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Outlet profile

New Orleans Public Radio

U.S. center-left

Owned byLicensed to and operated by the University of New Orleans (a public university); primary stations are WWNO 89.9 FM (New Orleans) and WRKF 89.3 FM (Baton Rouge), which share a joint newsroom
FundingPrimarily member donations and local business underwriting; previously received a small share (~9% of budget) from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), which was eliminated after Congress approved Trump-backed federal funding cuts in 2025; no direct financial support from NPR or the University of New Orleans
On the administrationbroadly critical

Background

WWNO 89.9 FM went on air in February 1972, making it Louisiana's first public radio station and one of the first in the South. It was founded by the University of New Orleans in partnership with local cultural figures to offer news, public-affairs content, and music unavailable on commercial radio. By the mid-1980s it had grown to more than 50,000 weekly listeners. The station has remained licensed to the University of New Orleans throughout its history and receives no direct university budget subsidy, relying instead on audience support. In 2017, WWNO joined forces with WRKF, the Baton Rouge NPR affiliate, to share a joint newsroom — a collaboration that later expanded into the Gulf States Newsroom, a regional reporting partnership with WBHM (Birmingham), Mississippi Public Broadcasting, and NPR. That partnership has produced award-winning coverage of Louisiana flood recovery and criminal-justice issues. As an NPR member station, WWNO carries national NPR programming alongside original local reporting; its editorial priorities — environmental risk, racial equity, government accountability — reflect the network's broader center-left sensibility. In 2025, after Congress passed Trump-backed legislation stripping public media of nearly all federal CPB funding, WWNO reported prominently on the cuts' impact on stations including itself, a stance that put it in clear tension with the administration.

Sources

  1. WWNO – Wikipedia
  2. About Us | WWNO
  3. Support New Orleans Public Radio | WWNO
  4. Congress approves Trump's proposal to cut funding for public media | WWNO
  5. Happy 50th Anniversary, WWNO! | WWNO
  6. Public Radio Stations WWNO and WRKF Launch Live Daily News Show | MyNewOrleans
  7. Gulf States Newsroom | WWNO
  8. WWNO 89.9 FM – Report for America
  9. How federal cuts will hit public TV, radio in New Orleans | Axios New Orleans

Profile compiled 2026-08-23; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.

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