Radio Service for Blind faces uncertain future amid changes
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The future of the 35-year-old Radio Information Service, a reading service for the blind and visually impaired, remains uncertain under pending ownership changes at WDUQ-FM.
WDUQ-FM picked up some of the offerings of RIS when the reading service, deep in debt, ceased to operate as a nonprofit in August 2009. At the time, about 800 people subscribed to the service.
Duquesne University, owner of WDUQ-FM, announced in January that it was selling the public radio station for $6 million to Essential Public Media, a subsidiary of WYEP-FM. Although the sale is awaiting approval by the Federal Communications Commission, new programming begins today.
Since WDUQ took over some of RIS services, it has relied on volunteer efforts to maintain its broadcasts.
Cuts in programming on RIS have been steady. Lillian Wolff, an RIS volunteer for 16 years, said that she used to have a weekend show with the organization, something she looked forward to every Saturday for years. But that has been eliminated as part of organization cuts, which also effaced all weekend programming.
"The RIS isn't out there broadcasting people telling jokes for entertainment purposes," Mrs. Wolff said, "Listening to the news like this makes these people feel like a part of society."
WYEP general manager Lee Ferraro said that he was unsure of RIS's future beyond July but that it would definitely be broadcast through the next month and will not be affected by today's programming changes.
"The group that was responsible for the RIS went away," he said in reference to the board, which folded. "This is not our program, but we are willing to help and donate the subcarrier to broadcast the programming."
The sense of uncertainty regarding the future of RIS doesn't sit well with volunteers like Mrs. Wolff.
"RIS listeners should be bitter," she said. "This is a mainstay in their life, a connection to the world that makes them feel like somebody."
First Published July 1, 2011 12:00 am
