“This campaign wasn’t just about filling a funding gap. It was about showing that public media still has many people in its corner — people who believe that accurate journalism is a public good and that news from the St. Louis region should not be commodified,” said STLPR interim general manager Jess Luther. “We thank the St. Louis community for standing with STLPR when it mattered most. More than 750 new donors showed up to sustain vital local journalism that brings people together and makes our region stronger.”
While this urgent campaign has concluded, the need for support for the station will be ongoing as federal funding was a reliable source of annual revenue — the $575,000 will need to be replaced each year.
We’re not here to retreat or shrink. We’re here to grow, to innovate, and to show what’s possible when a public media organization is truly powered by the public.”David Hutchison, Chief Development Officer, St. Louis Public Radio
Additionally, expenses are expected to rise due to fewer pooled resources across public media networks. Services such as licensing music for the purposes of broadcast and streaming were provided previously by the federally funded Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
“We know there will be additional challenges to come but for now we are eager to get back to the work of serving this region with award-winning news that creates understanding,” said Luther. “This is a pivotal time in the station’s 53 years of service. We now receive 100 percent of our support from the community and we are also in the process of transitioning to become an independent non-profit organization. We will need donors to continue to rally in support of our work in the months and years ahead.”
“This response from our community was phenomenal,” said David Hutchison, Chief Development Officer at St. Louis Public Radio. “In just one week, thousands of people raised their hands to say that local journalism matters — not just as a news source, but as a public service, a community service. We are profoundly grateful.” The overwhelmingly grassroots nature of the campaign — with gifts ranging from a few dollars to a few thousand — underscores just how deeply St. Louisans value access to independent, fact-based reporting rooted in their own communities. “This wasn’t a top-down rescue mission,” Hutchison said. “This was the people of St. Louis making it clear what kind of future they want — one where their story isn’t just preserved, but propelled forward. We’re not here to retreat or shrink. We’re here to grow, to innovate, and to show what’s possible when a public media organization is truly powered by the public.”
