I’m writing this from the kitchen table at the Cable House, with rare and treasured autumn sunlight pouring across the room. I can hear News Resident Ryan Cotter on the phone, wrapping up an interview that you’re sure to hear on Raven news tonight at 5:18pm. Alaska Public Media’s Line One Health Connection is on the radio, and Judy just arrived and is getting ready to bring you the best in folk music on Fiddlesticks.
It all feels and sounds very much like business as usual. But today, October 1, 2025, marks the first official day without federal funding for public media – including KCAW. When Congress rescinded federal funding, Raven Radio lost $178,595 this year and next. But you stepped up. Even before the rescission passed, donations began to pour in. New members joined, sustainers upped their gifts, and listeners rejoined or made extra emergency gifts – and the momentum is not stopping.
Every day, your contributions, your calls, and your support in so many ways tells us you want us not to just hold on, but to thrive. You want the excellence, joy, and connection that you count on from Raven Radio to continue.
Your pledge is a promise to us that you will keep standing with Raven Radio. Our promise in return is that when you turn on Raven Radio, you’ll get our best. No matter the time of day or night, we will be here – a voice in the dark, a guide in the storm, a friend when you need one.
We are here for you. And when I say “we,” I really do mean all of us. Not just our dedicated, talented staff – though they are incredible.
Raven Radio is a project of our entire community. It takes volunteers – those whose voices, stories, and songs you hear on air and those working behind the scenes to keep our community calendar, retail store, generators, water heater and so much more running.
It takes a Board of Directors who give generously of their time and wisdom to keep us focused on our mission. It takes local businesses, who support our programming because they value the ways it connects us all.
And it takes you.
As Rich McClear told me when I started: your program starts when the listener tunes in, and stops when they tune out. Every time you turn on Raven Radio, you are a part of it.
The radio you need is not guaranteed. But with you standing alongside us, we’ll be here.
Warmly,
Mariana Robertson
KCAW General Manager
