By Kate Lochte
Murray, KY – Chad Lampe, News Director for WKMS, is the newly-elected Chairman of the Kentucky Public Radio Editorial Board. Lampe is a Murray State University graduate and has worked at WKMS since 2005. Originally a student reporter, he has served in his current position as News Director since 2007. Notably, Lampe has received many Kentucky Associated Press awards including 1st place recognition for coverage of the 2009 ice storm.
Kentucky Public Radio (KPR) is a consortium of seven partner stations that employs state capitol reporter Tony McVeigh in Frankfort, provides free story exchanges and training opportunities for public radio reporters and student interns. The KPR editorial board meets quarterly in Frankfort. The Board consists of five elected members representing the partner stations.
As Chairman, Lampe plans to work closely with all Board members to expand service to suit the needs of the new media consumer, while maintaining the network's reliability. Additionally, he will be in charge of conveying the Board's sentiment to McVeigh, evaluating budgets, and developing a visioning process.
Lampe says, "I'm excited to serve the Board and help Kentucky Public Radio grow and expand its coverage."
Since his election, Lampe has already made plans to bring a training specialist to Murray for KPR's annual training seminar, J-Days.
Lampe hopes that his position as Chairman of the KPR Editorial Board will allow him to gain statewide perspective through close conversations with other Board members, which will in turn help him gauge WKMS's editorial choices compared to other stations. "The main focus is providing strong, consistent service for our listeners."
Murray State's public radio service includes 91.3 WKMS, Murray; WKMS HD-1 and All-Classical HD-2; 90.9 WKMD, Madisonville; 89.5 WKMT, Fulton; 99.5 Paris, TN; and All-Classical 92.5 Paducah and 101.5 Madisonville. The station streams both WKMS HD-1 and HD-2 at www.wkms.org.