Federal budget cuts hurt all forms of public media. Black public radio stations, most of which are affiliated with universities, are no different.
Fortunately, several leaders at such institutions have been working behind the scenes for years to develop a Black Public Radio Network (BPRN), officially announced earlier this year. The Network was organized to increase collective power and sustainability, pool resources, form content collaborations and carve a common path forward.
“There’s power in unity and working together,” said Ernest Walker, the general manager of Texas Southern University’s KTSU 90.9 FM in Houston. “My goal was to help the stations get more resources so they can continue to do the great work that they do to serve the communities.”
At the most recent count, 15 stations have joined the network. The organization is in what Walker called an “incubator phase,” collecting data and building some dashboards to “bring together our collective story.”
There are all sorts of opportunities for the stations under the partnership, including revenue, cost and content sharing.
Maynard Scales, general manager at Hot 91.1 FM WNSB at Norfolk State University, believes the cooperation across platforms will provide more than financial benefits. It’s also about widening the scope of stories that affect black communities.
“Because of some decisions that this particular presidential administration has taken, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting is now defunct,” Scales said. “And when those funds went away, that put an additional strain on all of us. We want to continue to serve our students. And I think as we see in other parts of the country, our voices are important for some things like safety. We are the go-to station for many people in the community, where we can provide emergency information.”
Take, for example, Norfolk’s location on the Atlantic coast. The station has an agreement with the city to participate in emergency procedures during hurricanes.
Scales also wants the station to preserve and share Black cultural history.
“Hitmakers” is a WNSB-produced show that tells the stories of powerhouses who helped shape Black American culture. Scales noted that a top song on the radio today is a catchy beat with lyrics that are offensive to many, and can give the wrong impression of the larger Black community. It’s important, he said, that Black listeners and the wider public listening audience are familiar with artists like John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin and others.
“That is an important part of the history to capture,” he said. “If we do not capture and share that history and create that programming that we can share across the network, then people may believe that hip-hop started with Drake, and R&B started with Chris Brown. We’ll neglect that one of the greatest entertainers of all-time is Stevie Wonder, and so we have to preserve that history.”
Scales hopes BPRN stations will collaborate on the series.
Walker said the network currently stands at 15 stations, with ongoing discussions about adding more to the group. He said the stations represent a wide spectrum regarding capabilities, audience and resources. Some are thriving; others are barely scraping by, he reported. He hopes BPRN will foster greater collaboration and cooperation among the member stations — certainly on music programming, but potentially on other kinds of audio programming “about things we’re dealing with across America,” he said.
Bob Miller has spent more than 25 years in local newsrooms, including 12 years as an executive editor with Rust Communications. Bob also produces an independent true crime investigative podcast called The Lawless Files.
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