KUAF to Hold First Winter On-Air Fundraiser

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FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – KUAF 91.3 FM, the local NPR affiliate, will hold its first winter on-air fundraiser this week to offset a cut in funding. The station is no longer eligible for a federal subsidy due to the listening area’s increase in population.

“Our federal funding through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting was cut by $66,000 because we are no longer considered a rural station,” said Rick Stockdell, associate professor of broadcast journalism and KUAF station manager. “Our growth has moved us into a different category, and we're hoping this December pledge drive will help us make up the difference.”

The four-day fundraiser will kick off Tuesday, Dec. 10, and continue until Friday, Dec. 13, from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day, with a goal of $66,000.

“Denise and I support KUAF because it is an equal-opportunity informer,” said Hershey Garner, one of the station’s donors. “It provides access to unbiased, in-depth, fact-based news to everyone. For us, over our past 25 years in Northwest Arkansas, KUAF has been our primary news source from local to international. It is our community water cooler.”

KUAF is a listener-supported service of the Walter J. Lemke department of journalism in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and School of Arts and Sciences. The station has more than 3,300 annual donors and receives nearly 70 percent of its annual funding from membership and underwriting. It reaches a weekly audience of 60,000 listeners throughout Northwest Arkansas, southern Missouri, eastern Oklahoma and the River Valley.