Ray Bassett describes himself as “a storyteller for storytellers.”
On Tuesday, he brings a daily talk show to listeners of WUTC-FM 88.1, Chattanooga’s National Public Radio station. Scenic Roots will air at 3 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Mr. Bassett recently joined the staff of WUTC, based at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, bringing more than 20 years of experience as a producer and editor in New York City—including with famed broadcaster Charles Osgood on The Osgood File.
Mr.
Bassett also brought the idea of launching a program that didn’t exist anywhere else in the city’s broadcast market: long-form conversations with the people, events and issues that matter to the region.
On Scenic Roots, Mr. Bassett plans to go “behind and beyond” headlines and bring voices from across the spectrum to “conversations that matter in the heart of Chattanooga and the Tennessee Valley,” he says.
Most of all, serious or lighthearted, they want to give the Chattanooga radio audience “great stories.”
“I am fascinated by what Chattanooga and the Tennessee Valley uniquely offer,” Mr. Bassett says.