Latino Public Radio Consortium

It takes a village to raise a child & a public media community to return our Puerto Rico public media stations back on-air.

From Coast Alaska to WNYC in New York, to entities supporting public broadcasters like CPB, NPR, National Association of Hispanic Journalists, NFCB, United for Community Radio,  Greater Public, RecNet, Prometheus Radio, WMFE and LPRC member stations like WLCH in Lancaster, PA, WDNA in Miami, KSVR in Mt. Vernon, WA to Radio Bilingüe in California and many more have been providing support via LPRC to ensure our Puerto Rico member stations can get back on-air.  THANK YOU!  And GRACIAS to our Donors who have & continue to support the Go Fund Me campaign!

Many professionals & stations in the public media community, recognizing that the recovery to normalcy may be long,  have asked “how can we help?”   LPRC in leading the charge for its Puerto Rico stations is in constant communication with them as we define short & long-term needs as follows:

• Radio-to-Go Kits, Diesel & Generators:  Short-term, LPRC worked closely with CPB, Coast Alaska, & WNYC to deliver a radio to go kit to WIPR to restore its FM signal.  We are working to deliver the same to WRTU as Coast Alaska is providing their last radio-to-go kit.  Issues are shipping logistics & a generators.  Any support is appreciated.
• Other Equipment:  Long-term we know repairs & new equipment is needed. Various stations have offered equipment and tried to contact our Puerto Rico stations directly.  LPRC created this this worksheet for stations to list equipment being offered.  LPRC has and is working towards obtaining a full assessment of damage from each station. We will touch base with each station where identified equipment is needed.
• Engineers: We are working with several who are volunteering their time as engineering issues arise.
• FCC: LPRC is working on the re-packing issue on behalf of our stations to move them from Phase 3 to Phase 1.  All insights are appreciated.
• Jobs: We have Puerto Rican station employees that have been forced to leave Puerto Rico and are sending their resumes to LPRC.  Please email your stations’ job postings.  We will post on our Jobs Page to share with our stations and those  individuals contacting us.  please consider these displaced individuals in your interview processes.
• Promote our GoFundMe fundraiser by posting on your website, newsletters, re-tweeting LPRC daily social media posts
• Donate & encourage other to donate to the GoFundMe Campaign

STATUS UPDATE OF LPRC’S PUERTO RICO MEMBER STATIONS

Stations On-Air:

WIPR -AM‘s signals is able to reach the majority of the Island and they are currently on-air within the Island and online. They are working to get TV broadcast back up in the coming days and LPRC is working closely to ensure this can happen.

WIPR-FM:  Thanks to the collaborative work with Coast Alaska, CPB & WNYC we expect for WIPR-FM’s signal to be restored within one to two weeks.  This is a short-term measure as a complete assessment is executed.  LPRC is working directly with WIPR management & engineers to ascertain & devise restoration plans. WIPR-TV would be the next signal we would be working to help them return to air.

Casa Pueblo is on-air throughout the day and its biggest need is cash to continue to purchase diesel.  In addition, Casa Pueblo has been entrenched in the community and leading the way with solar lamps being distributed to its local communities.  Felicitaciones for their great community work!

Working to Get On-Air

WRTU-Radio Universidad:  They are working to get on-air, have confirmed they have signal and LPRC is working to get the radio-to-go kits, generator & satellite phone so they can extend their reach to the southwest (Mayaguez, PR.) part of the island.  This area is currently without any public media communications and thus vital to the Puerto Rico communities.

Sistema TV the situation is more difficult since roads to their towers are blocked and damage to towers has not yet been assessed. We know they are working to get back on-air and we are in communication with them.

Radio Vieques is regrouping after the storm.  We are waiting on damages updates from Culebra on the status of their antenna/transmitter.  LPRC is working on radio-to-go kits, generators & satellite phones. Shipping logistics are another challenge to consider.

ALL SUPPORT IS NEEDED: gf.me/u/c5kz45