and the Crystal Trust.

Source: WHYY

CONTACT: Jeffrey M. Bundy, Senior Publicist - WHYY, +1-215-351-2381, or
jbundy@whyy.org

Web site: http://www.whyy.org/

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