THE STORY
“In The Public Interest,” a documentary film designed as both a pilot for a four-part limited series and as a powerful stand-alone documentary, investigates the crucial importance of local radio ownership serving the public interest by focusing on the achievements and challenges of minority-owned, woman-led, WURD in Philadelphia.
“You can’t give everyone money, but you can give them a voice.”
With those words of advice, physician, businessman, and philanthropist Walter P. Lomax, Jr., M.D., decided to purchase a little 1000-watt AM station in Philadelphia in 2003, calling it WURD Radio. Although its broadcast signal reaches only 20 miles, its impact, aided by streaming programming online and via its app, grows steadily despite challenges that most owners could never surmount.
All broadcasters using the public’s airwaves have, since 1927, been legally obligated to serve the public interest of their listeners/viewers as a condition of maintaining their license, but, in the course of the ensuing decades, this obligation has grown virtually meaningless and that has had consequences for local communities and our very democracy.
Through interviews with WURD president and CEO Sara Lomax, general manager Ashanti Martin, on-air personalities Solomon Jones, Tonya Pendleton, Dr. James Peterson, media scholars and advocates, the story of how one locally-owned radio station dedicated to serving the public interest can affect positive change and make a difference in the community.
The story of WURD will inspire a new generation to fight for their public interest.
The airwaves belong to the people.
Join us in making “In The Public Interest.”
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ANTHRACITE FILMS
Anthracite Films, LLC is an independent production company based in Pennsylvania. Its mission is to produce the media productions of Michael James Kacey, which seek to inform, inspire, and entertain.
Director / Producer
Michael James Kacey wrote and directed the indie narrative feature “Daybreak” before tapping his passionate for radio in the documentary film, “The Poet Laureate of Radio: An Interview with Norman Corwin.” Mike’s articles about radio have appeared online and in printed publications and he edited the book “Memos to a New Millennium: The Final Radio Plays of Norman Corwin.” As a professional actor, Mike has appeared in “Beverly Hills, 90210,” “All That,” and the HBO film “Live from Baghdad.”
Producer
Dave Sanford’s documentary producing career began with “Michigan: It Started Here,” which aired on NBC’s Detroit affiliate with record ratings. He produced the Emmy nominated “Michigan and The American Dream,” “Titanic: The Final Chapter,” for which he also won an Emmy Award for Segment Writing, and the film “The Poet Laureate of Radio: An Interview with Norman Corwin.”