Louisiana’s KEDU launches urgent fundraising appeal

To meet its CPB grant requirements, KEDM in Monroe, La., has scheduled an emergency fundraising drive for June 2 -4. CPB Community Service Grant criteria calls for the university-owned station to raise 48 cents for every potential listener in its service area, or $152,000 annually, G.M. Joel Willer tells the local News Star. “We have been really falling short for some time and it’s finally catching up to us.” The station needs to raise $45,000 if it is to meet CPB’s standard. KEDU licensee, the University of Louisiana at Monroe, has stipulated that programs will be cut if the station doesn’t raise at least $30,000. KEDM is the only public radio service to the region; News Star readers complain about a recent decline in program quality and an agenda to turn KEDU into a “[public relations] vehicle for the University.”