WMNF’s mission focus for August is Economic justice and labor rights. How appropriate as we are in the midst of our budget process. What the budget process means for WMNF is that we are reflective about how to move our mission forward in the most fiscally responsible way. Our budget is more than numbers; it is a reflection of our values and priorities. At WMNF, we strive to embody the principles of economic justice and labor rights beyond themed months. Rather, our operational decisions and resource allocation spring from these values.
In addition to volunteer programmers, many staff members produce content that supports the WMNF mission. The whole News staff creates hours of essential news headline packages each week that play in morning and afternoon drive times. WMNF is the only station in the Tampa Bay area that provides independent, locally produced news along with highlighting local independent music artists during drive times. The News and Operations staff work with dozens of news interns each year from local high schools, colleges, and job programs. In addition to learning all phases of audio production, they also learn about our mission, and how we live it each day in our operations and through our programming.
The WMNF budget does the less glamorous job of maintaining 10,000 square feet of the latest equipment in seven studios (six of which can go live on air) and maintain our presence on one of the tallest radio towers in the area.
Due to the foresight of the Board and my predecessors, when we needed a new HVAC system, we had more than $120,000 in the bank to pay for it. We have included a new roof in the upcoming budget in addition to applying for grants to fund new ductwork. Not the stuff of a sexy fundraising campaign for sure. However, our facility, the peoples’ house built by the people, is vital to WMNF’s continued functional excellence. We are committed to maintaining a facility that is far more than what you hear from your 4 ½ inch car speaker.
We could do what other radio stations do. We could scale down to a super large walk-in closet and automate. We could have fewer people programming and in the building, curbing maintenance needs for sure. We could attend fewer events where we connect with familiar and unfamiliar listeners. We could do a lot to cut back on the number of opportunities where we can all gather, hug, and smile together. However, who would WMNF be if we did that and what mission would we serve?
Regards,
Randi M. Zimmerman
General Manager, WMNF 88.5FM
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