Showing posts with label franklin public radio. Show all posts
Showing posts with label franklin public radio. Show all posts

Sunday, March 17, 2024

Tuesday, March 12, 2024

What's happening to the Wednesday (March 13) meeting broadcasts?


Franklin Public Schools Comprehensive Facilities Planning Subcommittee Meeting
Event Date:  Wednesday, March 13, 2024 - 5:00pm
  • being audio recorded by Franklin Matters/Franklin Public Radio for broadcast later
Franklin Matters/Franklin Public Radio
Franklin Matters/Franklin Public Radio


Economic Development Subcommittee Meeting
Event Date:  Wednesday, March 13, 2024 - 5:45pm
Agenda -> 

Town Council Meeting
Event Date:  Wednesday, March 13, 2024 - 7:00pm
Agenda -> 
Town Hall TV, home of government content for FranklinTV, Franklin, MA
Town Hall TV, home of government content for FranklinTV, Franklin, MA

Sunday, March 10, 2024

Franklin TV: Shelley Otis; Harp Beats – in our studio

by Pete Fasciano, Executive Director 03/10/2024

Shelley Otis and Harp Beats, launched our first ‘Musical Mastery’ studio session last week. The result will be a full CD album of contemporary music featuring Shelley on harp.

Harp Beats: Fabio, Rich, Sandy and Shelley Otis
Harp Beats: Fabio, Rich, Sandy and Shelley Otis


There are few instruments that are as moving and emotionally rich than the harp. And there are few harpists as accomplished as Shelley.

In the weeks ahead watch for our new music series on Franklin TV’s All Access channel.
Shelley Otis; Harp
Harp


Thanks for listening to 102.9 wfpr●fm. 
And – as always – thanks for watching.

 

Get this week's program guide for Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm) online  http://franklin.tv/programguide.pdf   

Sunday, December 3, 2023

Making Sense of Climate #36 gets into the National Climate Assessment 5 & COP 28 (audio)

FM #1109 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 1109 in the series. 


This session of the radio show shares my conversation with Ted McIntyre, Franklin resident and climate activist. We met to record for the first time in person, in the Franklin Public Radio studio on Monday, November 27, 2023.  

In this episode we cover two climate topics: National Climate Assessment 5 and COP 28. COP 28 refers to the United Nations Climate Change Conference taking place in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, from 30 November until 12 December 2023. We get to these topics after talking about the role of media, podcasting, and art in raising serious questions for discussion. 

This discussion continues our journey understanding the MA roadmap toward net zero and while it helps me “make sense of climate”, we hope it helps with your understanding as well. 

If you have climate questions or Franklin specific climate questions, send them in and we’ll try to answer them in a future session.  

The conversation runs about 53 minutes. Let’s listen to my conversation with Ted as we help ‘make sense of climate.’ Audio link -> https://franklin-ma-matters.captivate.fm/episode/fm-1109-making-sense-of-climate-36-11-27-23



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Links to the National Climate Assessment 5  https://nca2023.globalchange.gov/ 


Downloads (including PDFs) https://nca2023.globalchange.gov/downloads/ 


COP 28 -> https://unfccc.int/cop28


COP 28 links to news & media -> https://unfccc.int/cop28#news-and-media 


Recent Guardian article on COP28 -> https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/dec/03/back-into-caves-cop28-president-dismisses-phase-out-of-fossil-fuels


** See the page that collects all the “Making Sense of Climate” episodes -> https://www.franklinmatters.org/2022/02/making-sense-of-climate-collection.html 

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We are now producing this in collaboration with Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm) or 102.9 on the Franklin area radio dial.  


This podcast is my public service effort for Franklin but we can't do it alone. We can always use your help.


How can you help?

  • If you can use the information that you find here, please tell your friends and neighbors

  • If you don't like something here, please let me know


Through this feedback loop we can continue to make improvements. I thank you for listening.


For additional information, please visit www.franklin.news/ or  www.Franklinmatters.org/ 


If you have questions or comments you can reach me directly at shersteve @ gmail dot com


The music for the intro and exit was provided by Michael Clark and the group "East of Shirley". The piece is titled "Ernesto, manana"  c. Michael Clark & Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with their permission.


I hope you enjoy!

------------------


You can also subscribe and listen to Franklin Matters audio on iTunes or your favorite podcast app; search in "podcasts" for "Franklin Matters"


Making Sense of Climate #36 gets into the National Climate Assessment 5 & COP 28 (audio)
Making Sense of Climate #36 gets into the National Climate Assessment 5 & COP 28 (audio)

Sunday, July 16, 2023

Franklin TV: A Radio Decade!

2013 to 2023 – and Onward!

by Pete Fasciano, Executive Director 07/16/2023

In the Summer of 2013 the Federal Communications Commission posted notice that they would open a filing window for community radio stations in November.

It was ten years ago this week that I began preparing our application for wfpr●fm. We filed. We waited – nervously. There were ninety filings in Massachusetts alone. Many were competing for the few available FM channels. Only nineteen hopefuls were granted construction permits.

In February of 2014 we got the official nod from the FCC. Yessss! Their issued construction permit gave us three years to build our studios, our transmitter site and begin broadcasting. February of 2017 was a game changer. Radio has given us the ability to reach everyone – at work, at home, in the car. We’ve been at it for seven years, and our volunteers have made our on-air operation as professional as any station anywhere.

2023. Ten years have passed, and we’[re doing quite well, thank you. This year the FCC will open another community LPFM filing window in the fall. No doubt, there will be another slew of hopefuls, and only a few fortunates will win. The FM dial is much tighter now with so many AM stations adding FM channels to their service. Local community cable stations are also uniquely qualified to add FM service to their outreach efforts. Other PEG TV studios have contacted us for guidance. We’re happy to help.

There were folks who helped us ten years ago. Their expert guidance was essential. Now it’s our turn.

That’s what community is about.

Thanks for listening to 102.9 wfpr●fm. 
And – as always – thanks for watching.

Get this week's program guide for Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm) online  http://franklin.tv/programguide.pdf   

Monday, February 20, 2023

Catching up to share the recent More Perfect Union - wfpr episodes

What is a podcast? 
One easy way is to think of a podcast as "radio on demand." If you listen to radio, the show is scheduled for a particular day and time. If you miss it, now you can listen to it when you want if there is a podcast episode published.
Except for the music programs, the wfpr.fm radio shows all have a podcast version so you can listen when you want.

More Perfect Union is scheduled for airplay on Monday's but with your favorite podcast player, you can listen anytime. The three most recent episode are listed here:

073 - President's Day & Biden State Of The Union Address

072 - Black History Month & Tyree Nichols

071 - Legislative Reorganization & Congress's Effectiveness


Franklin.TV: A More Perfect Union (audio)
Franklin.TV: A More Perfect Union (audio)
More Perfect Union - WFPR
Discussing American Politics and Current Events
Peter Fasciano, Dr. Michael Walker Jones, Dr. Natalia Linos, Jeff Roy, Chris Woolf and Nick Remissong host a round table discussion on current events and American politics, bringing about thoughtful conversation, compelling discourse, and a look at what the future might hold for the United States.
Find all the More Perfect Union episodes online -> https://more-perfect-union.captivate.fm/episodes  or subscribe with your favorite podcast app

Find other wfpr.fm podcasts on the wfpr page ->   https://wfpr.fm/wfpr_v2_011.htm

Friday, December 23, 2022

Redistricting Advisory Committee meets in hybrid format to review building block components (audio)

FM #902 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 902 in the series. 


This session of the radio show shares the Franklin Public Schools Redistricting Advisory Committee Meeting held in hybrid format with folks at the FHS Media Center on Tuesday, December 20, 2022 as well as some members who participated remotely.   


Given this was a working session, the major whole group sections of the meeting audio is what is shared here. There is one break in the audio when 

  • The breakout discussion was held at each table


The break is indicated by a about 5 seconds of music (replacing about 25 minutes of table discussion) then the group discussion resumes


The edited meeting audio recording runs about 58 minutes. Let’s listen to Redistricting Advisory Committee Meeting


Audio file ->  
https://franklin-ma-matters.captivate.fm/episode/fm-902-fps-redistricting-advisory-cmte-mtg-12-20-22

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Dec 20 meeting agenda -> https://www.franklinps.net/sites/g/files/vyhlif4431/f/uploads/redistricting_advisory_subcom_12_20_22.pdf 


Presentation doc shared during the meeting ->

https://www.franklinps.net/sites/g/files/vyhlif4431/f/uploads/franklin_schools_redistricting_committee_meeting_presentation_12.20.2022.pdf 


My notes in one Twitter threader document   https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qWEoyejx9_i_LDuDAOVUys8OH1EGhl3i/view?usp=share_link 


The photo album shared via Twitter of the pix taken of the meeting and presentation slides   https://photos.app.goo.gl/QyKb2wkFHtqryhC18 


Redistricting Advisory Committee page ->

https://www.franklinps.net/school-committee/2023-redistricting-advisory-committee 


--------------

We are now producing this in collaboration with Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm) or 102.9 on the Franklin area radio dial.  


This podcast is my public service effort for Franklin but we can't do it alone. We can always use your help.


How can you help?

  • If you can use the information that you find here, please tell your friends and neighbors

  • If you don't like something here, please let me know


Through this feedback loop we can continue to make improvements. I thank you for listening.


For additional information, please visit Franklinmatters.org/ or www.franklin.news/


If you have questions or comments you can reach me directly at shersteve @ gmail dot com


The music for the intro and exit was provided by Michael Clark and the group "East of Shirley". The piece is titled "Ernesto, manana"  c. Michael Clark & Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with their permission.


I hope you enjoy!

------------------


You can also subscribe and listen to Franklin Matters audio on iTunes or your favorite podcast app; search in "podcasts" for "Franklin Matters"


Supt Lucas Giguere opens the Redistricting Advisory Cmte mtg
Supt Lucas Giguere opens the Redistricting Advisory Cmte mtg

Monday, November 7, 2022

Franklin Community Cable Access, Inc. dba Franklin●TV (www.franklin.tv) - Part 1 of 2

Franklin●TV is an IRS 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation. We operate the local access TV studios for Franklin. We produce local TV programs on three channels: 
  • Franklin All Access TV - Our Public Access Channel (Comcast 8, Verizon 26).
  • Franklin Pride TV - Our Schools Channel (Comcast 96, Verizon 28).
  • Franklin Town Hall TV - Our Government Channel (Comcast 11, Verizon 29).
We are Franklin’s local TV channels on Comcast and Verizon. We are not owned by Comcast or Verizon.

Background

The Town of Franklin is the Local Franchise Authority (LFA) that maintains agreements with Comcast and Verizon. Franklin●TV’s funding comes from a local access fee that cable subscribers pay per the LFA agreements. Thus, as an independent nonprofit group, F●TV is not funded by taxes. We operate at no cost to the town. We support both residents and the Town per our charter. F●TV also pays a PILOT fee (Payment In Lieu Of Taxes) to the Town of Franklin by agreement. We are the first nonprofit group that contributes to town services. As an IRS 501(c)(3) charity we also may receive grants and donations from contributors.

Community Bulletin Board Service

In addition to programming, Franklin●TV offers free community announcements on our Bulletin Board for all three P/E/G channels. Nonprofit organizations who wish to promote their meetings, special events and activities are welcome to contact us.

Our Studios and Offices

We have five thousand square feet that houses two video studios (a large drive-in access studio and an interview studio), A live television control room, two audio recording and production rooms, six digital video editing/effects systems, and our multi-channel playback systems and offices.

We also have general purpose Community Meeting Space available – free to qualified nonprofit groups and service organizations for occasional meetings. Our facility accommodates up to 30 people.

Uniquely Trying Times for All
At the start of 2020 the world experienced the rapid rise of the drastically transformative COVID pandemic. Whether that transformation would prove disastrous or not in the long run was a matter of reassessing our present circumstances and longer-term future plans.

In the film Apollo 13. NASA's Mission Director Gene Kranz (Ed Harris) declares, "Failure is not an option", and he asks the pivotal question, "I know what's not working. Tell me what's working."

What was not working?

Out of an abundance of caution our studio was closed for the duration. This was true for all local community TV studios. We opted to avoid having people gather for interviews in our smaller studio. Having folks talking in close proximity for an hour or so posed far too much risk of infection.

So, what was working?

We moved quickly to add new technical capabilities across the facility. The entire operation is now controlled remotely. We edit our video programs remotely. We control our cable channels remotely. We manage wfpr.fm, our radio station remotely. We added online video services via YouTube as well.

Meanwhile, normal town business had to continue. Our coverage of open meetings required a substantial expansion of technical facilities, both in our main studio as well as in Franklin's Town Chambers. Zoom became the digital transport means for most of our live event programming. The result is that meetings are now more interactive, enabling town officials, committee members, experts, guest presenters and residents to communicate freely in real-time.

We also began covering Franklin high school's varsity sports as live events via Zoom. This became a major priority since parents could no longer attend events to watch their kids play. Our announcers also worked remotely from home, watching and commenting on the games via Zoom. To facilitate multi-camera sports coverage we designed and constructed three video 'flypacks' - basically a ready-to-air TV control room in a highly portable, fold-up, fifty-pound box. Unfold box. Connect cameras. Broadcast live.

We also worked to support other organizations – Senior Center, The Rec Dept., Black Box, the boy scouts and others to provide streaming coverage for key events where a live audience could not attend.

Finally, our radio station has actually expanded its local programming - effectively doubling since the pandemic began. We provided podcast microphone kits to our radio volunteers to connect them all together and to the radio station via Zoom. Steve Sherlock, Jim Derick, Frank Falvey, Jay Horrigan, Anne Bergen, Pandora Carlucci, Michael Walker-Jones, Jeff Roy, Mark Lenzi, Kim Simone, et al have all engaged in enhancing our community connectedness in a time of increased social isolation through their ongoing radio programs and audio podcasts.

Each challenge during this past year has been met with one philosophy. Whatever the solution – it's here to stay, so do it right. We are already the better for it, and the sweeping technical changes that we have made will be a permanent part of our newer, better normal. Failure was not an option.


This is part of the Franklin Annual Report which can be found online ->

The vision is one site to "Watch, Listen, Read" all that matters in Franklin, MA
The vision is one site to "Watch, Listen, Read" all that matters in Franklin, MA

Sunday, October 9, 2022

Franklin TV: Harvest Fest - We Were Blown Away

Pete Fasciano, Executive Director 10/09/2022 

Whoops – there’s goes another one.

Whoops – there’s goes another one


A few moments earlier the mangled tent above stood at the other end of this scene. 

Up it went – sailing past the post office in a mere second before being wrangled back to terra firma. A few more were mangled and wrangled. Our own tent, held down by ninety pounds of weights, was shimmying. We packed it up before the gusts could steal away with it. 

Breeze notwithstanding, the crowds turned out.

harvest festival 2022


And – as always –
Thank you for listening to wfpr●fm. 
And, thank you for watching.

 

Get this week's program guide for Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm) online  http://franklin.tv/programguide.pdf    

Helping Voters with Disabilities Participate in Our Democratic Process

During the 2022 midterm election, 38.3 million voters with disabilities will have the opportunity to participate in the democratic process. These voters may include you, one of your friends, or a family member.

Voters with disabilities face unique obstacles when casting their ballots. The Help America Vote Act ensures that all voters with disabilities have the right to mark, cast, and verify their ballots privately and independently.

The Election Assistance Commission (EAC) helps voters with disabilities register to vote and understand their options to cast ballots. 

Helping Voters with Disabilities Participate in Our Democratic Process
Helping Voters with Disabilities Participate in Our Democratic Process

Continue reading this article -> https://blog.ssa.gov/helping-voters-with-disabilities-participate-in-our-democratic-process/

What is Franklin TV, radio and News doing in this arena?
Election interviews in particular are shared in video and audio formats where possible. If needed, a transcript of either can be made available. We are working towards making the combination an 'automatic' production so in the meantime, feel free to ask for a transcript.

Comment on this post to request a transcript of an interview, or send an email to sgsherlock@franklinmatters.org

Friday, October 7, 2022

Franklin Public Radio extends its tower to improve its signal and reach

When wfpr.fm began broadcasting in 2017, the radio station needed a location for its broadcast tower.  Franklin provided a small patch of land atop Forge Hill, and wfpr provided a home, building, electricity and tower space for the Town's Police and Fire Radio Systems.  

This week Franklin Public Radio and the Town of Franklin extended this infrastructure partnership - literally - to improve the Town's Public Safety Communications.  The tower and antennas are going up - extending another 40 feet.  The additional antenna height increases the reach of the radio signals.  

laying out pieces of what looks like an industrial strength Erector Set
laying out pieces of what looks like an industrial strength Erector Set

The crew began laying out pieces of what looks like an industrial strength Erector Set.  

assembly instructions
assembly instructions
The assembly instructions are similar to the sheet that comes with Ikea furniture - only there are many more sheets.  

assembled 40-foot section
assembled 40-foot section

The assembled 40-foot section with antenna side-mounts in place. 

Standing upright next to the tower
Standing upright next to the tower
Standing upright next to the tower - a last inspection - ready for hoisting to the top.

ready to bolt the new section securely in place
ready to bolt the new section securely in place
The crew up top, ready to bolt the new section securely in place.  

After a day and a half of careful assembly, the hoist to the top is quick - a short elevator ride.  At 160 feet, the crane makes it all look like child's play.  Another hour of aligning and bolting the section in place and we're ready to add the antennas up top.  The Town is also adding a new antenna for the DPW's water department - more digital radio control infrastructure for managing its water systems.  

This project was first planned last year as part of a multi-phase infrastructure plan to improve town-wide public safety communications over the next two years.  

For more about Franklin Public Radio, visit their home page at wfpr.fm 

Franklin Public Radio extends its tower to improve its signal and reach
Franklin Public Radio extends its tower to improve its signal and reach

Sunday, June 19, 2022

Franklin TV: Juneteenth, Take 2!

Let us all be thankful – and free.
by Pete Fasciano, Executive Director 06/19/2022


Juneteenth, Take 2!

This Monday is the second Juneteenth officially recognized as a federal holiday in the U.S. All federal government offices, federal courts, banks, post offices, schools, and U.S. financial markets will be closed. This year, the Juneteenth holiday will be observed in the U.S. on Monday, June 20. It is officially African American Independence Day.

Although President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation officially abolished slavery in January 1863, it would be over two years before the Civil War ended in April 1865, and even longer before the news spread to all parts of the U.S. June 19 approximates the day that General Granger and his troops landed at Galveston, Texas with news that the Civil War had ended and that the last of enslaved African Americans were free. Originating in Galveston, the holiday has been celebrated in various parts of the U.S. since the 1860s. It was finally recognized as a federal holiday last year, in the midst of the Black Lives Matter movement, when President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law.
Emancipation Proclamation officially abolished slavery in January 1863


Just as July Fourth celebrates our Declaration of Independence, Juneteenth celebrates an equally important document, The Emancipation Proclamation, which truly completes the universal intent of our Declaration – freedom for everyone.
And – as always –
Thank you for listening to wfpr●fm. 
And, thank you for watching.

Get this week's program guide for Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm) online  http://franklin.tv/programguide.pdf   

Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm)
Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm)