Very sad news to report: Free Speech Radio News after 17 years of providing news programming, is ending its operations. For 15 years, FSRN’s daily and then weekly reports have been part of GDPR’s broadcast lineup, so we will miss the organization terribly on a personal level. But knowing the independent media landscape intimately, we are keenly aware of the difficult sacrifices and financial struggles involved in maintaining a broadcast outlet without the resources needed and depending on listener support. Losing a member of our dedicated fraternity is quite a blow, especially during the time of Trump, and reminds us how tenable our situation is as well.
Below is FSRN’s farewell announcement:
It is with a very heavy heart that we write to tell you Free Speech Radio News will permanently shut down at the end of April.We are particularly disheartened to go dark in the current political climate, when the stories we cover regularly are so urgently needed. But amid the myriad challenges facing the independent media space, our staff of two – plus a dedicated but very part time tech producer – simply can’t develop the resources necessary to sustain our organization.For seventeen years, in partnership with reporters in communities across the globe, FSRN has brought you stories documenting wrongdoing, repression and corruption and highlighting the individuals, campaigns and movements working to bring about a more just and equitable society.Many of you have financially supported FSRN over the years, and we are so very grateful for your help keeping FSRN afloat this long. Radio stations have also paid carriage fees to broadcast our content. But we have not been successful finding firm financial footing, despite applying for major funding from multiple foundations and even the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.We are working on archiving our content, so that all of the important work that FSRN has published over the years remains available and accessible in the future.We will publish our final Weekly Edition on April 28th, 2017.
Starting in May — assuming GDPR remains on the air — CPR News will take over FSRN’s slots at noon Central on Mondays and Saturdays at 5 pm CT.
