Support a 22-year-long experiment -- KKFI 90.1 FM, community radio

KKFI 90.1 FM, Kansas City's community radio station is holding the "Spring into Summer" on-air fund drive from June 2-12, 2011. This is the time to share your financial support for a 22-year-long experiment in community building.

I was reminded of the importance of Community Radio in Kansas City while watching the highly-acclaimed documentary film "I AM" this past weekend. The film, which features Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Noam Chomsky, Lynne McTaggart, and the late Howard Zinn, answered two questions: "What's wrong with the World?" and "What can I do about it?"

KKFI T-shirt for $90 donation to the station.
The film portrayed society out-of-balance because of the "insane" quest for wealth and goods beyond a person's needs. The film made a case for critical thought and action to address the problem, indicating the best approach to solve the problem is by many people taking small, seemingly individual actions.

Many news and media outlets dance around this topic, but rarely does a radio or TV station have the space to ask these difficult questions on a variety of levels. In a phrase, KKFI takes these small steps every day with its informative public affairs programs.

Few radio stations in Kansas City deal with environment, race, labor, and socio-economic issues the way KKFI does: the station is home to several programs that engage community organizations and individuals on these very questions.

Here are some examples of public affairs programs on KKFI 90.1 FM that contribute alternative views of recognizing problems and presenting solutions:


  • Tell Somebody, a weekly public affairs program on Tuesday at 6:00 pm, has covered the environmental and health-related problems at the Allied Signal/Bendix/Honeywell plant on Bannister with in-depth interviews with workers and public officials.
  • Eco Radio KC is the only radio program in Kansas City discussing crucial climate change issues and solutions on a local level. The program was expanded to 60 minutes due to the success of reaching concerned citizens.
  • For a completely different, yet "in the streets" reporting, nationally-syndicated Democracy Now has covered many national and international news stories, none better to contemplate than this program's coverage of the Arab uprisings.
  • While major newspapers and TV stations have daily or nightly "business reports" that feature corporate news, locally-produced Heartland Labor Forum offers news from workers perspective. Plus the daily Workers Independent News or WIN segment featured the battle over collective bargaining in Wisconsin from the labor point-of-view.
  • Three programs -- Urban Connections, Guess Who's Coming to Kansas City, and Native Spirit Radio -- all cover issues dealing with race, unlike you'll hear anywhere else on the radio dial.
These are just a few of the public affairs programs that I encourage you to support. Your financial support of KKFI 90.1 FM, on the air for 22 years, is the reason why the station thrives and grows!

Go to the KKFI web site -- http://kkfi.org -- or call toll-free 888-931-0901 to make a donation!


    Matt Quinn

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