KUAF’s Progress Affect Reporter, Anna Pope, (l) and Underwriting Director, Ryan Versey (r)
KUAF, native Nationwide Public Radio affiliate for Northwest and western Arkansas, has introduced on two new hires to develop native reporting on progress and its impression on the realm and to make sure and develop underwriting income for the station.
KUAF was chosen as a 2022 Report for America associate newsroom in December 2021, and Anna Pope, Report for America Corps member, joined KUAF on June 1. Lengthy-time underwriting director for KUAF, Rhonda Dillard, retired in Could, and KUAF has introduced on the second underwriting director in its historical past by hiring Ryan Versey, previously of the School of Engineering and the Sam M. Walton School of Enterprise.
By means of the partnership with Report for America, KUAF created a brand new reporter place to cowl the explosive progress of the realm and that progress’s impression on the each day lifetime of its residents.
“We’re excited to welcome Anna to the KUAF information staff and excited to share her reporting on one of the vital urgent and vital points impacting the whole lot of our listening space,” says Leigh Wooden, KUAF’s basic supervisor, including that Pope will quickly develop into a well-recognized voice on Ozarks at Giant, KUAF’s each day, regionally produced information program.
KUAF is amongst 70 new Report for America host newsroom companions for 2022, chosen from greater than 1,800 candidates. Recognizing the hole in protection of the impacts of the expansion of Northwest Arkansas, KUAF was chosen for the proposal for a brand new reporter place to cowl the financial, environmental, arts and cultural and reasonably priced housing impression of this progress, significantly because it pertains to the key company employers within the area. Reporting on this progress and its impression will even embrace reporting on rural residents’ entry to healthcare, training, housing, infrastructure and extra.
Pope, a local of Oklahoma and up to date graduate of Oklahoma State College with a Bachelor of Science diploma in multi-media journalism, brings expertise in each rural and concrete areas by means of going to high school in Oklahoma Metropolis and spending time on her household’s farm in Loyal, Oklahoma. She interned at KOSU, a member-supported public radio community that operates in central Oklahoma together with Stillwater and Oklahoma Metropolis and in northeast Oklahoma together with Tulsa, Bartlesville and the Grand Lake space.
“Working at a station that’s captivated with serving its surrounding communities is the fantastic thing about being in public radio,” Pope says. “I grew up listening to public radio and am past proud to be working at KUAF.”
Versey joins the KUAF staff with a few years of multi-media communications expertise, in addition to radio programming and radio gross sales expertise. As one of many first radio personalities of KDIV 98.7 FM, the Voice of Range in Fayetteville, Versey brings a wide range of abilities in inventive design, digital media, images and extra to the station. Versey was previously a multi-media communications specialist with the School of Engineering and this system and constituent relations outreach coordinator with the Dr. Barbara A. Lofton Workplace of Range & Inclusion within the Walton School of Enterprise. He’s additionally the photographer and social media supervisor for the U of A Bands and the founding father of inventive media company VERSatile Optics Media.
“We’re so excited to deliver Ryan onto the staff. His expertise and experience in digital media will assist KUAF develop our digital media gross sales, in addition to on-air gross sales income,” Wooden says. “The pandemic accelerated the speed at which persons are listening to the ‘radio’ on their pc, sensible cellphone and sensible speaker, and people are all areas of potential income progress.”
A local of Texarkana, Texas, Versey is a graduate of Prairie View A&M College. Versey graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in mass media communications with a focus in public relations and promoting from the Marvin D. and June Samuel Brailsford School of Arts and Sciences.
“I am excited to be part of such a community-oriented staff. There are tons of latest prospects with the expansion of this area, and I stay up for contributing to it,” Versey says.
KUAF has been the NPR affiliate for Northwest and western Arkansas, jap Oklahoma and southwest Missouri since 1985 and is a listener-supported service of the U of A. KUAF supplies native reporting with a information staff of 5 reporters and produces a hour-long each day information program, Ozarks at Giant, in addition to nationwide applications from NPR. Listener contributions could be made to the station at supportkuaf.com.
