KBMF-LP

KBMF-LP (102.5 FM) is a non-commercial low-power community radio station that broadcasts terrestrially from a transmitter atop the historic Carpenters' Union Hall in Uptown Butte, Montana.

KBMF-LP
CityButte, Montana
Broadcast areaNorth to Walkerville, south to the Five Mile, west to Ramsay and east to the East Ridge
Frequency102.5 MHz
BrandingKBMF
SloganAmerica's Most Radio
Programming
Language(s)English
FormatFreeform; Community radio
Ownership
OwnerButte America Foundation
(Butte America Foundation)
History
First air dateJune 13, 2015 (2015-06-13)
Call sign meaningK Butte aMerica Foundation
Technical information
Facility ID192251
ClassL1
ERP0.1 kW
HAAT−23.3286 meters (−76.537 ft)
Links
WebcastListen live
Websitewww.butteamericaradio.org

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

Objectives

KBMF-LP supports community engagement, enrichment and education, as well as the preservation of Butte's cultural and historical heritage. To these ends, KBMF-LP provides the community with an open platform, access to radio production tools, and free training. The KBMF-LP news team produces two news hours each week, with every story vetted for fairness, accuracy and local interest. In keeping with KBMF-LP's freeform radio format, DJs showcase a wide variety of musical styles, all of their own choosing.

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, but the permit was awarded in January 2014.[1] 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 89.9 FM in Missoula, Montana, the college radio station for the University of Montana. 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 long history.

The Butte America Foundation board of directors at the time of KBMF-LP's launch included founding board president Amanda Curtis, as well as Ann Szalda-Petree, who would later become president of Missoula Community Radio. In keeping with the organization's mission, the radio station is a tool for educational use and functions as a forum to demonstrate the tenets of social justice, including open dialogue, the free exchange of ideas, and truthful, engaging news programming.

Programming

Music

In keeping with KBMF-LP's freeform format, the station's program schedule reflects the tastes of its more than 60 DJs, including but not limited to rock, hiphop, jazz, punk, indie, country, celtic, electronic, metal, and classical, as well as musical styles from all around the globe. Anyone can listen to past shows via KBMF-LP's archive.[2]

KBMF-LP also launched KBMF Presents, a YouTube series of recorded live music shows, as well as interviews with local and visiting artists.[3]

News

On Mondays and Tuesdays from 5 to 6 PM Mountain Time, KBMF-LP airs original hour-long news programs. Among the topics 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.[4]

A $30,000 grant from the NEH allows KBMF-LP to produce a series of documentaries that explore Butte's century-old mining history.[5] Another interview series, "Let's Talk Butte," airs local interviews and oral history excerpts that explore Butte's multicultural heritage.[6] Additionally, KBMF-LP live broadcasts Butte-Silver Bow's weekly City Council meetings and five afternoons a week airs Native America Calling.[7]

KBMF-LP regularly updates an archive of past news programming.[8]

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 (NEH), the Ford Foundation, the Superfund Advisory and Redevelopment Trust (SARTA),[9] 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.[10][11]

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 reservation in North Dakota covering the Dakota Access Pipeline protests on the Standing Rock Sioux reservation in North Dakota. KBMF-LP subsequently aired interviews with members of the Oceti Sakowin tribe, as well as academics, activists and researchers visiting the camp from around the world.[12][13] 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.[14]

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 African 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.[15][16] 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.[17][18] 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.[19][20] KBMF-LP and BAmF volunteers are gradually refurbishing the historic building.[21][22]

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References
  1. "New FM Radio Station to Air Butte-centric Programming", "Montana Standard", April 13, 2014.
  2. "KBMF Show Archive"
  3. "KBMF 102.5 FM Presents"
  4. "The Most Hazardous Waste Sites in the United States","Fortune", October 30, 2018
  5. "Butte indie radio station foundation receives $30,000 grant to create documentary series on Mining City history","Montana Standard", August 10, 2017
  6. "Let's Talk Butte"
  7. "Native America Calling"
  8. "KBMF News Archive"
  9. "Superfund Advisory and Redevelopment Trust Grants"
  10. "Butte Radio - Al Jazeera", "Al Jazeera English", May 19, 2016
  11. "Al Jazeera English Visits Local Nonprofit Radio Station", "Montana Standard", May 18, 2016.
  12. "KBMF's Standing Rock Coverage"
  13. "KBMF Standing Rock Documentary"
  14. Eyewitnesses to injury at Standing Rock conflict with police account; law enforcement deny using grenades""Montana Standard", November 23, 2016
  15. "African prince conquers skepticism, forges radio alliance with Butte's KBMF", "Montana Standard", October 9, 2017
  16. "After eventful, eye-opening stay, Zulus say farewell to Butte", Montana Standard", August 17, 2017
  17. "Nongoma to Butte and back: KBMF staffers visit South African sister station", "Montana Standard", March 4, 2018
  18. "Photos: KBMF staffers from Butte visit sister station in South Africa", "Montana Standard", March 5, 2018
  19. "Union Hall in Peril", November 3, 2011
  20. "Carpenters' Union Hall in Jeopardy", "Butte History Blog" May 4, 2012
  21. "Carpenters Hall Renovation Continues with Window Work", February 26, 2018
  22. "SARTA Grant Provides New Roof, New Glass for Carpenters Hall" "Butte America Foundation", July 19, 2018
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