CHEYENNE—Wyoming Public Media supporter Richard Garrett cut right to the good news. 

Addressing fellow listeners who gathered on the birthday of an organization that dates back to the Lyndon B. Johnson administration, he applauded a budget amendment working its way through the Wyoming Senate. The amendment would restore roughly $1.7 million in state funding cut by Freedom Caucus-aligned lawmakers who drafted the budget ahead of the legislative session. 

Garrett hailed Sen. Ogden Driskill as a “hero” for proposing to restore Wyoming Public Media’s funding. 

“We’ve got about eight or nine more steps to go,” Garrett told 30 or so listeners who were being blasted by wind across the street from the Wyoming Capitol building. “It’s a very treacherous journey to make sure that this funding stays in place.” 

A few dozen Cheyenne residents turned out for the 60th birthday celebration and funding rally for Wyoming Public Media, a nonprofit that operates radio stations that keep residents apprised of goings-ons in Wyoming. (Mike Koshmrl/WyoFile)

As WyoFile was finalizing this story, the funding was still in flux. 

Casper Republican Rep. Elissa Campbell, who sports a 20-year-old Wyoming Public Radio sticker on the back of her truck, also spoke at the rally. (The sticker predates the outlet’s name shift to Wyoming Public Media to reflect its digital offerings.)

“I am proud to be an advocate, everywhere I drive,” Campbell said. “I know how important it is — it’s access to information.” 

Later that day, she sought to bring her own amendment to restore the funding in the Wyoming House of Representatives version of the budget bill. 

That one didn’t stick. After working well into the overnight hours, the House’s budget still lacked some $40 million in University of Wyoming funding, which includes the restored funding for Laramie-based Wyoming Public Media. (The University of Wyoming holds WPM’s license, though the station is editorially independent.)

But Driskill’s amendment went through, according to Wyoming Public Media General Manager Christina Kuzmych, restoring the nearly $1.7 million. The funding supports eight staff members, from news to engineering, at an organization that operates a network of FM radio stations all around Wyoming.

Whether it will remain is up to the Wyoming Legislature. Members of the House could still add the funding back in during the third reading of the budget bill, which starts Friday. If they don’t, the chambers will have to reconcile their differences.

For more legislative coverage, click here.

Mike Koshmrl reports on Wyoming's wildlife and natural resources. Prior to joining WyoFile, he spent nearly a decade covering the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem’s wild places and creatures for the Jackson...

Join the Conversation

5 Comments

WyoFile's goal is to provide readers with information and ideas that foster constructive conversations about the issues and opportunities our communities face. One small piece of how we do that is by offering a space below each story for readers to share perspectives, experiences and insights. For this to work, we need your help.

What we're looking for: 

  • Your real name — first and last. 
  • Direct responses to the article. Tell us how your experience relates to the story.
  • The truth. Share factual information that adds context to the reporting.
  • Thoughtful answers to questions raised by the reporting or other commenters.
  • Tips that could advance our reporting on the topic.
  • No more than three comments per story, including replies. 

What we block from our comments section, when we see it:

  • Pseudonyms. WyoFile stands behind everything we publish, and we expect commenters to do the same by using their real name.
  • Comments that are not directly relevant to the article. 
  • Demonstrably false claims, what-about-isms, references to debunked lines of rhetoric, professional political talking points or links to sites trafficking in misinformation.
  • Personal attacks, profanity, discriminatory language or threats.
  • Arguments with other commenters.

Other important things to know: 

  • Appearing in WyoFile’s comments section is a privilege, not a right or entitlement. 
  • We’re a small team and our first priority is reporting. Depending on what’s going on, comments may be moderated 24 to 48 hours from when they’re submitted — or even later. If you comment in the evening or on the weekend, please be patient. We’ll get to it when we’re back in the office.
  • We’re not interested in managing squeaky wheels, and even if we wanted to, we don't have time to address every single commenter’s grievance. 
  • Try as we might, we will make mistakes. We’ll fail to catch aliases, mistakenly allow folks to exceed the comment limit and occasionally miss false statements. If that’s going to upset you, it’s probably best to just stick with our journalism and avoid the comments section.
  • We don’t mediate disputes between commenters. If you have concerns about another commenter, please don’t bring them to us.

The bottom line:

If you repeatedly push the boundaries, make unreasonable demands, get caught lying or generally cause trouble, we will stop approving your comments — maybe forever. Such moderation decisions are not negotiable or subject to explanation. If civil and constructive conversation is not your goal, then our comments section is not for you. 

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  1. The day WPM is officially stripped of state support will be a truly shameful day for the crybaby Wyoming “Freedom Caucus.” Can’t go up against facts-based journalism? Strip it of its funding! This does not make Wyoming a better place to live

    Reply

  2. I’d like to thank senator Driskill and representative Campbell (along with the others supporting WPM who weren’t mentioned) for doing the right thing, at the right time for Wyoming.
    I reached out to my representative Tony Locke regarding this and never received anything in response. Judging by the silence I’m pretty sure where he stands on the matter and why he’ll never get my vote in future elections. Perhaps he was too busy cashing the check that Ms. Bextel gave him….

    Reply
  3. Reply

  4. It is such a small investment at the State level for such a huge return to the people of the State. WPR serves more people in the state than any other single news outlet. Most people receive TV stations from other states on their satellite services so it is important to have access to Wyoming news on Wyoming Public Television especially when the legislature is in session but also when they are in committee meetings too. I can’t choose which news station comes to me on my satellite service but they do provide me with Wyoming Public TV.
    WPM doesn’t just survive with the backing of the State. There are hundreds of people throughout Wyoming, and those who have relocated, that pledge financial support twice a year to keep WPM’s coverage strong. I am proud to be one of that legion. I support well rounded reporting on the issues of the day. I hope the legislature can see how important WPM is to the people of Wyoming.

    Reply

  5. Our political system is afraid that the truth, about their corruption, will get out to the public. They want to silence public radio and PBS because they tell the truth. Look around, even the largest media outlets are under the foot of the orange menace and his cadre of brown shirts. WAKE UP voters, let’s rid ourselves of them. If we don’t, we won’t know about their corruption, and the oligarchs will control our lives even more than they do now. Do you want your children to live under the conditions that this regime is trying to install.

    Reply