Laura Knoll

KGOU has begun including severe weather and other messaging capabilities on mobile devices and other digital platforms. KGOU is one of 27 public radio stations participating in a nationwide project designed to increase locally relevant emergency information to “tornado alley.” KGOU now has the capability to issue text and graphic alerts on mobile phones, HD radios, “connected car” devices, Radio Data System (RDS) displays, and in online applications.

Since we began KGOU's fall fundraising campaign we've heard from many listeners who love this new approach we're taking, and others who aren't so crazy about it.

Most listeners get it–that this is the way public radio is funded: listeners donate to the local station and the local station pays for its operations and sends some to the networks, NPR and the others, for the rights to carry network shows.

How do we get that message to listeners in a way that won't make them want to (gasp) listen to another station, or turn off the radio altogether?

I apologize for that clickbait-y headline–as a public media connoisseur, you expect and deserve better. But I need your attention for an important announcement:

If you've been listening or reading this website for awhile, then you know that KGOU is actively raising money right now to fund our work into the future. You've heard or seen our pleas for you, the consumer, to invest in more of KGOU's service. Many of you have already answered, and if so, thank you.

But, being the curious type, you have questions. You might ask, "What are they going to spend my money on – beer and pizza? Office chairs with built-in massage? Solid gold paper clips? Limousines driving reporters to news stories?"

 UPDATED Sept. 15, 2016: KGOU has discontinued use of the streaming player described in this article. The current player in use is a product of Triton Digital.  For problems, please contact us.

UPDATED July 7, 2016: Anti-virus software installed on your computer can interfere with the new player. In particular, Sophos, the software used on University of Oklahoma computers, is known to interfere.

Original post:

KGOU's website is in transition today to a more mobile-friendly design, so that all the features available on KGOU.org can go with you wherever you go! This new "responsive" design optimizes the layout of each webpage according to the size of the viewer's screen.

The layout on a desktop or laptop computer has just a few changes -- the live audio stream is still accessible from the top of the screen, although now it's on the right side. The navigation bar underneath has just had a little facelift, and the news content flows underneath.

It's a day that we wish held no particular significance, but April 19, 1995 is etched in many Oklahomans' memory banks as the most horrific day in state history.

It started out as an ordinary day, or maybe some of us had plans to make it not so ordinary -- maybe a birthday or anniversary, a day off work or some other anticipated happening that would signify a break from routine.

If you documented any part of the tornadoes that devastated parts of Oklahoma in May of 2013 through still photography, KGOU is asking you to share your photos for possible inclusion in an exhibit marking the one-year anniversary.

Like most non-profits, KGOU relies on volunteers during the busiest times of the year -- specifically, during our membership drives. We have great volunteers, and we'd like to add to their numbers -- the more, the merrier! We have a good time, even though it does get really busy sometimes.

Here's your chance to help out KGOU and the greater listening community. And so, without further ado and with my tongue firmly planted in my cheek, here are our top ten reasons to sign up now:

Yes, I'm really going to compare public radio to a suspension bridge. They're very similar, don't you think?

And not just in the obvious ways.

It's easy to see that like a suspension bridge, public radio is a connector between communities, a way to get from Here to There, a conduit for the free exchange between points -- geographic or intellectual -- that seemed forever destined to be separated.

Now that the busy-ness has abated somewhat from April's membership drive, May's disastrous storms, and June's end of the fiscal year (where did June go?), I've had some time to look over the correspondence we've received from listeners and members.

It's no surprise that the bulk of it was regarding the programming changes brought on by NPR's decision to discontinue Talk of the Nation. Many listeners were saddened, and possibly even angry, just like Kathy:

If you're familiar with KGOU's student-produced public affairs program Assignment: Radio, then you already know we have some talented student broadcasters taking the university course known internally as Radio News.

But to banish any doubts, here's proof: In the National Broadcasting Society (Alpha Epsilon Rho) annual student competition, Assignment: Radio reporters won national awards for their work in 2012.

A One-Word Prompt

On Jan. 1, 1983, KGOU became a non-commercial public radio station. I barely noticed.

I should have noticed. After all, I was working at KGOU as a volunteer student broadcaster, and for the past year and a half I’d been dragging my sleep-deprived self out of bed at 6 a.m. (an hour most college students deemed unthinkable)  to write and deliver two five-minute newscasts each morning. Still, I didn’t pay much attention.