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This Just In: Media

WBUR unveils local newscast

By Dan Kennedy

WBUR Radio (90.9 FM), the Boston University-owned all-news station best known for its National Public Radio and BBC offerings, will unveil a locally based, hourlong newscast this coming Monday. There's a big question, though, as to who will be listening.

The show, Here and Now, will be broadcast Monday through Friday from noon to 1 p.m. Slated to be heavy on interviews, with an emphasis on offbeat subjects as well as hard news, the program will be anchored by veteran radio journalists Tovia Smith and Bruce Gellerman.

Station officials describe Here and Now as a way to hold on to listeners who tune in to Christopher Lydon's talk show, The Connection. Much of Lydon's audience now drops out at noon, when 'BUR switches over to the BBC. But unlike The Connection, Here and Now is not currently scheduled for rebroadcast in the evening, a time when people who can't fit an hour of listening into the middle of their workdays might give it a shot. Nor are there any immediate plans to put the audio up on 'BUR's Web site (http://www.wbur.org), although that may happen in January.

Logistics aside, Here and Now sounds like a worthy addition to the WBUR lineup. Its local focus (interwoven with some NPR stories) should be especially welcome given that The Connection, which went into syndication a couple of years ago, has lost some of its Boston flavor. Station spokeswoman Mary Stohn says 'BUR is sinking $500,000 per year into the new show, which will be staffed by a full-time senior producer (Jennifer Schmidt), an associate producer (Andrea Shea), and a technical director (Jonathan Marston), in addition to Smith and Gellerman.

Smith describes the program as a mixture of the obvious and the obscure. Asked what listeners can expect, she replies: "They're going to get a roundup of stories that matter to them, be they from Bosnia or their own backyard. And they're going to get stories that they never thought would matter to them."

If they can get to a radio, that is.