Fort Wayne-Allen County Airport Authority officials cut the ribbon on a new terminal building at Smith Field Airport on Monday.The new terminal, at 902 W.Local public radio increased its international programming this month with the addition of a locally produced Burmese-language radio program.
“FM Myanmar,” a 30-minute radio program, airs at 3 p.m. Sundays on WBOI, 89.1-FM. Show organizers say it is the first of its kind to broadcast in the United States.
Similar to “Golden Moon,” a local Burmese-language television program which airs at 6:30 p.m. Saturdays on Access Two (Comcast channel 57 and Frontier channel 27), “FM Myanmar” will focus on events “important to the local and international Burmese communities,” says Will Murphy, general manager of Northeast Indiana Public Radio.
“There will be a little music, call-in features, lifestyle features,” he said. “It’s safe to say some English-speaking listeners may be a bit baffled by the show at first, but the Burmese people are such a big part of the Fort Wayne community it was a natural fit for us.”
The show, which is hosted by Thiha Kyi, will air during what Murphy describes as an “international block of programming,” which includes “The State We’re In,” “Travel With Rick Steves” and “Connexxion Latina.”
It is also streamed on the station’s website (nipr.fm), which makes it available not only to the estimated 6,000 Burmese people locally, but to Burmese populations across the United States and internationally, Murphy said.
“This is a show that would be unlikely to be picked up by national commercial radio,” he said. “It’s a natural part of our public service mission to help make the audience for this show as broad as we can.”
