Inside MTPR

Happy birthday to us! Today marks 53 years on-air for Montana Public Radio. We've come a long way from 1965 when we started as a student training facility at UM with a broadcast area that only covered a few blocks. With the hard work of countless volunteers, program hosts, and staff — and financial support from listeners like you — we've matured into a media network broadcasting Montana news, arts & culture and hand-picked music across western Montana, and worldwide via the web.

Thank you to everyone who has helped make MTPR what it is today!

Nicky Ouellet, MTPR's Flathead-area reporter and producer of "SubSurface" reviews some of her favorite Montana Public Radio news stories from 2017.

Holiday specials coming up on Montana Public Radio.

There are only a couple days left to make a 2017 contribution to Montana Public Radio. Your contribution is tax-deductible and makes a big difference for the station today. Your gift fuels all the stories, songs and news programs that you listened to this year, and truly does make this work possible.

Make your donation now, and let us know why you contribute to your local station. Thanks for making 2017 a great year for public media!

Montana Public Radio will no longer be airing The Writer’s Almanac with Garrison Keillor after learning of allegations of his inappropriate behavior with an individual who worked with him. Minnesota Public Radio has terminated contracts with Keillor and his public media companies after learning of the allegations, and the show will no longer be produced or distributed. MTPR supports that decision.

Celebrated on the Tuesday following Thanksgiving (in the U.S.) and the widely recognized shopping events Black Friday and Cyber Monday, #GivingTuesday kicks off the charitable season, when many focus on their holiday and end-of-year giving. Since its inaugural year in 2012, #GivingTuesday has become a movement that celebrates and supports giving and philanthropy with events throughout the year and a growing catalog of resources.

This year consider investing in community with a donation to Montana Public Radio. Your support helps power us forward into 2018!

For me, Thanksgiving was about family. We’d celebrate the holiday with a table full of food and family. We’d go around the table and ask each person what they were thankful for over the past year. Most of the time, it had to do with someone, family or otherwise, who had made a difference in our lives.

Again this year, we would like to say thanks to you. You are a very important part of our Montana Public Radio family.

On Tuesday, public broadcasting in America turns 50, and Montana Public Radio joins America in saluting this national treasure. In signing the Public Broadcasting Act in 1967, President Johnson expressed the hope that one day, public television and radio stations would satisfy "America’s appetite for excellence" and "enrich man’s spirit."

That legislation created the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which today supports nearly 1,500 public media stations across the country by distributing federal funding amounting to roughly $1.35 per citizen, per year. At MTPR, this investment is critical to our operations. Combined with listener donations, we leverage federal funding – many times over – to provide a welcoming space for childhood education and lifelong learning, the arts and culture, history, science, and civil discourse in Montana.

Montana Public Radio has released a new podcast spotlighting Montana’s entrepreneurial spirit.

"Can Do: Lessons From Savvy Montana Entrepreneurs” is a podcast all about why Montana leads the nation in entrepreneurship and business startups. From cricket farms to romance novels, “Can Do” shares the secrets to business success in Big Sky Country.

Thank you to everyone who donated or volunteered during our fall pledge week! Your support makes public radio possible. We raised about $160,000 toward our goal of $260,000 for the week.