The future of Iowa Public Radio remains bright after the organization raised more than $8 million.
The Iowa City-based organization plans to expand its newsroom staff and upgrade its equipment just 17 months after becoming fully independent.
Initially, IPR set out to raise $6.5 million. More than 200 donors helped easily surpass that goal.
More than 200,000 listeners tune in to IPR throughout the week in the state of Iowa. The stations are now nearly entirely funded by listener donations after state lawmakers slashed its budget and the Regents voted to reduce IPR’s funding by 10%.
More:Johnson County’s arts and culture industry is an economic powerhouse, generating $32 million in 2022
Life as an independent
The Iowa State Board of Regents voted in 2022 to transfer the broadcast licensing for the stations from the state universities to IPR itself, marking independence for the media organization that is part of the National Public Radio network.
The station’s first big fundraising effort begins to “lay the foundation for the next 100 years of innovation and excellence,” IPR executive director Myrna JohnsonJohnson said.
The station plans to invest an additional $2 million in what Johnson called “journalism excellence,” including committing to partnerships for in-depth and investigative reporting and the aforementioned arts and culture expansion.
More:Mazahir Salih sworn in early for Iowa City council’s final two 2023 meetings
An eye on the future of journalism
The donations will help IPR grow its audience and in-depth and investigative reporting in addition to enhanced coverage of arts and culture.
Johnson said the campaign is focused on attracting both young and diverse journalists as well.
“We know that it’s super important to have a strong pipeline to bring more diversity to our team as well as to just ensure we have really strong, strong journalists in the pipeline to come work at IPR and other journalism organizations,” Johnson said.
The company will invest around $1 million for technological upgrades so IPR can broadcast to as many people as possible throughout the state of Iowa.
IPR also created a $3.5 million endowment fund before the campaign started to help eliminate fears of funding shortages, Johnson said. The endowment will likely have even more at its disposal once the dust settles.
The financial support is a testament to Iowa’s engagement and dedication to the future of the news in the state, Johnson said.
“I think what this shows is a strong commitment to ensuring there’s strong information so that we have strong communities and vibrant communities in our state,” Johnson said.
The free, always-available stations have broadcast across all of Iowa since 2004, including locations in Ames, Iowa City and Cedar Falls. IPR celebrated the 100-year anniversary of WOI in Ames and WSUI in Iowa City in 2022. Those stations were among the first in the country to receive radio broadcast licenses.
“It’s just so heartening to hear about and learn of this support here, for what we do, for Iowa Public Radio,” Johnson said. “It’s just so exciting to see the community really rally around the need for support for journalism and for IPR in particular.”
Ryan Hansen covers local government and crime for the Press-Citizen. He can be reached at[email protected] or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @ryanhansen01.