New England Public Radio will open a new bureau in Pittsfield this summer thanks to a generous gift from the Perles Family Foundation. The bureau is part of a partnership with Berkshire Community College and will be located at one of the college’s downtown Pittsfield locations. The $300,000 gift ($100,000/yr over three years) will fund the bureau, and a full-time Berkshire County reporter for three years.
“Simply said, Steve and I are absolutely thrilled to support New England Public Radio,” said Claudia Perles. “The NEPR network’s increasing presence in Berkshire County is exciting to us and to so many of our friends. The gift that our family foundation has made to support a Berkshire-based reporter is in keeping with the station’s expansion and our shared commitment to our region.”The reporter stationed in Pittsfield will cover the entire county for NEPR, expanding coverage of local news in NEPR’s popular morning and afternoon news magazines, Morning Edition and All Things Considered.
New England Public Radio has steadily expanded its network to cover Berkshire County over the past decade. A chain of five transmitter stations created in 2007 broadcast New England Public Radio’s WFCR signal – a mix of news, classical and jazz programming – across the entire county (101.1FM North Adams, 98.7FM Great Barrington, 93.3FM Lee, 106.1FM Pittsfield, 96.3FM Williamstown). The NEPR News Network, which broadcasts news, talk and entertainment programming from NPR and other public radio producers, can be heard at 89.5FM WNNU in southern Berkshire County and at 89.9 WNNI in northern Berkshire County.”We’re looking forward to expanding our coverage in the county, and rounding out our Massachusetts news coverage with more local fare for our Berkshire audience,” says CEO and General Manager Martin Miller. “It’s an exciting time for the station, and we are deeply grateful to the Perles Family Foundation for their generosity.”