Raise Your VoiceCampaign

A Bold Vision for a Better Louisville

Louisville can be a thriving city where well-informed citizens create a vigorous democracy – without undue commercial or political influence. Louisville can be an exciting destination known for embracing the arts in new ways, enriching the lives of everyone who lives here. And Louisville can be an engaged community where residents are proud of their connections to one another, the nation and the world.

A better Louisville is possible though better media.

Louisville Public Media provides broad access to news and cultural programming that isfree from commercial and political influence. For more than 65 years, we have been informing, enriching and connecting this community through compelling local and national programming. Each week, more than 200,000 people tune in to one of our three stations to hear insightful news programming, explore new music, participate in community conversations and more.

Today, our community faces serious challenges that are aggravated by a shortage of serious news programming and limited exposure to the arts. However, we also have tremendous opportunities inherent to this digital age.

To build a better Louisville, Louisville Public Media is embarking on a $7 million campaign that will fund:

  • An expanded news organization that serves the public interest
  • Programming that connects listeners with local artists, musicians and organizations
  • Updated studio facilities with the latest technology

This campaign will provide Louisville Public Media with the resources needed to support a community that places a high value on being informed, enriched and connected.

Progressive from the start

In the late 1940s, the mayor of Louisville walked into the public library and offered the director a treasure – the funds leftover from the Second Street Bridge toll. Library Director Clarence R. “Skip” Graham pondered the changing needs of the growing community. Aware of the power of emerging technology, the two decided to invest, not in additional books, but in the creation of a public radio station.

Begun 65 years ago as a single 10-watt public radio station, Louisville Public Media has grown to become a crown jewel of the community. Today, it is one of the most successful and impactful non-commercial broadcasting organizations in the nation. Louisville remains on the leading edge, as one of only two cities in the nation served by three distinct full-time public radio formats under one institutional umbrella. WFPL89.3 FM provides local, national and international news, public affairs and cultural programming; Classical 90.5WUOLis our city’s only classical music and fine arts radio station; and 91.9WFPKshowcases independent, alternative music and an array of musical genres.

A Critical Need

The community needs that inspired our founding are far greater today. Since congressional deregulation of media ownership in 1996, only a handful of corporations now control 90 percent of America’s news and information. Too often, commercialism drives cultural content. Never before has the quality of content, access to knowledge and engagement in the arts been more crucial for our citizens. And never have they been more tenuous.

Our Community Deserves a Campaign for the Future

Louisville Public Media is embarking on a $7 million campaign to fund strategic initiatives that will position it to serve the community for years to come. Louisville Public Media seeks to:

  • Increase the size of our reporting staff and become one of the strongest newsrooms in our region. We will create, produce and distribute award-winning journalism and top-quality programs.
  • Strengthen the relationship between arts and culture and the listener by promoting local artists, musicians and organizations.
  • Turn our facility into a modern and inviting space that is able to adequately support a growing organization in the digital age, while also allowing the audience to experience radio firsthand.

With a mission of public service and a history of award-winning journalism, public affairs and arts programming, the organization stands uniquely qualified to build this next level of media service. Meeting the needs of our community will require investments in content, facilities and technology that will make programming accessible in all formats.

Groundbreaking, Inspiring Journalism

To provide the community with relevant, timely content, we must have trained journalists to create it and appropriate technology to deliver it. With additional reporters and producers using the latest technology, WFPL can become a truly powerful multimedia newsroom building upon our history of award winning programming and national recognition.

Public radio reporters are uniquely prepared to usher in the future of journalism. They operate with the urgency of a breaking news radio staff, possess technical prowess to rival any TV crew, and research and write with a devotion to detail otherwise reserved for print journalism. The future of journalism will require this diverse skill set. The following will be our areas of journalistic focus:

  • The Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting

To address the alarming decline in serious journalism locally and nationally, the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting will use the tools of investigative journalism to protect the public interest. We will seek to stimulate positive change through objective analysis of both government and business. The coverage will be non-partisan and non-ideological and will adhere to strict standards of journalistic impartiality.

  • Urban Affairs Reporting

As other local media outlets continue to shed staff, Louisville Public Media is filling the gaps and examining important local issues such as transportation, education, local government, and neighborhoods.

  • Health Reporting

Our community faces pressing issues concerning public health. Kentucky is consistently ranked last nationally in rates of cancer, obesity, smoking, and heart disease. Our air quality is often poor and our state has a significant problem with heroin abuse. Our health reporter will cover these and other health trends with a goal of educating and informing the public for positive change.

Engaging & Challenging Arts and Music Programming

Louisville Public Media is the link that connects listeners to:

  • Music and the arts
  • Regional events
  • Local businesses that make our city unique
  • Other members of the community

Quite simply, Louisville Public Media makes Louisville more livable. The following will be our areas of focus for arts and cultural programming:

  • As classical music stations shut down across the country, listeners will turn to their computers or mobile devices to stream classical content. Classical 90.5,Louisville's only classical music station,has the opportunity to be one of the few classical public radio stations with a strong web presence. WUOL is committed to serving the needs of Louisville through forward-thinking audio regardless of the platform.
  • We will invest in the future of classical music by supporting programs that provide opportunities for Louisville youth to engage with classical music, such as the Young Artist Competition, Instrumental Partners program and the Summer Listening program.
  • WUOL will build a staff of local on-air personalities who produce audio for use across platforms and engage with the community. Using on-air talent as ambassadors for WUOL, we will identify community needs more quickly and accurately, while invigorating the arts and cultural landscape.
  • Louisville is fortunate to have an adult alternative music station that offers its listeners much more than broadcast listening. ThroughLive LunchandWaterfront Wednesdays,WFPKhas brought tens of thousands of people together and introduced many new artists to our community.With enhanced video capabilities, WFPK will broadcast these shows on the web and turn a local audience into a national audience.
  • WFPK is consistently recognized as one of the top five AAA-rated radio stations in the country.Our music director shines a light on local and regional bands, building Louisville’s reputation as a hub for great new music. Austin and Seattle saw a great deal of economic growth spurred from their vibrant music scene. There is no reason we cannot do the same here.
  • As many other independent public radio stations lose funding, we are gaining a broader and more national audience. During our membership drives, we hear from listeners all across the globe and now have members from 43 states and 5 countries. We put Louisville in the national spotlight.

Modern Facility and Emerging Technology

To develop and transmit these world-class programs, Louisville Public Media requires investment in the facility and infrastructure, including the following initiatives:

  • Good newsrooms are collaborative. A redesigned newsroom will literally and metaphorically bring our reporters together. It will be a place conducive to conversations, teamwork and great journalism. An additional recording studio will enable the newsroom staff to conduct more on-air interviews and host panel discussions.
  • For the audience, we will transform the Fourth Street reception area and first floor into an engaging community gallery to invite the public into our building to learn about our work and enjoy our programming firsthand.
  • Updated technology will enable us to reach an increasingly diverse and mobile audience. Further enhancements will ensure that the website is constantly up to date and able to meet the needs of the growing segment of the population who get more of their news through their mobile devices and computers than their car radios.
  • In order to continue radio broadcasting, there is an urgent need to replace 20-year old transmitters for all three stations. Outfitting all of the recording and broadcast studios with updated sound boards, microphones and decks also ensures our broadcast comes through clearly and reliably.

The Cost

Groundbreaking, Inspiring Journalism$3,000,000

Engaging & Challenging Arts and Music Programming$1,000,000

Modern Facility and Emerging Technology$3,000,000

$7,000,000