In this contentious time for our country, in which access to factual and reliable information is critical to the process of democracy, PBS39 Bethlehem has partnered with Lehigh University to launch a new multi-platform all-news radio station, WLVR, which branches off the school’s popular longtime student station.

“There is no other station like it in the Lehigh Valley,” said PBS Senior Vice President of Radio Christine Dempsey. “There is no station that is dedicated to news and information. If you look at the hours in a week, [local NPR affiliate] WDIY spends about 30 percent on talk – the NPR and local public affairs show. If you look at WLVR, about 90 percent is spent on news and talk programming. We are living through this historic time, and we want to be sure people in the Lehigh Valley have access to that information.”

Dempsey said, “We want to concentrate on issues of concern to the Lehigh Valley. But when we are putting together pieces or doing interviews, we will utilize the NPR sensibility and approach to our storytelling. In other words, in commercial radio – in a newscast – they go to a reporter piece you’re lucky if you get 30 seconds in, but with us that would be a minute long; with feature pieces that would be anywhere from four to six minutes long.”

WLVR is an NPR and American Public Media affiliate, so dialing 91.3 on a regular radio any time of the day now gets you news, interviews, informational pieces and analysis from around the world. This includes the regular NPR shows such as Morning Edition and All Things Considered, live coverage of press conferences and congressional hearings, caucus and primary coverage, original local programs and more esoteric items, such as a two-minute segment on Friday nights summarizing the week’s events in Japan.

“When I was designing the schedule, I color-coded programs I was planning on doing next to what DIY was doing. My goal was to get as few overlapped colors as I possibly could,” Dempsey explained. “I’m putting in [NPR programs] Marketplace and The Daily, which WDIY does not carry.

“As long as NPR makes it available to member stations, we will carry it on WLVR.”

WLVR is staffed by broadcast professionals and journalists rather than volunteers; people recruited from as far away as New York and Harrisburg, as well as local residents. Dempsey herself first came to the valley about 25 years ago to help launch WDIY and has adopted the valley as her home. Her familiarity with WDIY has helped her create WLVR’s programming to fill the news gaps.

“Our goal is to have the content out there. We can do our best to inform people that the news is here, but especially in an election year you’re hoping to give people information they need to make an educated decision. We’re trying to get the content out there every way we can.”

WLVR music still exists as a student radio station with volunteers, and both stations are accessible through HD radio at 91.3, smart-speakers, internet and through mobile applications.