Last week, Congress took back $1.1 billion that had already been approved for public media. More than 10% of WYXR’s annual budget — about $84,000 this year, with the expectation it would grow — just disappeared.

WYXR had only recently qualified to be considered as a grantee, a process that took years of research, numerous arduous phone calls, and several revisions to our grant proposals.

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We’re a community station that launched in October 2020 at the height of the pandemic when Memphis needed connection more than ever. Back then, we couldn’t gather in person. But we dared to gather on the airwaves. Four years later, we’re back in rooms together — listening to rare Memphis records at our Stereo Sessions, honoring the unsung local heroes behind the music at the Dowd Awards, bringing our heritage to the stage at Raised By Sound Fest, and hosting more than a dozen free community events each year.

WYXR’s impact extends beyond our signal at 91.7 FM, our app, and our website. Memphians of all walks of life use our programs as an outlet to hear themselves, discover one another, and feel part of a larger creative ecosystem.

The federal grant Congress rescinded wasn’t a windfall. It was the result of years of work by a lean team and more than 100 volunteer DJs — people who poured time, ideas, and sweat equity into proving WYXR is legitimate, accountable and mission-driven. Qualifying for the federal funds took planning, compliance, documentation and a lot of trust that the effort would pay off.

“At this moment, when so much feels divisive or distant, creativity is how we meet one another halfway. ”

Now, with the stroke of a pen, the funds are gone — and we are left with a choice: let that effort be in vain or turn back to the community that helped us build this station in the first place.

WYXR is entering its fifth year this October. Those federal funds we lost were set aside to help us grow, not just survive: to expand our programming on-air and off, make our events bigger and more accessible, deepen our educational work with students, and offer more opportunities for Memphis artists to be interviewed, recorded live, and heard around the world.

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Without that support, those plans slow down — or stall. The people who feel it first are those with the least access to platforms: emerging musicians, young creatives and neighborhoods that don’t get covered by traditional media.

I know this personally. I co-founded WYXR after switching careers in my late forties because I believe in Memphis, its music and the power of a free, public artistic space. WYXR is that space. It’s where DJs craft shows from deep corners of our city’s record stacks.

It’s where a listener driving across Shelby County hears a song that makes them pull over and call the station because they’ve never heard it before. It’s where the high-schoolers who frequent our building can picture themselves behind the mic one day, hosting their own show.

Each semester, interns who are just a couple of years their senior get that very chance. And each week, an 85-year-old host approaches his program with the same wonderment and youthful glee. The feelings associated with self-expression aren’t fleeting. They last.

Public media funding matters because it lets stations like ours serve everyone, not just the people advertisers want to reach. It keeps us independent from any one interest. When that support is withdrawn, it doesn’t erase the need. It just shifts the burden onto the community.

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So we’re asking Memphis to act local in the face of a national pullback. WYXR needs to raise $84,000 to close this gap. We’re starting with the people who’ve proven, time and again, that they want this kind of place to exist.

If WYXR has informed you, moved you or helped you feel more connected to this city, we hope you are compelled to join our effort to make up for what we’ve lost in these federal funds by donating at wyxr.org. Monthly gifts — $5, $10, $20 — give us steady footing for the long term. If a one-time gift works better for you, that helps, too.

This isn’t about panic, blame or partisan finger-pointing. It’s about a community resource we’ve all invested in — through our time, our talent, our listening — and what it will take to keep it vibrant. Creativity is not a luxury.

At this moment, when so much feels divisive or distant, creativity is how we meet one another halfway. WYXR gathers artists, music lovers and Memphis-lovers on the air, online, and in person.

Behind that connection is a human team. And we all have a role to play. Jared Boyd, our Program Manager, spends his days curating DJs and mission-centric events, focusing on the ever-evolving goal of ensuring WYXR sounds and looks like the city we love.

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Liv Cohen, our Community Engagement and Events Lead, stitches together partnerships and builds member relationships; she helms Raised By Sound Fest, our biggest fundraiser and a free gift to the city in the form of outstanding live performances.

Mary Maxwell, our Development Manager, connects us with businesses and organizations that share our belief in the Memphis arts ecosystem.

Shelby McCall, our Operations Coordinator, keeps the air room running and polishes the audio so it hits your speakers clean. And beyond them are over a hundred volunteer DJs who bring their whole selves to every hour they host.

We earned this federal support by demonstrating our ability to utilize it effectively. Losing it overnight doesn’t erase that proof. It simply means we need to find an alternative approach. We still intend to deliver on every promise we made — to ourselves and to you.

It’s more than a dollar amount. It’s the feeling that someone promised to unlock the next chapter — and then left you staring at a closed door. We’re still committed to writing that chapter together. We’re calling on our public to help us craft a new, better adventure.

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Donate at wyxr.org. Let’s make sure the next time someone dials 91.7FM on their radio, what they hear is not silence, but the sound of a city that showed up for itself.

Editor’s Note: WYXR is a partnership between Crosstown Concourse, the University of Memphis and The Daily Memphian. As part of that partnership, Eric Barnes, the CEO of The Daily Memphian, serves on the board of Crosstown Radio Partnership, which owns and oversees WYXR.