Buffalo to be Focus of NPR's "Weekend Edition Sunday"

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- National Public Radio's "Weekend Edition Sunday" will focus on Buffalo during its two-hour broadcast on July 1.

NPR will take a special look at the history, evolution and future of "The City of Light" in conjunction with Buffalo's celebration of the 100th anniversary of the 1901 Pan-American Exposition.

During the first hour of the show, host Liane Hansen will look back on the shifting socioeconomic factors that have influenced the city over the past 100 years. During the second hour of the show, NPR reporters will share stories from Buffalo's surrounding areas, including Lackawanna and Niagara Falls.

Hansen and producers made several visits to the area, speaking with Mayor Anthony Masiello and University at Buffalo President William R. Greiner, among other community leaders, as well as shopkeepers, students, teachers, historians, recent immigrants and longtime residents of Buffalo and its surrounding cities and towns. Assisting the producers in researching the show were librarians from UB.

The special "Weekend Edition Sunday" can be heard in the Buffalo area on

WBFO 88.7 FM and WNED 970 AM.

WBFO, the NPR affiliate operated by UB, will broadcast the show at its regular time, from 8-10 a.m., and again from 10:00 a.m. to noon. A special airing of major segments and stories about Buffalo will be featured from 8-10 p.m. July 2.

WNED will broadcast the show at its regular time from 8-10:00 a.m.