WBFO 88.7 FM Announces Staff Changes

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- WBFO 88.7 FM, the National Public Radio affiliate operated by the University at Buffalo, has announced some recent staff changes.

Mike McKay, a reporter in the station's news department, has been named underwriting sales representative in the station's recently expanded corporate relations department.

Kara Sweet has been appointed underwriting and community relations assistant.

Replacing McKay in the news department is Eileen Buckley, former communications manager for the Buffalo Niagara Partnership, who will serve as reporter/producer.

As underwriting sales representative, McKay will solicit support for the station from individuals and businesses in the community. Underwriting revenue at WBFO accounts for 20 percent of operating funding resources, with the remainder coming from membership support, foundation support, UB and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

McKay spent 16 years in the radio news business, most recently at WBEN and WBFO. He is a broadcast media instructor at Buffalo State College and serves on the Media Arts Advisory Board at Niagara Community College.

He resides in West Seneca.

Sweet, a UB graduate, joined WBFO in April 2000 as a student assistant in the membership department. As the underwriting and community relations assistant, she will maintain the administrative aspect of the sales department and also help to promote WBFO through co-sponsorships of cultural events across Western New York.

A resident of Kenmore, Sweet is a freelance writer for Digital City.

Buckley, who began her radio career as an intern at WBFO in 1984, will produce both in-depth features and spot news stories for broadcast during local segments of "Morning Edition" and "All Things Considered." She also will serve as a local anchor on the station's news magazine programs.

Buckley has spent most of her career as a news reporter, anchor and producer at radio stations in Buffalo and Albany. Her public radio experience includes a year at the former WEBR -- now WNED-AM -- in Buffalo. She also produced a weekly program on labor issues called "Prospering in America" that aired on several commercial stations and was distributed nationally to public radio affiliates of Pacifica Radio Network.

A 1985 graduate of Medaille College, she received the institution's Distinguished Alumni Award in 1997. Buckley has been honored for her news coverage by the New York State Associated Press Broadcasters' Association.

She has served on the boards of the Empire State Ballet and the Greater Buffalo Youth Ballet.

She resides in Kenmore.

A major public service of UB, WBFO serves eight Western New York counties and portions of Southern Ontario. Two additional transmitters serve the Jamestown and Olean areas. WBFO also streams its programming online at http://www.wbfo.org.