Media
Williamsburg’s location smack between two metro areas leaves it in an odd position: It can get radio and TV from both—but has relatively few sources of truly local information. Here’s a quick review of the media sources available to visitors and newcomers.
1. Flat Hat
City: Williamsburg, VA
Category: Media
Telephone: (757) 221-3281
Description: The Flat Hat, the college’s student paper, is published each Friday during the regular academic year. It’s a quintessential student newspaper, expounding on events useful and controversial from the student perspective. It also lists upcoming performances, lectures, and programs presented by faculty, students, national performing troupes, and artists, as well as by myriad local organizations.
2. Richmond Times-Dispatch
City: Williamsburg, VA
Category: Media
Telephone: (757) 229-1512
Address: 401 Duke of Gloucester St.
Description: The Richmond paper, owned by Media General, is the daily newspaper in the state capitol of Richmond. It’s widely available at news boxes and stores in the Williamsburg area, but has a limited amount of local news. Home delivery is available.
City: Williamsburg, VA
Category: Media
Address: 216 Ironbound Rd.
4. Williamsburg-Yorktown Daily.Com
City: Williamsburg, VA
Category: Media
Telephone: (757) 565-1079
Address: 5000 New Point Rd., Suite 2201
Description: We could get all philosophical with questions about whether a newspaper is a newspaper if it’s not published on paper. Instead, we’ll simply highlight this terrific Web site, which publishes a flow of continuously updated, professionally produced news. Unlike the Gazette, whose Web site is rarely updated between print editions, WYDaily.com publishes several stories a day as they become available.The site was launched in 2008 by Tom Davis, owner of two local radio stations, to provide another source of local news. It also features a variety of special offers from advertisers, including 30 percent off gift certificates at many area merchants.
5. Hampton Roads Magazine
City: Williamsburg, VA
Category: Media
Telephone: (757) 422-8979, (800) 422-0742
Address: 1264 Perimeter Parkway
Description: This glossy regional magazine covers features, dining, arts, and entertainment throughout Hampton Roads, with a particular focus on Norfolk and Virginia Beach. Because of the upscale nature of Williamsburg, however, Williamsburg restaurants and entertainment are frequently featured. It’s available on newsstands throughout the region, and is published eight times a year by the same company that now produces The Official Williamsburg/Jamestown/Yorktown Visitors Guide.
6. The Official Williamsburg/Jamestown/Yorktown Visitors Guide
City: Williamsburg, VA
Category: Media
Telephone: (757) 229-8508
Address: 1915 Pocahontas Trail, Suite E-3
Description: Helpful and readily available, especially in area hotels and motels, is this free, glossy magazine for visitors. It’s produced by the publishers of Hampton Roads Magazine in cooperation with the Williamsburg Area Hotel & Motel Association. It comes out three times a year with updates on what’s new at local attractions, and the advertising is especially helpful when you’re looking for something specific.
7. Williamsburg Magazine
City: Williamsburg, VA
Category: Media
Telephone: (757) 220-1736
Address: 216 Ironbound Rd.
Description: The monthly Williamsburg Magazine, published by the Virginia Gazette, is designed for tourists and those relocating to the area. It includes a variety of feature stories about the region and its attractions, lists of upcoming events—and is a great source of coupons and special offers from regional merchants. It’s free, and is widely distributed at news racks, stores, hotels, and tourist attractions.
8. Wcwm, 90.1 Fm
City: Williamsburg, VA
Category: Media
Description: College radio in all its glory: An eclectic mix running from indie rock to techno and hip-hop. The station also programs a variety of locally produced news and public affairs shows.
9. Wtyd, 92.3 Fm, The Tide
City: Williamsburg, VA
Category: Media
Description: “The Tide” is the primary locally programmed FM serving Williamsburg. It plays what it likes to call “hand-picked music”—a blend of contemporary and older rock, blues and folk, reminiscent of free-form FM stations from the early 1970s. It wears its localness on its sleeve—primary owner Tom Davis moved to the region when he bought the station, and lined up a group of local investors (including musician Bruce Hornsby). The station also covers local news in a way most radio groups don’t any more, and uses its news updates to power a news website, WYDaily.com.
10. Wxgm, 99.1 Fm, Xtra 99.1, Gloucester
City: Williamsburg, VA
Category: Media
Description: While not technically a Williamsburg station (it’s actually headquartered in Gloucester, across the York River), this station includes the Historic Triangle in its target audience. It plays a mix of light pop and rock, known in the trade as “adult contemporary.”
11. Wbqk, 107.9 Fm, “Bach-Fm”
City: Williamsburg, VA
Category: Media
Description: As the name implies, “Bach-FM” plays classical music. It’s owned by the same group as The Tide, and also broadcasts local news updates mornings and afternoons.
12. Wmbg, 740 Am
City: Williamsburg, VA
Category: Media