MCALLEN, RGV - Grassroots Public Radio RGV has given a shoutout to Congressman Vicente Gonzalez for his sterling efforts to save NPR in the Rio Grande Valley.
The nonprofit group, started by former members of the KMBH Upper Valley Community Advisory Board, met at the Corner Bakery in McAllen on Friday evening.
“I think Congressman Gonzalez is really going out of his way to help us and he is doing such a good thing for the Valley and for the people that really enjoy listening to NPR,” said Grassroots Public Radio RGV co-founder Shawn Seale.
“NPR is such a valuable resource. As well as entertaining us, it allows us to keep up with what is going on in the world in a dispassionate and unbiased way. We cannot afford to lose it.”
For decades, NPR programming has been provided to Valley listeners via Rio Grande Valley Public Radio 88 FM. However, its owner, the Diocese of Brownsville, is in the process of selling the station for a reported $1 million. The new owners, Relevant Radio/Immaculate Heart Media have no plans to keep NPR and are slated to run religious programming instead.
In addition to the loss of NPR, 88 FM will also stop airing local news updates provided for the past seven years by the Rio Grande Guardian, as well as local music programs.
“The thought of losing NPR is just horrible. It will mean a lack of entertainment and education and cultural updates that we all need to have. We cannot become a cultural desert and NPR must not let this happen,” Seale said.
Congressman Gonzalez recently wrote to UT-Rio Grande Valley President Guy Bailey. He asked for a meeting to discuss the possibility of UTRGV housing not only an NPR station but also a PBS TV station. Gonzalez plans to bring executives from NPR, PBS and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to the Valley in August for a strategy meeting.
In addition, UTRGV communications professor W.F Strong is working on a budget for UTRGV to run a public radio station. Strong is hoping that with the help of federal funding, UTRGV will agree to a $1 million budget to cover the first three years of the radio station’s operations.
Grassroots Public Radio RGV hopes UTRGV will step forward and start a Valley-wide public radio station that carries NPR programming. However, it is not sitting back, waiting and hoping. Its leadership is looking to see if there are any other possible ways of keeping NPR on the air.
The group plans to meet with two local nonprofits that have low-powered FM stations: KZQB 104.7 FM in Brownsville and KCYP 97.7 FM in Edinburg-McAllen.
“We have to explore all options. We cannot lose NPR. We love NPR,” said Grassroots Public Radio RGV President Edgar Lopez.
Editor’s Note: The main image accompanying the above news story shows four of the co-founders of Grassroots Public Radio RGV Shawn Seale, Gerard Mittelstaedt, Steve Taylor and Edgar Lopez. For more information about the non-profit, go to the group's Facebook page, Save NPR in the Rio Grande Valley.
