An excerpt from an announcement on WILL’s website:
Illinois Public Media General Manager Mark Leonard announced today steps the organization’s leadership will take to address ongoing budget concerns and ensure that Illinois Public Media is sustainable in a new financial and technological environment. Changes include:
- Elimination of nine staff positions
- Phasing out the weather department, resulting in the elimination of in-house forecasts for WILL Radio and WILL-TV. Weather reports and severe weather coverage will continue, provided by regular radio staff using National Weather Service information.
- A change in format for WILL-FM, which will become a dual-format radio station April 1, adding news programs from National Public Radio to its classical music line-up, while expanding classical music on the weekends and retaining its locally produced music programs
- Shifting WILL-AM staff responsibilities to provide more in-depth coverage of local issues, informed by outreach projects in the community
- Addition of three staff positions, including a Web developer, in critical areas or areas with potential for revenue growth
Leonard will appear on WILL-AM’s Focus 580 at 11: 06 a.m. Monday, Feb. 15, to take questions from listeners about the changes. The Illinois Public Media Web site at will.illinois.edu has a list of frequently asked questions with more information.