Station Contact Information
Main Phone: 1-800-NPR-KPLU
Email Address: info@kplu.org
- Seattle
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- Mailing Address: 2601 4th Avenue, Suite 150 Seattle, WA 98121
- Phone: 206-922-1020
- Fax: 206-748-9255
- Tacoma
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- Mailing Address: 12180 Park Ave S. Tacoma, WA 98447
- Phone: 253-535-7758
- Fax: 253-535-8332
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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. Known to many as "NPR News and All That Jazz," 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 HD 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 Mission
Our Mission is to inform, entertain, and educate the public to increase knowledge of the world, appreciation of the arts, and understanding of the human condition.
KPLU is the region's pre-eminent Public Radio station, presenting NPR news, jazz and blues.
We've come a long way since KPLU hit the air in November 1966 as a 10 watt radio station broadcasting classical music to students on the Pacific Lutheran University campus in Parkland, Washington. Potential audience for the student-run station increased significantly when its wattage jumped to 40,000 in 1972.
Early in 1980 KPLU moved its transmitter site off-campus to a 420 foot tower near Port Orchard once owned by Burlington Northern Railroad. Power was upped again to a round 100,000 watts, and 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.
KPLU moved its main transmitter to its present location on West Tiger Mountain in 1989, bringing even wider coverage and a clearer signal. KPLU employs a staff of more than 30 full time professionals serving a weekly audience of a-quarter-million listeners through-out Western Washington, lower British Columbia and Northern Oregon.
Listen to us on these channels:
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KPLU Seattle/Tacoma 88.5
KVIX Port Angeles/Victoria 89.3
Bellingham 88.7
Mt. Vernon 91.1
Centralia/Chehalis 90.1
Raymond/South Bend 90.3
West Seattle 88.1
Aberdeen/Hoquiam 100.9
Longview/Kelso 104.5
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2009
- Sigma Delta Chi Award for Public Service in Radio Journalism: Society of Professional Journalists (national award) "The Impact of War on Children," produced in conjunction with NPR's "The Impact of War" by KPLU reporters Chana Joffe-Walt and Jennifer Wing; edited by former NPR Senior Editor Vicky O'Hara and Supervising Editor Danyell Irby.
- First Place: General News, Society of Professional Journalists - Austin Jenkins, Northwest News Network, "Mentally Ill Children Face Long Wait."
- First Place: Feature News, Society of Professional Journalists - Paula Wissel, "Cashing in on the Housing Crisis."
- First Place: Series, PRNDI (Public Radio News Directors Incorporated): KPLU News Team, "Best of The Meaning of Work - 2008."
- Second Place: Soft Feature, PRNDI: Chana Joffe-Walt, "Historic Hat Store Looks to Change."
- Third Place: Documentary, Society of Professional Journalists - Chana Joffe-Walt, "Remembering Rose Hill."
Previous Years:
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Paul Stankavich
General Manager
Paul joined KPLU in 2007 after nearly 40 years traveling the country leading numerous public radio and television stations into the future. His career has taken him from Ohio to Wisconsin; from Minnesota to Pennsylvania; from Washington to Alaska; and here to KPLU. He currently serves as the President of Western States Public Radio and provides leadership for several Public Radio advisory and advocacy groups. There are few questions Paul doesn't know the answer to, and we like it that way.
pstankavich@kplu.org
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Joey Cohn
Assistant General Manager / 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.
jcohn@kplu.org
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Jeff Bauman
Assistant General Manager / 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.
jbauman@kplu.org
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Jennifer Strachan
Assistant General Manager / 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, as she charts the new media course for KPLU, she is often seen sprinting (with iPhone in hand) to keep ahead of the speeding technology train.
jstrachan@kplu.org
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