CORPORATION FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING STATION ACTIVITY SURVEY: LOCAL CONTENT & SERVICES REPORT

In this survey, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting collects information from public broadcasting stations about their operations so that the Corporation can advocate the interests of public broadcasting to Congress, the Federal Communications Commission and the American public; help stations and other public broadcasting organizations with planning and evaluation; study and anticipate industry-wide trends; and monitor the results of stations’ equal employment opportunity practices.

1. Describe your overall goals and approach to address identified community issues, needs, and interests through your station’s vital local services, such as multiplatform long and short-form content, digital and in-person engagement, education services, community information, partnership support, and other activities, and audiences you reached or new audiences you engaged.

KXCI Community Radio’s community goals as outlined in the KXCI Strategic Plan were developed in conjunction with our volunteer Community Advisory Board. These goals include informing listeners on local topics, events, and trends through broadcast and digital platforms, and creating additional programming that reflects the community’s diversity on multiple levels including ethnicity, age, and socioeconomics. Additionally, the KXCI Community Advisory Board is specifically tasked to further community outreach opportunities by identifying sponsorships and events in order to engage new audiences, especially under-represented communities.

In 2015 KXCI provided greater digital content including partnering with Radio Free America to provide archived audio broadcasts, developed a partnership with Brink Media and Wavelab to have regular video content of live performances and interviews, and developed additional digital-only programming to engage a more diverse audience geographically and demographically via digital platforms such as podcasts and providing content for Public Radio Exchange. We met the goals we set out to accomplish in 2015 and will expand on these accomplishments further in 2016.

KXCI continues its community outreach by supporting the many vibrant non-profit organizations in Southern Arizona through a robust public service announcement program that broadcasts over 10,000 public service announcements a year valued at $240,000 a year. KXCI broadcasts and digitally streams regular interviews with non-profits, educational institutions, community leaders, and experts on topics such as local cultural topics, women’s issues, water policy, environmental issues, sustainable living practices, local ecology, and scientific research at local educational institutions. KXCI has developed more effective digital platforms to make these interviews available after broadcast to the communities that these interviews serve, including partnerships to share content with non-profit and educational websites and venues. In 2016 KXCI will be improving our digital outreach further and greatly expanding content currently in development.

KXCI’s long-form public affairs programming on local political and cultural issues is made available to the community through broadcast and digitally through the podcast platform via our website, or through links to syndicated programming. KXCI’s public affairs programming produced locally includes “Broad Perspectives” that discusses issues and topics devoted entirely to women, “30 Minutes” that addresses political issues and vital local services in the community through interviews with local leaders, researchers, and non-profits, and a recent addition this year “Zona Politics” is an interview format show with renowned political journalist Jim Nintzel. KXCI has partnered with the University of Arizona to produce for broadcast “Speedway and Swan” that features the work of the Poetry Center, and for podcast “Fathoming Water: In-Depth Discussions” that features interviews with leading water policy managers, water educators, and environmental advocates. Additional engagement with under-represented audiences includes, special day-long broadcast programming for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, International Women’s Day, and Black History Month.

KXCI produces and features short-form programming about cultural and scientific issues. Science short-form programming promotes ecological awareness of the Sonoran Desert, responsibility to and appreciation for the local ecology when engaging in outdoor activities, and sustainable living through water harvesting, recycling, and community gardens. Cultural short-form programs include content that highlights local unpublished poets, independently produced films and local film festivals, and LGBTQ issues and stories to bring awareness to this underserved Tucson community. These short-form programs are broadcast and made available digitally.

KXCI’s educational outreach includes adult and youth educational services. KXCI is powered by our volunteers and KXCI staff train volunteers on use of broadcast equipment and software, podcasting, FCC rules and regulations, and media relations. Youth educational services include Summer Youth DJ Camps, for children ranging from ages 9-18 years. These classes engage a younger audience and teach important skills such as public speaking, enunciation, and the importance of volunteering in the community. As well, KXCI has a thriving internship program that recruits interns from local public and charter high-schools, as well as the University of Arizona. In 2016 KXCI will be taking on a greater educational role in our community with our partnership in the newly developed Community Media Center.

Diversity in music is paramount to KXCI’s regular music programming. Directives to our over 75 volunteer programmers include requirements for broadcasting music from different cultures and countries to engage Latino, Afro-Cuban, and Middle Eastern audiences as well as many others. KXCI is also fundamental to the growth and economic success of local musicians and local cultural development. Engagement with local musicians begins with the Local’s Only music program that features weekly performances and interviews with local musicians who perform a diversity of musical styles, and these interviews and performances are made available digitally through the podcast platform. Through the Local’s Only program KXCI identifies exemplary local music to include during our regular music mix AAA format programming, which is then reported to national charts. This gives Tucson and Southern Arizona musicians, greater legitimacy when developing connections to national media outlets.

 

2. Describe key initiatives and the variety of partners with whom you collaborated, including other public media outlets, community nonprofits, government agencies, educational institutions, the business community, teachers and parents, etc. This will illustrate the many ways you’re connected across the community and engaged with other important organizations in the area.

KXCI supports the culture and arts of Tucson by partnering with many non-profits to improve the quality and visibility of artists, organizations, and underrepresented populations that are supported by the arts. KXCI works with these communities to bring awareness to events and services. What follows is a handful of the work KXCI has done for cultural and art institutions in Tucson.

• Folk Festival: KXCI has broadcast the festival for 30 years and collaborated to produce it and preserve this unique event
• Jewish Community Center: KXCI has interviews every year with the Filmmakers and Festival producers of the Jewish Film Fest
• 24 Epic Bike Ride: KXCI live-DJs and sponsors this unique 24-hour mountain bike marathon through the Sonoran Desert
• Pima County Arts Council: KXCI sponsors the open studio tour, which gives aspiring artist a chance to gain visibility
• Southern Arizona Blues and Heritage Foundation: KXCI partners every year to bring concerts to Tucson as well as co-promoting and airing the Blues and Heritage Foundation Festival
• Loft Cinema: KXCI promotes awareness of the November Film Fest by interviewing film makers and has monthly interviews with the Loft personnel on the Friday drive time about the unique artist movies appearing that month
• Tucson Musicians Museum: KXCI airs interviews and performances to support this museum devoted to the musicians and artists who have shaped Tucson
• Tucson Museum of Art: KXCI airs interviews and runs PSAs for art exhibitions
• Museum of Contemporary Art: KXCI airs interviews and runs PSAs different art exhibitions, youth programs and Yoga at MOCA.
• University of Arizona Poetry Center: KXCI produces a show with the Poetry Center “Speedway & Swan” that is a biweekly hour long show featuring interviews with major poets and upcoming poets
• Reveille Men’s Chorus: KXCI supports this all-gay men’s chorus by promoting awareness through PSA’s and interviews
• Southern Arizona Arts and Cultural Association: KXCI is a partner with SAACA and promotes their activities with PSAs
• Rialto Foundation: KXCI supports this non-profit venue by creating awareness about their events, including interviews and performances by musical acts performing at the venue
• Brink media and Wavelab: KXCI has consulted and subcontracted with these two private arts companies in the new Community Media Center that will provide more educational and vocational opportunities for community members
• Jazz Festival: KXCI has been helping to develop and provide awareness of this emerging yearly festival that brings together a diverse audience with interviews, live performances and PSAs all while including a special Martin Luther King Day celebration which is free and open to the public.
• Home Preservation Tour: KXCI’s unique location in a historic downtown Amory Park home connects us with the unique architecture of Tucson and participates in the home tour and brings awareness of it through PSAs
• Many Mouths One Stomach: this non-profit is responsible for the uniquely Tucson All Souls Procession that gives close to 100,000 people a chance to openly share grief. KXCI partners with them for volunteer recruitment for this large event.

KXCI brings awareness of services to underrepresented people and to economically disadvantaged people and communities where radio is often their only media option. KXCI works with these communities to bring awareness to events and services. What follows is a handful of the work KXCI has done for service based organizations in Tucson.

• Food Bank of Southern Arizona: KXCI provides regular interview opportunities and PSAs
• YWCA: KXCI partners on many YWCA events including, co-promoting events, publicizing their work force and leadership programs for women and supporting their series on racism
• Southern Arizona Community Foundation: KXCI brings awareness to the Adopt Love Adopt Local event that brings together local rescue organizations for a major adopt-a-thon for animals in need of homes.
• Alliance Fund: KXCI works with this non-profit that supports the LGBTQS community on the production of the mini-program “Outloud and Proud!”
• National Alliance for Mental Illness: KXCI brings awareness of their annual NAMI walk
• United Way: KXCI runs PSAs for their tax assistance program
• Women’s Foundation of Southern Arizona: KXCI participates in the annual luncheon and runs PSAs to raise awareness about UNIDAS young woman’s program.

KXCI partners with various educational organization for various ages and communities. KXCI works with these communities to bring awareness to events and services. What follows is a handful of the work KXCI has done for educational organizations in Tucson.

• Literacy Connects: KXCI support in this area includes promoting the work of Literacy Connects, a newly merged agency in our community that brings together five separate literacy organizations under one umbrella, as well as a sponsorship of the Tucson Festival of Books, the largest book festival in the country, whose proceeds support literacy in the community
• Pima County Library: KXCI ran PSAs for Love of Reading Week, and special series on LGBTQS author events.
• Water Resources Research Center: KXCI has partnered with WRRC in producing the “Fathoming Water” podcast series that provides education about water issues and policy
• Reid Park Zoo: KXCI was a media partner in support of ZOOcson and the Summer concert series to encourage more education about the environment
• Confluence Center for Creative Inquiry: KXCI is media partner on many of their educational events throughout the year that partners students and professors in an engaging atmosphere.
• Educational Enrichment Foundation: KXCI partnered to bring awareness of their annual spelling bee to raise funds for services for at risk students.
• City High: KXCI maintains a regular intern program with the charter school and KXCI staff give guest lectures and assist in projects.
• University Biological Research Program: KXCI partnered to produce the mini-program “Thesis Thursday” that highlights the research done by University of Arizona undergraduate science students Dr. Carol Bender brings students to KXCI weekly.
• Sustainable Walking Tour: KXCI has solar panels to promote awareness of sustainable activities and participates and runs PSAs for the tour.

Governmental and Economic: KXCI works with these communities to bring awareness to events and services. What follows is a handful of the work KXCI has done for governmental and economic growth institutions in Tucson.

• Downtown Tucson Partnership: KXCI has joined their efforts in revitalizing downtown by publicizing downtown gift cards that encourage economic activity. KXCI also spreads awareness about summer kids camps digitally and through broadcast
• Hispanic Chamber of Commerce: KXCI has a media partnership with the Chamber and attends and co-promotes events
• Pima County Association of Governments: KXCI co-hosts events for Cyclovia, which advocates for bike riding and pollution reduction
• City of Tucson: KXCI collaborates on community events to increase awareness of the new modern street car and the benefits of public transportation
• 10 West Fest: KXCI held interviews, partnered with and ran PSAs to bring awareness of the Start Up Tucson festival showcasing Tucson as a design, tech, and economic hub.
• Social Venture Partners: KXCI partnered with SVP on their Fast Pitch program to bring awareness to local non-profits about this unique grant and professional development program
• Arizona Alliance of Non-Profits: KXCI is a proud member and participant in Arizona Gives day.

 

3. What impact did your key initiatives and partnerships have in your community? Describe any known measurable impact, such as increased awareness, learning or understanding about particular issues. Describe indicators of success, such as connecting people to needed resources or strengthening conversational ties across diverse neighborhoods. Did a partner see an increase in requests for related resources? Please include direct feedback from a partner(s) or from a person(s) served.

KXCI’s greatest strength and primary impact is bringing awareness of community needs by sharing our partners’ messaging with the community. This runs the gamut from spreading the word about the Southern Arizona AIDS foundation to volunteer recruitment for the All Souls Procession. Through on-air interviews we initiate community diversity and wide conversations about a vision and direction for our greater community. KXCI’s newest mini-program “Outloud and Proud!” gives LGBTQS community members a chance to share their stories. While KXCI’s “Thesis Thursdays” gives University of Arizona undergraduate science students a chance to share their research and disseminates relevant research that is ongoing in Tucson and Southern Arizona. Our engagement with our partners includes conversations about multicultural education, border and immigration issues, poverty, public health, and literacy.

A majority of our partners report either growth in their existing events or solid results with first time projects after partnering with KXCI. We continue to be seen as a first choice media partner for many festivals, events and community service projects. The partnerships and initiatives KXCI supports in Tucson and Southern Arizona are focused on making Tucson and Southern Arizona a healthier, more dynamic, and more culturally diverse place for people of all ethnicities, ages, and socioeconomic classes to thrive. Below are excerpts of direct communications we have had with partners and persons served:

 

Tucson Urban Leauge, Inc.

April 21, 2015

“Thank you very much for all of the support that KXCI provides to the community including your in-kind support of local non-profits. Tucson Urban League considers KXCI as a valuable media source. We appreciate the 56 public service announcements about the Tucson Urban League Equal Opportunity Day Awards Dinner with an in-kind value of $1120 and 28 minutes worth of programming time. Your in-kind support in getting the message out into the community about the event helped to make the Tucson Urban League Equal Opportunity Day Awards Dinner a success.

Deborah Embry, President and CEO and Tina L. Johnson, Development Director”

 

Literacy Connects

June 16, 2015

“Thank you for your donation of 112 PSA toward Literacy Connects, resulting in approximately 56 minutes of airtime. Please know that through your support, you are investing in the future of our community. Education opens all sorts of doors. Your generous contribution allows individuals in our community to walk through some of those doors. Thank you so much for extending your love of literacy and creativity to others through your support.

Betty Stauffer, Executive Director”

 

Reid Park Zoo

July 15, 2015

“Thank you so much for supporting Summer Safari Friday Nights. Your generous partnership helped raise over $35,000 net which benefits our education programs to over 50,000 area schoolchildren, worldwide conservation efforts and improvements to the Zoo for our animals and visitors.

Gail Brown, Director of Events & Marketing”

 

Handi-Dogs, Inc.

October 29, 2015

“On behalf of our students, staff, volunteers, and Board of Directors, I would like to thank KXCI Community Radio for the very generous donation of 28 minutes of programming time with a value of $1120.00, for our Dogtoberfest 2015 event. Your support makes it possible for Handi-Dogs, Inc. to spend more of our funds helping individuals with disabilities train their own dogs to be their service partner. Service dogs make a tremendous difference in the lives of many people, and through your generosity, they will continue to do so.

Jo-Ann Turnbull, President/CEO”

 

Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation

November 5, 2015

“Thank you for your generous gift of 56 public service announcements, equal to 28 minutes of programming time for SAAF’s 27th Annual AIDSWALK Arizona/Tucson 2015, which took place Sunday, October 11, 2015 in Downtown Tucson. Your donation really does make a difference, allowing SAAF to provide basic needs to hundreds of individuals and families affected by HIV/AIDS, and to educate at-risk populations to make choices that keep their lives free from HIV/AIDS.

Ethan Smith Cox, Director of Development”

 

Tucson Interfaith HIV/AIDS Network (TIHAN)

December 31, 2015

“It is with much gratitude that we thank you for your generous contributions throughout 2015 in support of TIHAN including 84 minutes of public service announcements and a one year KXCI membership. TIHAN reaches thousands of people through our education and awareness programs in congregations throughout southern Arizona. We have trained CareTeam volunteers who have provided thousands of hours of compassionate assistance to people living with HIV/AIDS in Tucson. TIHAN has also served hundreds through Poz Café, our monthly lunch and social program for HIV+ persons, as well as through our weekly Poz Breakfast program. We do all this – and more – with a minimal paid staff, 200 wonderful volunteers, and a modest budget, all because of generous donors like you who make this possible.

Scott Blades, Executive Director”

 

Arizona Chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility

January 31, 2016

“We would like to express our gratitude to you for your co-sponsorship of our ‘Climate Smart Southwest’ conference, which drew 450 people from our community. Your contribution played a big part in making this happen and in funding our ability to carry on the work that has been guided by that conference. Since the conference our workshop participants have continued to meet and work in several areas. The most active and productive area has been the one addressing ‘Building Resilient Neighborhoods to Extreme Weather Events’, especially heat related as we would expect in our region. Thanks again for your support!

Barbara H. Warren, MD, MPH, Director of Physicians for Social Responsibility, AZ”

 

4. Please describe any efforts (e.g. programming, production, engagement activities) you have made to investigate and/or meet the needs of minority and other diverse audiences (including, but not limited to, new immigrants, people for whom English is a second language and illiterate adults) during Fiscal Year 2015, and any plans you have made to meet the needs of these audiences during Fiscal Year 2016. If you regularly broadcast in a language other than English, please note the language broadcast.

The refugee situation globally is a very serious issue and its affects are felt here in Tucson and Southern Arizona. Tucson has a growing refugee population in need of services. By working with our local State Senator Steve Farly and local non-profits we are currently developing programming for 2016 that allows refugees to tell their stories and share relevant support services. As well, KXCI’s partnership with the Tucson Festival of Books and Literacy Connects supports second language and illiterate adults.

Located in Southern Arizona, KXCI engages regularly with the Hispanic community and Spanish speakers. KXCI show producers host specialty programming on Cezar Chavez Day and partners with the All Souls Procession, that while primarily drawing on Mexican heritage brings together the grieving cultures of populations all over the world. KXCI supports all efforts leading up to the day of, and the final All Souls Procession event. KXCI devotes four hours of programming a week to solely Latino music and the Hispanic DJs broadcast some portions of their programming in Spanish. The regular Music Mix daytime programming includes a great variety of Latino artists, as well as Afro-Cuban, Middle Eastern and many other artists of different ethnicities. KXCI’s specialty program called “Rez Radio” is focused on Native American Rock, Rap, Reggae and Waila Music, which is a localized and very specific Southwest style of music also referred to Chicken Scratch.

KXCI’s weekly public affairs program “Broad Perspectives” is a show that discusses issues and topics devoted entirely to women and opens up the microphone to women of all races to discuss issues important to furthering women’s rights in an engaging interview format. Additional engagement with under-represented audiences includes special day-long programming for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Stonewall Day, International Women’s Day, and Black History Month, which includes voices from the community often speaking directly to their peers.

KXCI’s weekly public affairs program “30 Minutes” addresses political issues and focuses on providing content to minority audiences. Below are some of the most relevant episodes that address the needs of minority and underserved audiences.

Air Date: October 5, 2014

Borderlands Productions, Queer Migra- tions, and Counter Movements: Eithne Luibhéid, University of Arizona Professor of Gender and Women’s Studies and Director of Undergraduate Studies; Adela C. Licona, Associate Professor and Director of the Rhetoric, Composition, and the Teaching of English program at the University of Arizona. She is a member of the Faculty Advisory Committee for the UA Institute for LGBT Studies. She is affiliated faculty in Gender and Women’s Studies, Mexican American Studies, and the Frances McClelland Institute for Children, Youth, and Families. Panelists Adela C. Licona, Eithne Luibhéid, and Karma C. Chávez explore how ongoing border policing shapes the experiences, struggles, and counter-movements of migrants, people of color, and queer activists.

Air Date: October 26, 2014 Our Sacred Maíz Is Our Mother: Indigeneity and Belonging in the Americas: Dr. Roberto Cintli Rodriguez, Assistant Professor University of Arizona Department of Mexican American Studies. Features an interview with Dr. Roberto Cintli Rodriguez author of Our Sacred Maiz is Our Mother: Indigeneity and Belonging in the Americas from UA Press. He will speak at a book signing at the Arizona State Museum on October 29, 2014 along with Dr. Patrisia Gonzales, author of Red Medicine. Rodriguez provides a highly unique and multifaceted account of the ways in which de-Indigenized communities have managed to preserve and pass on knowledge of their traditions across centuries.

Air Date: November 9, 2014 Missing Migrant Project, Corazon de Justicia Awards: Derechos Humanos Missing Migrant Project coordinator, board member and spokesperson Isabel Garcia. Interview about their work and the upcoming 10th Corazón de Justicia Awards Dinner, Saturday Nov. 15 at El Casino Ballroom. Derechos Humanos will honor 11 Tucson activists who have demonstrated their “heart of justice” through their work in the community to make Tucson a more just and equitable place for all of us. The event features dinner and live music with cumbia/ska band Santa Pachita!

Air Date: November 23, 2014 Trails of Hope and Terror: Tucson Samaritans volunteer Michael Hyatt and No More Deaths volunteer Jim Marx. The two Southern Arizona humanitarian aid organizations present a screening of Vincent De La Torre’s newly released film Trails of Hope and Terror on Thursday, December 4 at 7:00pm at the Loft Cinema. The film explores the plight of undocumented Latin American immigrants from their perspectives. The story is based on the book Trails of Hope and Terror written by the filmmaker’s father, Dr. Miguel A. De La Torre, Professor of Social Ethics and Latino/a Studies at Iliff School of Theology in Denver, Colorado.

Air Date: January 11, 2015 Black Life Matters Conference: Monica J. Casper, UA’s Department of Gender and Women’s Studies head; April Petillo, Ph.D. candidate in American Indian Studies; and Matice Moore, Program Director for UA African American Student Affairs. The UA Department of Gender and Women’s Studies, The Feminist Wire, Lehigh University, the Human Rights Campaign and more than 30 units across the UA campus are sponsoring the Black Life Matters Conference, which will be held January 15th-17th in Tucson. The Black Life Matters Conference, which is free and open to the public, will be held Jan. 15 and 16 in the South Ballroom of the Student Union Memorial Center, 1303 E. University Blvd; on Jan. 17, the conference will be held at the Dunbar Cultural Center, 325 W. Second St.

Air Date: February 22, 2015 African Latinas in Colonial Arizona: Scholar and story teller Dr. Michael Engs tells little known stories about African Latinas in colonial Arizona. He is co-owner of Arizona Heritage Tours. He is also a volunteer with the Tucson Presidio Trust. He strives to bring the history of Black people and their extensive contributions to the settlement of the southwest to a broader audience. The mission of Arizona Heritage Tours LLC is to bring to light the lesser known contributions of African/Latino Americans in the Southwest region from 1538-1916. This intent is actualized through the presentation of “living history lectures” by the renowned scholar Dr. Michael S. Engs with assistance from a talented variety of role playing actors; visual image slide shows of noteworthy African/Latino American figures that have thrived in the Southwest; and tours of various Arizonan historical sites.

Air Date: March 1, 2015 50 Years: Civil Rights in Arizona from 1963 to Today: Former Tucson vice mayor and retired Tucson Unified School District principal Charles Ford, Ph.D.; and Native Tucsonan and president of the Dunbar Coalition and Cressworth Lander weighed in on the civil rights movement in Tucson. On January 15, 2013 The University of Arizona Library Special collections unveiled a new exhibition which reflects on 50 years of civil rights in Tucson communities. “50 Years: Civil Rights in Arizona from 1963 to Today” is on display now through August 30th. This exhibit was curated by Librarian Bob Diaz who is also the host of KXCI’s Chicano Connections.

Air Date: March 29, 2015 Growing Up Latino in the United States- Memoirs: Red-Inked Retablos author Rigoberto Gonzalez and Walking Home Growing Up Hispanic in Houston author Sarah Cortez. Growing Up Latino in the United States- Memoirs from the 2014 Festival of Books features Red-Inked Retablos author Rigoberto Gonzalez and Walking Home Growing Up Hispanic in Houston author Sarah Cortez reading from their memoirs and discussing how their writing chronicles cultural and spiritual heritages, identities and personal journeys. The panel was moderated by Toby Wehner. This is part one of a two-part series. This segment was recorded on March 15, 2014 and was originally broadcast on April 13, 2014. This panel was hosted by Pima County Public Library’s Nuestras Raíces Tent at the 2014 Tucson Festival of Books. Nuestras Raíces’s mission is: Celebrating Mexican-American Authors, Arts and Culture.

Air Date: May 10, 2015 Panza Monologues: The Panelists are Virginia Grise and Irma Mayorga, creators of The Panza Monologues. This is the first half of the presentation. Moderator: Margie Farmer. Features a panel from the Pima County Public Library’s Nuestras Raices Pavillion at the 2015 Tucson Festival Books called The Panza Monologues: Book Reading and Platica. The Panza Monologues feature the words of Chicanas speaking with humor and candor about their panzas. The Panza Monologues is an original performance piece based on women’s stories about their panzas. Tu sabes – that roll of belly we all try to hide. Conceived from kitchen table conversations and chisme and compiled from interviews of Chicanas of all ages, places, and spaces, these stories create a quilt of poignancy, humor, and revelation. Performed in monologue format and riffing on Eve Ensler’s play The Vagina Monologues, The Panza Monologues boldly places the panza front and center as a symbol that reveals the lurking truths about women’s thoughts, lives, loves, abuses, and lived conditions.

Air Date: July 26, 2015 Detained and Deported: The event featured readings by author Margaret Regan and music by Pablo Peregrina. Features excerpts from the closing celebration of Raices Taller‘s July 2015 exhibition “Chubasco” – a tribute to Tucson’s annual monsoon season. The event featured readings by author Margaret Regan and music by Pablo Peregrina. Margaret Regan read from her book “Detained and Deported”. The award-winning investigative reporter’s new book is an intimate look at the people ensnared by the U.S. detention and deportation system — the largest in the world. Drawing on years of reporting in the Arizona-Mexico borderlands, journalist Margaret Regan tells their poignant stories. Regan demonstrates how increasingly draconian detention and deportation policies have broadened police powers, while enriching a private prison industry whose profits are derived from human suffering. She also documents the rise of resistance, profiling activists and young immigrant “dreamers” who are fighting for the rights of the undocumented. Margaret Regan is the author of the award-winning book The Death of Josseline: Immigration Stories from the Arizona Borderlands, a 2010 Southwest Book of the Year. An editor and writer at the Tucson Weekly, Regan has won many regional and national prizes for her immigration reporting. Pablo Peregrina is a troubadour by trade. The Sonoran-born Peregrina has released 2 CD’s of original music – “Border Stories and Songs” and “Traveling Soles”. As a human rights activist and volunteer Pablo strives to create awareness through music.

Air Date: August 16th, 2015 Nations International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples: Executive Director Jose Matus talks about the origin of the Indigenous Alliance without Borders. He is a Yaqui Ceremonial Elder and Leader of the Yaqui Community of the City of South Tucson’s Barrio Libre. In 1997, the Indigenous Alliance Without Borders came together as a result of persistent law enforcement abuse against indigenous peoples living in the southern United States and Mexico border region; James Anaya is a Regents Professor and the James J. Lenoir Professor of Human Rights Law and Policy at the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law, where he teaches and writes in the areas of international human rights, constitutional law, and issues concerning indigenous peoples. He is also the former United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. On August 9, 2015 the local group Alianza Indigena Sin Fronteras celebrated 18 years of promoting respect for Indigenous Peoples by hosting an event in honor of the United Nation’s International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples.

Air Date: August 23rd, 2015 50th Anniversary of the Voting Rights Act: Congressman Grijalva, followed by former Ombudsman for Pima County on Aging Stewart Grabel, and Attorney Vince Rabago. On August 6th, 1965, President Johnson signed the voting rights act. Here in Tucson, Congressman Raul Grijalva convened an event entitled Keeping The Promise, A Community Panel on the Voting Rights Act at the Tucson YWCA. Speakers discussed the promise it continues to hold for countless Americans, and the ongoing efforts to undermine that promise 50 years after it became law. Speakers include Congressman Grijalva, followed by former Ombudsman for Pima County on Aging Stewart Grabel, and Attorney Vince Rabago.

 

5. Please assess the impact that your CPB funding had on your ability to serve your community. What were you able to do with your grant that you wouldn’t be able to do if you didn’t receive it?

Our funding from the CPB makes it possible for KXCI to focus our energy on serving our mission and our community. KXCI’s mission is to connect the communities of Tucson and Southern Arizona to each other, and to the world, with informative, engaging and creative community-based radio programming. Our goals, which include informing listeners on local topics, events, and trends through broadcast and digital platforms, and creating additional programming that reflects the community’s diversity on multiple levels such as ethnicity, age, and socioeconomics. These are all dependent upon CPB grants. Through our volunteer orientations, educational services such as our Youth DJ Summer Camp, Adult DJ Training classes and internships we develop diverse and independent voices in order to promote civic and cultural participation in the greater community.

Without CPB funding we would not be able to achieve our mission and goals, throughout Tucson and Southern Arizona. Our non-profit partners would be left without a media voice and would be significantly negatively affected.

KXCI operates on a very slim budget of approximately $600,000 a year and manages to create a vibrant station and community resource with only four full time employees currently, and a small handful of part-time employees and interns. Any fewer employees and the basic necessities of running a radio station would not be fulfilled. Our revenue sources include membership, underwriting and grants, if one of these revenue sources falls short,  KXCI would not able to provide the community with 24-hour programming or all the community outreach and engagement we provide. In 2016 CPB money is essential to completing KXCI’s goal to provide greater digital content including archived audio broadcasts, video content of live performances and interviews, and additional digital-only programming to engage a more diverse audience geographically and demographically via digital platforms. This is especially true for 2016 as the Arizona Commission on the Arts Grants Budgets has been aggressively defunded by the current state legislature.

The CPB grant makes everything the station does possible including our event sponsorships of other cultural and community organizations, as well as our ability to host local and national musicians. We view collaboration as a key element in significantly increasing impact despite limited resources. CPB support keeps us focused on our mission, our audience and most importantly our community. Specifically, this grant allows us to hire expertise to accomplish smarter membership fundraising in order to reduce the overall number of hours of fundraising creating more space for engaging, creative and diverse programming. In addition to helping to provide security and stability for our small station, the CPB support is leveraged in seeking other grant opportunities. Without the CPB the diversity of community programming across the country would be in peril. Frankly speaking the accountability of completing this report allows us to review our successes and initiates the discussion of how we can improve. As we like to say at KXCI with the power of the microphone the possibilities are endless, and thanks to the CPB we can open our microphone to all. KXCI is thankful that the CPB provides so much to stations like ours.