It’s Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me! like you’ve never seen it before! Because, well, normally you can’t see it — it’s a radio show.

A live staging of Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me! presented by NCM Fathom Events, NPR, WBEZ-Chicago, and BY Experience, will be beamed to select cinemas across the country on Thursday, May 2nd, 2013.

Host Peter Sagal and official judge and scorekeeper Carl Kasell will be joined by panelists Paula Poundstone, Mo Rocca and Tom Bodett to play the quiz in front of a live audience. Carl reading limericks! Celebrity guests answering stupid questions! Faces made for radio! You’ve heard it in 1D, now see it live in glorious…2D.

Don’t miss Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me! Live on the big screen on Thursday, May 2, at 8 p.m. with an encore Tuesday, May 7, at 7:30 p.m.

Tickets will be available for the live cinecast and rebroadcast online or at:

Regal Gainesville Cinema 14
Butler Plaza
3101 SW 35th Blvd., Gainesville
352-3360408

Regal Hollywood Stadium 16
2801 SW 27th Ave., Ocala
352-861-2699

Buy tickets online now →

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – 10/30/12
Contact:  Sue Wagner, 352/294-7138, swagner@wuft.org

Record breaking campaign exceeds $175,000 goal

(Gainesville, Fla. – Oct. 30, 2012) Public radio stations Florida’s 89.1 WUFT-FM and WJUF-FM 90.1 recently completed the most successful listener membership campaign in the stations’ history.

The fall fund drive, from Oct. 8-19, received 1,300 pledges totaling $175,982.68 – exceeding the goal of $175,000. The drive brought in 747 new donors, 335 renewals, and 215 members who increased their original gift amount. The second best fund drive was in the fall of 2011 with a total of $161,664.50.

WUFT and WJUF-FM are part of the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications’ Division of Multimedia Properties (DMP). WUFT-FM celebrated its 31^st broadcast anniversary during the campaign. The station signed on the air on Sept. 27, 1981. WJUF-FM signed on the air on Nov. 10, 1995.

WUFT-FM 89.1 and WJUF-FM 90.1 broadcast three streams of programming to 19 counties in North Central and Mid-Florida. The first broadcast stream, in both analog and HD1 digital format, features news/talk programming from National Public Radio (NPR) and Public Radio International (PRI) along with variety and music programs. Classic 89 HD2 features 24/7 classical music, and HD3 features Ritmo Latina – a 24/7 schedule of Spanish language music and news programming. The HD streams are available via the Internet at www.wuft.org. Pledges of support can be made at anytime via this website.

Poster by Anna Tomczak (Click image to view larger)

Public radio station Florida’s 89.1 WUFT-FM is celebrating its 31st broadcast anniversary with a limited edition poster featuring work by critically acclaimed artist photographer Anna Tomczak. Tomczak is dedicated to using different techniques to alter photos through Polaroid transfer and integrate photographs into various materials. The featured work, Blue Door, Cadaqués, originally a 20” x 24” Polaroid, is now a 24” x 30“ poster available for a pledge of $100 during the October membership campaign from Oct. 8 – 19. Pledges can be made online at wuft.org or by calling 1-800-338-9838.

Anna’s large format dye-infusion transfer photographs are widely exhibited and are in museum, university, private and corporate collections including: The Florida Gulf Coast Museum of Art, The Norton Museum of Art, The Polk Museum of Art, City of Orlando Public Art Collection, Deland Museum of Art, The Brooklyn Museum of Art, The Harn Museum of Art, UNCC Charlotte – The Cone Foundation, Sony Latin-America, McGraw-Hill, NYC and the Polaroid Corporate Art Collection, Waltham, Mass.

Currently her large-format photographic prints of antiques and plants are on display at the Appleton Museum of Art in Ocala. The show “FLORAda and Flowing Waters: the Art of Mark Messersmith,” Margaret Ross Tolbert and Anna Tomczak, features lush and beautiful portraits of natural Florida as interpreted by these three artists. The show continues through Nov. 4.

Tomczak hosts workshops throughout Florida in various museums, universities and studio classrooms. She also travels to Italy and Spain to present her work in alternative processes and to teach. Tomczak has received various honors including the Florida Individual Artist Fellowship and Career Enhancement Grant; Polaroid Artist Support Program Grant; and the Loft Nota Bene Artists Residency, Spain. Her work has been featured in publications such as Sanctuary Anna Tomczak Photography, The Georgia Review, Florida History Magazine and Polaroid Manipulations. Tomczak earned a BA in Theater Arts from Pennsylvania State University and MFA in Fine Art Photography at the University of Florida.

Posters that are pledged for can be picked up at a poster signing reception on Nov. 7 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the Florida Museum of Natural History in Gainesville. Tomcazk will be on hand to sign and add a personal message and Thornebrook Gallery will feature special framing prices.

Florida’s 89.1, WUFT-FM and WJUF-FM 9o.1 are part of the UF College of Journalism and Communications Division of Multimedia Properties and serves as a training facility for students. The stations cover 16 counties in North Florida and an additional three counties in Florida’s Nature Coast (Citrus, Sumter and Hernando) and feature NPR, PRI and locally originated programming.

Fanfares & Fireworks will return to Gainesville at 7 p.m. July 3 to Flavet Field on the University of Florida campus.

The 2012 Independence Day Eve event is presented by the UF College of Journalism and Communications and its multimedia properties: public broadcasting stations WUFT-TV and WUFT-FM, commercial radio stations WRUF Sports Radio 850 and Country 103.7 The Gator, Rock104.com and WRUF-TV. Admission is free.

The title sponsor for the event is GRU 100, celebrating 100 years of service, along with additional funding from the City of Gainesville, Florida Credit Union and Plum Creek.

The 2011 event was not held.

Fanfares & Fireworks will feature a variety of musical groups, an opportunity for families to picnic in the grass and a spectacular fireworks show.

The entertainment lineup includes the Richy Stano and Shane Moore Duo, the contemporary rock group Mr. Ainsworth and traditional favorites by the Gainesville Community Band under the direction of Gerald Poe.

WUFT-FM Program Director Richard Drake along with WUFT Community Ambassador Ilene Silverman will serve as emcees.

Fanfares & Fireworks will conclude with a fireworks display by Skylighters of Florida set to the music of the Gainesville Community Band. The fireworks will begin at approximately 9:40 p.m.

During the event, LifeSouth Blood Center will conduct a blood drive and concessions will be available for purchase. More information is available at www.wuft.org/fireworks.

For safety reasons, no dogs, sparklers or alcohol are allowed at the event. Coolers are allowed, but may be subject to search by the University of Florida Police Department.

A Children’s Community offers viewers an inside glance into the lives of children who
dedicate their time and talents to make a difference in their community.

Despite what most may assume, children are actively involved in your community on a daily basis. A Children’s Community hows viewers how the younger generation is making a difference by volunteering with several nonprofit organizations within Alachua County. The featured kids regularly volunteer with the following organizations: Girls to Young Ladies, JIVE, Ronald McDonald House, Star Center, and March of Dimes-Chain Reaction.

The organization, Girls To Young Ladies, encourages girls of all ages to build lasting relationships through peer-to-peer tutoring, spiritual and academic development, and community service projects. The JIVE Teen Leader Program helps youth develop leadership and interpersonal skills by getting involved in their local thrift shop to help benefit Children’s Home Society of Florida. The volunteers of Ronald McDonald House of North Central Florida give back to families with critically ill children through group volunteer opportunities including maintenance work and cooking. The kids of Star Center benefit the community by expressing themselves through numerous plays, musicals, and talent shows. The children are encouraged to work together to produce and perform a successful creative piece. Finally, Chain Reaction members educate their community by spreading awareness about prematurity causes and prevention methods.

Many participate in fundraising and community events to raise awareness about prematurity by promoting “healthy behaviors and lifestyle choices.” These kids show their dedication to bettering their community by expressing themselves through various forms of art, spreading awareness about important causes, and helping those less fortunate. A Children’s Community is truly an inspirational documentary that portrays the willingness of children to step up and be the change.

WUFT airs Gator Nation Innovation, a program highlighting the collaborative initiatives of the University of Florida with Gainesville community businesses and local government.

The University of Florida’s research “creates an environment that cultivates and inspires creative thinking for future investors and entrepreneurs.” Innovation is one of the most positive paths for restoring and creating economic growth and opportunity in the community.

The show introduces viewers to organizations such as Innovation Gainesville. Gainesville is home to one of the nation’s top public research universities, the University of Florida, providing a platform for beneficial-marketable products and services that are changing lives. Also known as the Top Tech City in Florida, Gainesville has become a national hub for the development of scientific and economic innovation. Innovation in Gainesville and the incubators created here have allowed a unique and strategic platform for local, national and international civic and business leaders to present their initiatives in biotechnology.

Gator Nation Innovation airs March 1st at 9:00 pm.

Illustrating the positive impacts of new start-up companies in the community, Gator Nation Innovation showcases the Sid Martin Biotechnology Incubator. “The incubator to date has received more than $300 million in equity investments and $175 million in contracts and grants.”

“We are starting to see the fruits of the labor with the Innovation Hub, Innovation Square, and with a number of the companies that are coming out of our incubators…” said Brent Christensen President and CEO of the Gainesville Area Chamber of Commerce.

Gator Nation Innovation is an insightful program depicting the growth in Gainesville and the impact of nuances in research and products in the world.

WRUF-TV, Cox Cable Channel 6 in Gainesville and over-the-air on digital channel 10.1, will launch North Central Florida’s first weather channel today. WRUF-TV, formerly WLUF-TV, will feature city specific weather conditions, forecasts, and severe storm watches and warnings updated in real time 24-hours-a-day. The weather forecast models – exclusive to WRUF-TV – offer accurate hyper-local forecasts for cities within the broadcast viewing area as well as both coasts including tide information, water temperatures, beach conditions, storm forecasts and tropical storm updates. WRUF-TV has a network of three “skycams” that provide live and time lapse views. These steerable cameras, controlled in-house, can tilt and zoom 360 degrees to track weather conditions as they occur. Continue reading →

The annual Gainesville Independence Day eve celebration, Fanfares & Fireworks, has been canceled because of budget cuts to the University of Florida’s public broadcasting stations, officials announced today.

“It’s especially hard to share this news since we recognize the significance of fireworks on this important holiday,” said Randy Wright, executive director of the UF College of Journalism and Communications Division of Multimedia Properties. “Unfortunately, we are not in the financial position to put on the 2011 Fanfares & Fireworks event, and we are very sorry to disappoint the community.”

Continue reading →