Save WUMD
Donation protected
WUMD (FM 89.3 ) is a small, volunteer-staffed radio station with 45 years of broadcast history, based on the campus of UMass Dartmouth. Recently, members of the university administration made the decision (without our knowledge or input) to sell off our airspace, which would make us an online-only station.
Many of our listeners may not have the means to listen online, and of those who do, a great number may be unable to afford the data charges they would accrue in order to listen to us while on-the-go via a cellular data plan.
Their plan is to sell our frequency to Rhode Island Public Radio, an organization already broadcasting on 3 other FM frequencies. Furthermore, their programming is almost entirely syndicated, non-local programming already available to listeners of any other NPR affiliate (several of which can already be heard in the area). In exchange, the region would lose its only community-run independent station - a station which broadcasts music unlikely to be heard on commercial radio, along with a slate of locally-produced public affairs programming.
In order to fight back against the well-funded groups trying to strip us of our airspace, we'll need to file appropriate documents with the FCC; unfortunately, the costs of hiring a lawyer to draft these dense and technical documents is beyond our budget, and so we hope that the listening public will assist us in fighting back for the cause of local, non-commercial radio.
Our audience means the world to us, and the idea of abandoning so many of them with a shift to online-only broadcasts is unacceptable.
Every donation helps, and any funding left over after our legal fees will be used to assist the station's budget for equipment and other essentials.
Thank you so much for any assistance you may be able to provide - our team and our listenership appreciate it immensely!
Many of our listeners may not have the means to listen online, and of those who do, a great number may be unable to afford the data charges they would accrue in order to listen to us while on-the-go via a cellular data plan.
Their plan is to sell our frequency to Rhode Island Public Radio, an organization already broadcasting on 3 other FM frequencies. Furthermore, their programming is almost entirely syndicated, non-local programming already available to listeners of any other NPR affiliate (several of which can already be heard in the area). In exchange, the region would lose its only community-run independent station - a station which broadcasts music unlikely to be heard on commercial radio, along with a slate of locally-produced public affairs programming.
In order to fight back against the well-funded groups trying to strip us of our airspace, we'll need to file appropriate documents with the FCC; unfortunately, the costs of hiring a lawyer to draft these dense and technical documents is beyond our budget, and so we hope that the listening public will assist us in fighting back for the cause of local, non-commercial radio.
Our audience means the world to us, and the idea of abandoning so many of them with a shift to online-only broadcasts is unacceptable.
Every donation helps, and any funding left over after our legal fees will be used to assist the station's budget for equipment and other essentials.
Thank you so much for any assistance you may be able to provide - our team and our listenership appreciate it immensely!
Organizer
Adam Lawrence
Organizer
Dartmouth, MA
