WMNR Diversity Plan 2021

This diversity plan has been prepared to meet the Corporation for Public Broadcasting diversity eligibility policies since WMNR receives a grant from CPB.

Operational Background

WMNR Fine Arts Radio consists of the flagship station WMNR, Monroe, CT and 3 additional stations and 10 translators in Connecticut and 5 translators in nearby New York State.

All stations are licensed to the Town of Monroe, which was incorporated in 1823 and is a growing community in Fairfield County, Connecticut. Monroe has seen many changes over the past years since it was incorporated, from being a predominantly farming community to a suburban community. WMNR receives no funds from the Town of Monroe and pays the Town an administrative fee for handling its finances and human resources. WMNR is a self-funded Special Revenue Fund of the Town of Monroe, and raises the necessary income to operate the station through donations from listeners, businesses and foundations, including a yearly grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), a private corporation funded by the American people.

Federal Communications Commission Equal Employment Opportunities Requirements

The annual grant from CPB requires the establishment of a formal goal of diversity and compliance with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations on equal employment opportunities (EEO). The FCC requires that equal opportunity in employment shall be afforded by all licensees of commercial or noncommercial AM, FM or TV stations to all qualified persons, and no person shall be discriminated against in employment by such stations because of race, color, religion, national origin, or sex.

The FCC has numerous specific EEO job recruitment, advertising and outreach requirements, including an annual report, from which the Town of Monroe is exempt since the WMNR station employment unit has fewer than 5 full-time employees.

The Town of Monroe, and its WMNR employment unit, do not discriminate in the hiring of employees of selection of volunteers because of race, color, religion, national origin, or sex.

Corporation for Public Broadcasting Diversity Requirements

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting required diversity goals further the Federal Communication Commission’s non-discrimination policy. CPB requires that WMNR’s diversity goals be reviewed annually by the station’s governing board or governing officials. Those diversity goals include diversity in WMNR’s employees, management and governing board, including any Community Advisory Board.

The Town of Monroe has a Selectman/ Town Council/ Town Meeting form of government with 40 elected officials representing a population of 19,529 people in an area of 26 square kilometers. CPB encourages a diverse governing board. WMNR’s governing board is the Town Council of the Town of Monroe. The 9 members of the Town Council and the First Selectman are elected by those eligible voters in the Town of Monroe. The Town Council currently has 6 male non-minorities and 3 female non-minorities. Since July 2021 the Vice-Chair of the Town Council has been a female non-minority.

Most CPB supported stations are required to have a Community Advisory Board. Since WMNR is licensed to a local governmental entity it is not required to have a Community Advisory Board and does not have one. WMNR does have a WMNR Commission, which is appointed by the Monroe Town Council. Following the requirements of the Monroe Town Charter the WMNR

Commission consists of residents from the Town of Monroe, Connecticut. A further requirement of the Monroe Town Charter is that all appointed Monroe Commissions and Boards, including the WMNR Commission, have a required minority political party representation. Since the WMNR Commission has 5 members, 2 must be from the minority political party, which as of September 28, 2021 are the Democratic party. The WMNR Commission currently has 2 appointees from the Democratic party and 2 appointees from the Republican party. The current WMNR Commission has 2 male non-minorities and 2 female non-minority. WMNR is open to diversity, which as a concept, describes an inclusive community of people with varied human characteristics, ideas and world views related, but not limited, to race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, religion, color, creed, national origin, disabilities, socio-economic status, life experiences, geographical region, or ancestry.

WMNR Employment and Volunteer Data

WMNR has 2 full-time management employees and 9 part-time employees. WMNR also has 21 volunteer broadcasters who play an important role in the station. Volunteers produce 75% of the broadcast programming from 6 am to midnight, Monday through Sunday.

Here is the diversity information on WMNR employees and volunteers.

Male Male Female Female

Non-minority Minority Non-minority Minority

Totals 22 0 9 1

Full-time 1 0 1 0

Part-time 6 0 4 0

Volunteer 15 1 4 1

Note: Minority includes Black or African American, Asian; Hispanic/Latino(a); Asian; Native American or Pacific Islander; Two or More Races.

To best serve our community and to meet eligibility criteria required by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the following are some of WMNR’s diversity goals for the 2021-22 fiscal year:

Advertise volunteer and paid positions in regional newspapers that reach local significant minority populations.

Implement formal diversity training programs for our paid staff

Include in our broadcast of music diverse composers and performers including those who are female, black, Asian and Latin.

WMNR is committed to diversity in programming, community outreach and staff.

Comments or questions may be directed to Kurt Anderson, WMNR General Manager, at 203-268-9667 or by e-mail at: kanderson@wmnr.org

Approved by the WMNR Commission on 9/28/2021