WLRN News continues to make investments in its Southernmost news bureau. It is partnering with The Studios of Key West to open a radio news studio to further its news coverage of the Florida Keys. WLRN News Reporter Nancy Klingener will now produce news stories and interviews from the new studio.
WLRN has provided public radio to the Keys for more than 20 years. In the last decade, the station has strengthened its commitment to covering the dynamic South Florida region, from the Palm Beaches to Key West and formed a news partnership with the Miami Herald.
Klingener is a 25-year resident of Key West. She spent nine years covering the island chain for The Miami Herald. She has also been editor of Solares Hill and worked at the Monroe County Public Library.
“The Keys are a dream beat for a journalist for the same reasons so many people want to live and vacation here,” Klingener said. “They’re just endlessly interesting, with a population of independent, creative people and a rich culture.”
“WLRN considers the Keys an important part of South Florida, economically, culturally, environmentally – and is proud to be the organization that connects the island chain to the mainland,” said WLRN/WKWM General Manager John Labonia. That connection works two ways, bringing public radio programming to the Keys and making sure the Keys are included in the conversations regionally, statewide and even nationally. Several of Klingener’s stories have aired nationally, on NPR programs.
“To say we’re excited about the partnership with WLRN is an understatement,” said Jed Dodds, executive director of The Studios of Key West. “It’s not just that we’re proud of the affiliation. The possibilities for synergy are endless, and the fact that we’re bringing one of the island’s best regarded journalists into our orbit is the icing on the cake."
