Beyond the 24-hour “save our station” telethons, public radio fans now have another option to help struggling radio stations.
Through a first-of-its-kind program from the Bethesda-based Calvert Foundation, Public Radio Capital and the Ford Foundation will offer investors the chance to have a stake in regional radio stations across the country.
With increasingly stiff competition to buy and keep radio frequencies, public radio stations have dwindled over the years as media conglomerates snap up stations. The new fund is expected to raise $15 million by the fall and invest in three to four public stations at a time.
Investors, institutions and individuals will be lending money to the fund at interest rates of zero to 4 percent, depending on the length of the loan, said Susan Harmon, a managing director of Public Radio Capital. The money will then be loaned to public radio institutions.
The Calvert Foundation — a locally based national nonprofit that invests in underprivileged communities across the country — has already committed $3 million. The Ford Foundation has kicked in $1.5 million.
“A strong democratic pluralist media forms the backbone of the infrastructure of a strong, civil society,” said Timothy Freundlich, director of strategic development for the Calvert Foundation. “If you don’t have that, you can’t even get to the challenge of building affordable homes or giving people microloans.”
Freundlich said his foundation will look to big investors to make up the rest of their share. He expects to form a coalition of about 12 investors, each donating at the $500,000 level.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
