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About us
Station Contact Information
Main Phone: 1-800-NPR-KPLU
Email Address: info@kplu.org
Tacoma:
- 12180 Park Ave S. Tacoma, WA 98447
- Phone: 253-535-7758
- Fax:253-535-8332
All official business and financial correspondence, including contributions of support, should be sent to the Tacoma address above.
If you are sending something to a specific staff member working in our Seattle offices, send your mail to the attention of that staff member at:
Seattle:
- 2601 4th Avenue, Suite 150 Seattle, WA 98121
- Phone: 800-677-5758
- Fax: 206-748-9255
Who We Are
Ranked as one of the most popular public radio stations in the nation, KPLU has been bringing award winning local and National Public Radio news, jazz and blues to the Puget Sound Region since 1966.
We find a diverse, growing audience by broadcasting both from our studios on the Pacific Lutheran University campus in Tacoma, Washington and near the Space Needle in downtown Seattle. We pride ourselves as being the region's leading source of award-winning jazz, blues, and in-depth local and NPR news, 24 hours a day.
As we keep pace with the exciting changes in radio, and the advent of our full time jazz webstream and HD2 channel, Jazz24, we now identify ourselves as a public media company, Pacific Public Media.
We look to provide more than broadcasting in the traditional sense, and are broadening the international content of KPLU to include all forms of listener-supported media. Pacific Public Media is a community service of Pacific Lutheran University.
Our History
Early in 1980 KPLU moved its transmitter site off-campus to a tower near Port Orchard once owned by Burlington Northern Railroad. In February the station added National Public Radio news and information to its program mix.
In 1983 KPLU switched from classical to jazz and NPR news and by 1985 was broadcasting 24 hours a day. The mid-80s and early 90s also saw an increase in KPLU's geographical coverage as the station installed a network of seven "translators" to relay its signal all over western Washington and lower British Columbia.
KPLU moved its main transmitter to its present location on West Tiger Mountain in 1989, bringing even wider coverage and a clearer signal to our listeners.
Listen to us on these channels:
- KPLU Seattle/Tacoma 88.5
- KVIX Port Angeles/Victoria 89.3
- Olympia 90.1
- Bellingham 88.7
- Sedro-Wooley 88.9
- Centralia/Chehalis 90.1
- Raymond/South Bend 90.3
- West Seattle 92.1
- Aberdeen/Hoquiam 100.9
- Longview/Kelso 104.7
Our Management Team
Erik Nycklemoe
General Manager
Erik joined KPLU in February of 2013 after four years as Director of Network Initiatives at American Public Media Group. Between 2002 and 2008, he held two leadership positions at Minnesota Public Radio as Director of Radio and Director of Broadcasting and oversaw the management of 38 regional radio stations. Erik has also worked as Program Director/Executive Producer at Arizona Public Radio and as News Director and Program Director at New Hampshire Public Radio. In the early 1990s, he held production and editorial positions at National Public Radio in Washington, D.C.
Joey Cohn
Assistant GM & Director of Content
In 1987 Joey Cohn joined the KPLU team as the Morning Jazz Host and Music Director. Over the years, he has grown KPLU's programming and audience to award winning heights. Under Joey's leadership, KPLU has won numerous national awards including the Edward R. Murrow, for news, and the Marconi, for Jazz Station of the Year. Joey's passion for radio often reveals itself in his secondary position as the station ham. We think he's funny... most of the time.
Jeff Bauman
Assistant GM & Director of Support Services
Working at KPLU for over 20 years means Jeff knows more than a little about a lot of things. It's hard to imagine that the man who has a gadget for everything comes with a background in theater and history. After a few early years behind the mic in North Carolina, Alabama and Taiwan, Jeff has spent two decades keeping all of us organized and KPLU operations running smoothly.
Jennifer Strachan
Assistant GM & Director of Public Media
Jennifer joined KPLU, and the radio world, in 2008 after 17 years in television. Following a decade in news and corporate production, Jennifer found public television and discovered the public broadcasting buzz! She's never looked back. Now she charts the course for KPLU's multi-platform future and loves bringing some digital mojo to one of the best public radio stations in the country.
Mary Dunaway
Director of Individual Giving
Mary started at KPLU in 2005 as a Development Assistant, where she planned and oversaw KPLU's on-air pledge drives. Several years, and many pledge drives later, she has worked in virtually every aspect of membership and individual giving at KPLU. Today, Mary is responsible for all of KPLU’s individual giving programs and initiatives to include General Membership, Major Giving, Planned Giving and the KPLU Travel Club.
Mary’s favorite part of her job is building relationships with listeners and supporters of KPLU. “Every day I am privileged to interact with fascinating, intelligent, informed, and engaged listeners. So, I can say firsthand, KPLU supporters are truly amazing!”
Nick Francis
Music Director
A native of Los Angeles and graduate of UCLA, Francis began his radio career in 1983 at KLSK-FM, an eclectic-based jazz station in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Since then, he has programmed jazz radio at stations all around the country, including KKSF/San Francisco and WJZZ/Atlanta. During his seven years as Program Director at KYOT/Phoenix, he helped it become the first jazz station in America to achieve number-one status in the ratings. He joined the KPLU team in November 2005.
His most memorable KPLU radio moment was meeting and interviewing Mose Allison. He lives in North Tacoma, and is married to photographer Sharon Styer.
Erin Hennessey
News Director
Erin Hennessey oversees KPLU's news team. Before accepting the position of News Director in 1996, she spent five years as KPLU's All Things Considered Host and filed news stories for KPLU and NPR. Erin is a native of Spokane and a graduate of the University of Washington and London's City University - Center for Journalism Studies. Erin worked in the film industry and as a print journalist in London and New York before returning to Seattle to work in broadcast news.
Erin's most memorable moment at KPLU: "Interviewing NPR's Cokie Roberts about multi-faith families and the challenges of juggling different holiday traditions."
Station Contacts
Marleen Lucas
Listener Relations Manager
mlucas@kplu.org
Bob Nordberg
Underwriting Manager
bnordberg@seattlepublicradio.org
Justin Steyer
Multimedia Manager
jsteyer@kplu.org
Brenda Goldstein-Young
Promotions Director
bgoldstein@kplu.org
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Work at KPLU
- Membership Relations Manager
- Member/Listener Communications Coordinator
- KPLU and KING FM Corporate Sponsorship Sales Representative
- Search all job listings at KPLU and PLU
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