By Bill Dupuy
News Director
and Interim Executive Director
These past days have been trying times for the family of people you hear on KSFR, Santa Fe public radio. We lost two friends and colleagues through the death of Journey Home host Diego Mulligan and the departure of our general manager, Linda Highhill. They brought huge measures of dedication and camaraderie to our studios and played important roles in helping us succeed in our mission. (Continued)
That mission is simply defined but not easy to bring off. We take seriously the job of being the voice of the greater Santa Fe community. However, it's hard work. The voices you hear on 101.1 FM are 99.9 percent local, and for the most part they are live at the time you are hearing them. From news to information on the arts and the environment, to a focus on issues facing our ethnic communities, and to the variety of music we play -- it's a 24x7 schedule produced by a small core staff and 50 or so talented volunteers. Many of them have given of their time and talent for more than a decade.
Even when weather is bad enough to knock us off the air, the people on the schedule at that time are hard at it, streaming on the internet.
A federal circuit court two years ago suggested that the long-standing prohibition of political advertising on public stations might well be eliminated. Bill Moyers of PBS noted that little KSFR in Santa Fe was one of just two public stations in the country to rush to publicly decry that opinion. We said we would proudly go to the mat to defend ourselves against outside special interests. We stand by that pledge.
Americans have celebrated another anniversary of the nation's independence. At KSFR, we are proud of our own independence. We guard it jealously because it allows us to serve a supportive audience well, independent of the pressures, limitations and restrictions many other media organizations face.
We may struggle from time to time with our finances, but that's the norm for nonprofits, Our listening audience has always stepped up to the plate when we needed help. We know they are there for us, just as we are there for them.
July 4, 2013