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Murray, Ky.–Listeners of WKMS, Murray State University’s public radio station, have come through again to help successfully reach a year-end fundraising goal. Housed on the University’s Murray campus, the National Public Radio member station offers award-winning local and regional news along with music and arts programming over the air and online at wkms.org. In April, WKMS canceled its traditional pledge drive to bring uninterrupted news and information flowing during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. WKMS broke with its traditional format to bring more news in the middle of the day and added live coverage of Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear’s COVID-19 updates. The station maintained critical operations despite logistical challenges for remote work. “The community needed this news more than ever,” said Chad Lampe, WKMS station manager. “As the news coverage began to stabilize, we then started to determine just what our financial needs were. Our team determined that, thanks to hundreds of renewing donors with many giving at higher levels, the primary need for WKMS was to maintain its number of donors.” WKMS needed 100 new donors to maintain a flat level of members for the current fiscal year. In just a few days, 120 people joined the WKMS membership, thanks to matching business partners and an astute, determined staff. Despite fiscal challenges across the country, WKMS listeners stepped up and have secured the necessary community support for the station’s fiscal year that ends June 30. “This was not the 50th anniversary year for WKMS anyone had planned, but this station is truly fortunate to have such steadfast support for its five decades of service,” said Lampe. WKMS broadcasts a continuous, comprehensive mix of news and music, with stations including 91.3 WKMS-FM, WKMS HD-1, All-Classical HD-2 and WKMS Music HD-3, Murray; 90.9 WKMD, WKMD HD-1, All Classical HD-2 and All Music HD-3, Madisonville; 89.5 WKMT, Fulton; All-Classical 92.5 Paducah, 88.9 Murray and 105.1 Madisonville; and WKMS Music 102.9 FM Madisonville. WKMS also streams all three of its news and music channels online at wkms.org, a robust website offering playlists, regional news and an online contribution page. For more information or to support this public radio service, please visit wkms.org and click “donate.” |