Boston Globe — RI’s The Public’s Radio to leave its studio in Westerly after tensions over shore access coverage

Rhode Island's NPR station, The Public's Radio, has decided to leave its studio space at the United Theatre in Westerly.RYAN T CONATY RYAN T. CONATY/RYAN T. CONATY FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE

Oct 10, 2023

By Brittany Bowker — “Our physical location in the theater is more harmful to the Theatre than it is beneficial,” said Torey Malatia, chief executive of The Public’s Radio.

WESTERLY — Rhode Island’s NPR station is leaving its studio space at Westerly’s United Theatre due to criticism by some of the theater’s board members and donors about the station’s local shore access coverage — a hot button topic for many residents in the area.

“We are neither abandoning reporting in South County nor abandoning any relevant coverage of stories in the public interest,” said Torey Malatia, chief executive of The Public’s Radio.

The radio station’s presence inside the building has been “causing some problems” with a few of United Theatre’s board members and major donors, Malatia said, and because of that, “our physical location in the theater is more harmful to the Theatre than it is beneficial.”

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