I am supposed to have these GM messages ready for you on the first day of the month. My goal is to always be informative with the latest news around WMNF or the big things impacting us here at community radio. Over the past five months, the news has been hitting us faster and harder than usual, leading to feeling like the sand is shifting under our feet. This month is no different.
Government support for public media remains precarious. On Monday June 30th, Florida Governor DeSantis cut almost all funding for public media in the state. WMNF, along with every other public radio station in Florida, will lose $100,000 each. Meanwhile, elected officials in the nation’s capital are still deciding whether to eliminate funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, an estimated $130,000 for WMNF. We are currently preparing our budget for the next fiscal year and planning for $230,000 less. A painfully difficult loss of funds. Unless we can make up this difference, it will slow down our growth. It will not stop us.
The community continues to be the most reliable source of funding for community radio. YOU are the biggest part of WMNF’s 45 years of success, growth, and the reason community radio thrives in the Tampa Bay area and now beyond. You contributed more than 13% above our goal during the first on air fund drive of 2025. Then you topped that by giving more than 30% over our goal during the most recent on air fund drive. Your generosity and non-stop support really motivates us to keep on doing what we do.
Miss Julie and I met up today with folks from a local educational institution. They could not stop gushing about how much the students’ lives have been positively changed for the better because of their experiences here at WMNF. They kept saying how empowering it has been over the years for their students to be here, have a voice, and help others get out their messages. Empower. Change lives. Amplify community voices. Yeah, that’s who we are.
Randi M. Zimmerman
General Manager, WMNF 88.5FM
5 Responses to “July 2025 WMNF News & Notes”
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Thank you for the update of the economic health of public radio and especially of WMNF. I hope WMNF will initiate opposition to the Federal and especially state cuts and involve not only its listeners but also its fellow public stations in Florida. There is power with numbers. We must have DeSantis impressed with the numbers of Floridian opposition that could be detrimental to his or his wife’s future political life and to future Republican candidates.
This is a major assault on the Constitutional Right of Free Speech. Resist!
You all have always been here for us, and we will continue to show up with our support. Now only stronger than ever!
Thanks for all you do Randi and miss Julie it is appreciated.
WMNF is a beacon in all this darkness. Stay strong💪we support you!