With Groundswell of Community Support, KPLU Hits Target

"On May 26, at 3:30 p.m., KPLU General Manager Joey Cohn went live on the air with host Ed Ronco to make a big announcement. The studio was packed with staff members and television cameras. 

'We reached our goal of $7 million!' Cohn said with a huge smile on his face as he pumped his fists in the air. People in the studio clapped and cheered. A jazz ensemble played in the station’s newsroom to celebrate the historic achievement — never before has a public radio station raised that amount of money in such a short time to buy its independence. 

"The station was fighting for its very existence after KPLU’s owner, Pacific Lutheran University, reached an agreement to sell the station to the University of Washington, which operates rival NPR affiliate KUOW. KUOW planned to close KPLU’s newsroom and replace 88.5 FM programming with an all-music format. That would mean the loss of Washington state’s only unionized NPR station. SAG-AFTRA represents 17 KPLU reporters, producers and hosts at the station. 

"But the community rallied to block the deal and raise enough money to make a counter-offer. The universities agreed that if the community group raised an equivalent amount of money, the University of Washington would step aside and allow PLU to sell the station to the community group to continue operating the station as an independent nonprofit.

"More than 24,000 donations streamed in over four-and-a-half months to preserve the current format of 88.5 FM, with its mix of news from NPR and a team of local reporters as well as internationally renowned jazz and blues programming. 

"And while there were some large gifts totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars, there were also plenty of small but memorable donations. A 4-year-old named Phoebe, who has been listening to jazz on KPLU since she was a baby, sent in half the contents of her piggy bank — 46 cents — along with a handwritten letter that said, 'Dear KPLU – I don’t want you to run out of business.'

"People organized house parties to get their friends to contribute. Businesses in Seattle, Bellevue, Tacoma and all around the region held Save KPLU events, including many jazz performances. The entire downtown of Poulsbo organized a fundraising event with live music and galleries, shops and restaurants kicking in a share of their evening’s revenue to help keep the station on the air.

"The nonprofit community group Friends of 88-5 FM, which is headed by Cohn, is negotiating the terms of the purchase with the administration of PLU. If all goes well, Friends of 88-5 FM will then file with the FCC to transfer the license of the station and get new call letters. The hope is for the station to be operating as an independent nonprofit by this coming fall. 

"It was not always easy for staff to ride the wave of uncertainty over the past half year. But it’s been an amazing experience to witness this extraordinary community outpouring in support of local news coverage and unique jazz and blues shows in a time of so much media consolidation. Everyone at KPLU is deeply humbled and grateful to the community for such a showing of support, and the SAG-AFTRA members at KPLU also want to express deep gratitude to the leaders of the Seattle Local who helped get the word out about the campaign through this newsletter and on social media". 

This item was originally featured in the August 2016 local newsletter.