As the calendar turned, we started a new year here at Montana Public Radio, and I look forward to sharing what’s in store this year.
2025 was a year of seismic shifts for public media and local stations across this country. As we navigated the Rescissions Act of 2025 and the loss of federal funding for public media, your support was overwhelming and kept us going during an extremely volatile moment.
Throughout the challenges of the last year, one thing we heard from you and all of our listeners in Montana, loud and clear, is that local public radio matters to you and to your communities. Between the local news that you expect from our Montana news team, to the talented music hosts who curate playlists that power your day, to the wonderful children’s programming locally produced here in our studios, and to the informative podcasts that tell the stories of Montana, we do this work for you, our listeners. We’re proud to be a locally owned and operated public radio station serving you. It’s an honor we take seriously every single day and work diligently to provide you the very best.
As we continue to navigate this new landscape for public media, we will no doubt face incredible challenges this year. The loss of federal funding has created a gap in our revenue puzzle, and our focus is now on stabilizing our operations during this moment of transition. While the passing of the rescission package was disheartening, this will be the first year that we will be working without federal funding. This is our new reality.
As General Manager of the station, my goal in this moment has been to continue to provide the best service we can while remaining cost-effective and keeping what you expect from us available to all Montanans who depend on it. There has never been a moment where we need local, listener supported media more. We don’t answer to corporate shareholders or to anyone besides you. Our editorial independence and strong journalistic ethics remain paramount to our work. Our expert curation of arts and culture celebrates the beauty in our world when we need it most. Our storytelling through captivating programs for children of all ages enriches the next generation of Montanans.
The Montana Public Radio news team has started the year out strong with election coverage that will continue with candidate coverage and issue coverage as we navigate through the primary and beyond to November’s election. This is all in addition to our reporting on rural topics, environment, state government, education, healthcare and so much more.
On the arts and culture side of our organization, we look forward to bringing you live performances from the Montana Folk Festival in Butte this summer in addition to more studio sessions from our own Studio B. Rest assured the cultural touchstones that you need in your day will continue to be found here on Montana Public Radio.
Our technical and engineering teams have been working on finishing a multi-year project to update the in-studio infrastructure and technology so that we have reliable transmission delivery. It had been nearly 14 years since we last made updates, and technology has jumped leaps and bounds in that time. This new equipment will provide resiliency and offer better technical delivery of the radio you love.
Our fundraising team had their hands full last year, working with listeners and supporters to keep this great radio station going strong. We hosted many events and got to visit so many communities across the state. It was wonderful connecting with you all last year when we needed each other the most. Because of your support, we were able to meet our fundraising goal last year of $2.5 million - we are very grateful. We welcomed so many new donors into the MTPR family and heard from our most loyal listeners. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your strong showing of support for public radio.
As we look forward to this fundraising year, we’re facing significant financial changes. Not only have we lost federal funding, we also have state-mandated increases to employee benefits, and salaries, since we are part of the Montana University System. In addition, we’re planning for increased expenses due to inflation and other causes outside of our control. As such, we enter the year with a fundraising goal of $3.1 million this year.
Your support in every form (from monetary donations to letters of encouragement and sharing our work with friends) was crucial to helping us navigate 2025, a monumental year in the history of public media. I humbly ask that this support continues this year as we navigate this new reality and landscape together.
It takes all of us to make Montana Public Radio possible and on behalf of all of us here at MTPR, thank you for your generous support of all we do. We’re grateful to have you as a crucial part of this listener powered service. There’s no one we’d rather navigate these uncharted waters with than you.
Happy listening,
Anne
