Hello KRPS Friends,
March is a special month to me. No, it’s not my birthday, or the month I was married or when my wife and I celebrate the birth of our two kids.
Regardless, it is still very special. It’s the month that we wave so long to winter, and turn our attention to the start of baseball season and of course the beginning of KRPS’s spring pledge drive season. However, this particular spring is very different from any other.
For the past month I’ve been meeting with folks at NPR and General Managers at public stations across the US trying to read the Congressional tea leaves on whether public stations large and small will continue to receive federal funding from the Corporation of Public Broadcasting.
Many NPR member stations have been preparing for this eventuality by canceling shows and laying off staff. Last week, WNYC, also known as New York Public Radio laid off 18 staffers, in addition to a number of other cuts. That’s in addition to nearly two-years ago shutting down WNYC’s national live call-in show ‘The Takeaway’. That led to the termination of 11 employees.
In 2023, NPR itself laid off about 100 people, or 10% of the organization's entire workforce due to a softening advertising environment.
I highlight these three examples of layoffs at major organizations to show that dramatic cuts and layoffs can happen anywhere. For decades now, KRPS has operated on a lean budget having no more than five employees and a contract engineer.
As a result, in order to get every penny out of our budget we are relaunching our mid-morning and afternoon program schedule. These changes will save KRPS about $35,000 annually.
You can view the updated schedule here.
Now more than ever, listener support is vital to help maintain KRPS and sustain the station through this period of uncertainty.
We’ve continued to invest in local news and events coverage with the recent addition of Raegan, covering Arts and Culture across the Four States, and Rachel dedicated to telling the stories of Southwest Missouri.
Combined with the statewide resources such as the Kansas News Service, the Missouri News Network and public radio stations across Missouri KRPS has more local, statewide and national news than ever before.
Please consider making a one-time donation, or becoming a sustaining member of your home for NPR news and so much more, at KRPS.org
Thank you,
Fred
Updated schedule as of Monday March 3, 2025
NPR or BBC World Service newscasts at one-minute past the hour, every hour.
Monday - Friday - 1A - 9 - 11 am
Monday - Friday - BBC World Service OS - Live news from the BBC - 11am - 12 pm
On The Media - Monday 12 pm - 1 pm
The New Yorker Radio Hour - Tuesday 12 pm - 1 pm
The Ezra Kline Show - Wednesday 12 pm - 1 pm
Freakonomics Radio - Thursday 12 pm - 1 pm
KRPS Special - Friday - 12 pm - 1 pm
Think from KERA - Monday through Thursday 1 pm - 2 pm
Weeknights 6 pm - 6:30 pm
The World Business Report from the BBC World Service
Monday through Thursday 7 pm - 8 pm
1A Plus
Sunday afternoon 3 pm - 4 pm
Wait, Wait Don’t Tell Me (rebroadcast)
