KBMF-LP (102.5 FM) is a

non-commercial A non-commercial (also spelled noncommercial) activity is an activity that does not, in some sense, involve commerce, at least relative to similar activities that do have a commercial objective or emphasis. For example, advertising-free community ...

low-power

community radio Community radio is a radio service offering a third model of radio broadcasting in addition to commercial and public broadcasting. Community stations serve geographic communities and communities of interest. They broadcast content that is popula ...

station that broadcasts terrestrially from a transmitter atop the historic Carpenters' Union Hall in Uptown Butte, Montana. Broadcasting 24/7, the station showcases 60+ unique freeform music programs, two one-hour weekly news programs, and a variety of community programs. KBMF-LP's

FCC The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdictio ...

licensee is Butte America Foundation (BAmF), a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization. The station's slogan is "America's Most Radio".

History

KBMF-LP 102.5 FM was established as the flagship project of the Butte America Foundation in August 2013. Filing of the initial construction permit was delayed by the

2013 United States federal government shutdown From October 1 to October 17, 2013, the United States federal government entered a shutdown and curtailed most routine operations because neither legislation appropriating funds for fiscal year 2014 nor a continuing resolution for the interim ...

, but the permit was awarded in January 2014. After 18 months of fundraising and planning, including the "100 for 100 campaign," wherein 100 supporters donated $100 each, the Butte America Foundation filed for a broadcast license with the call letters KBMF-LP. The station first went on the air on Miners' Union Day, June 13, 2015. The radio station's training procedures and freeform ethos were modeled after

KBGA KBGA (89.9 FM), licensed to Missoula, Montana, is a college radio station on the campus of the University of Montana. It was formerly known as Revolution Radio. Elizabeth Wipperman is the current general manager of the station. KBGA was establis ...

89.9 FM in

Missoula, Montana Missoula ( ; fla, label= Séliš, Nłʔay, lit=Place of the Small Bull Trout, script=Latn; kut, Tuhuⱡnana, script=Latn) is a city in the U.S. state of Montana; it is the county seat of Missoula County. It is located along the Clark Fork ...

, the college radio station for the

University of Montana The University of Montana (UM) is a public research university in Missoula, Montana. UM is a flagship institution of the Montana University System and its second largest campus. UM reported 10,962 undergraduate and graduate students in the fa ...

. KBMF-LP's founding General Manager Clark Grant was manager of KBGA from 2011-2012 and drew heavily from established procedures and methods developed over that radio station's history. The Butte America Foundation board of directors at the time of KBMF-LP's launch included founding board president

Amanda Curtis Amanda Gayle Curtis ( née Morse, born September 10, 1979) is an American politician who serves as the president of the Montana Federation of Public Employees (MFPE), Montana's largest labor union. Curtis served in the Montana House of Represe ...

, as well as Ann Szalda-Petree, who would later become president of Missoula Community Radio.

Programming

News

Among the topics on its news programs are local politics and environmental issues. As a consequence of more than one hundred years of intensive mining, Butte is part of the largest Environmental Protection Agency Superfund site in the United States. A $30,000 grant from the NEH allows KBMF-LP to produce a series of documentaries that explore Butte's century-old mining history. Another interview series, "Let's Talk Butte," airs local interviews and oral history excerpts that explore Butte's multicultural heritage. Additionally, KBMF-LP live broadcasts Butte-Silver Bow's weekly City Council meetings and five afternoons a week airs Native America Calling. KBMF-LP regularly updates an archive of past news programming.

Support

A non-commercial educational (NCE) station, KBMF-LP broadcasts 24/7 thanks to an avid volunteer DJ community, ongoing financial support from listeners (both terrestrial and streaming), and several grants. Grants to date have come from the

National Endowment for the Humanities The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...

(NEH), the

Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a US$25,000 gift from Edsel Ford. By 1947, after the death ...

, the Superfund Advisory and Redevelopment Trust (SARTA), BNSF Railway Foundation, Montana History Foundation, Staples Foundation, and others.

Media

Al Jazeera

Less than a year after KBMF-LP first began broadcasting, a team from Al Jazeera English traveled to Butte to interview members of the KBMF-LP team.

Standing Rock pipeline protests

During the fall and winter of 2016-17, KBMF-LP news team members traveled three times to the

Standing Rock Sioux The Standing Rock Reservation ( lkt, Íŋyaŋ Woslál Háŋ) lies across the border between North and South Dakota in the United States, and is inhabited by ethnic " Hunkpapa and Sihasapa bands of Lakota Oyate and the Ihunktuwona and Pabaks ...

reservation in North Dakota covering the Dakota Access Pipeline protests on the

reservation in North Dakota. KBMF-LP subsequently aired interviews with members of the

Oceti Sakowin The Sioux or Oceti Sakowin (; Dakota: /otʃʰeːtʰi ʃakoːwĩ/) are groups of Native American tribes and First Nations peoples in North America. The modern Sioux consist of two major divisions based on language divisions: the Dakota and ...

tribe, as well as academics, activists and researchers visiting the camp from around the world. Additionally, more than forty newspapers published a syndicated story by a KBMF-LP news team member that detailed actions by armed forces at Backwater Bridge on the night of November 20, 2016.

Nongoma, South African global partner

In an ongoing cultural exchange, Prince Sbo Zulu and three representatives of community radio station Nongoma-FM 88.3 in the

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

n province of KwaZulu-Natal have twice visited Butte, Montana spending several months each visit working at KBMF-LP and engaging in a state-wide cultural exchange. In 2017-18, four representatives of KBMF-LP subsequently visited Nongoma for two months, working with the African station and learning about Zulu culture and aspirations. KBMF-LP and Nongoma-FM continue to share a dedication to ongoing community education and empowerment in the name of social justice.

Historic preservation

KBMF-LP and BAmF are headquartered at the Carpenters' Union Hall, the oldest operating labor temple in Montana. Built in 1906, at the peak of Butte's architectural heyday, the three-story building was in great disrepair. KBMF-LP and BAmF volunteers are gradually refurbishing the historic building."SARTA Grant Provides New Roof, New Glass for Carpenters Hall" "Butte America Foundation", July 19, 2018
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References

External links

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Official KBMF-LP website

Official Butte America Foundation website

KBMF-LP Programming Schedule

KBMF-LP webstream

Current & Past KBMF-LP Playlists

Official Nongoma-FM 88.3 website
{{Butte Radio Community radio stations in the United States BMF-LP BMF-LP Radio stations established in 2015 2015 establishments in Montana