Community radio station should follow up with Tipton on why he likes rural radio and thinks Grand Junction could be model for national health care
One of the beautiful things about journalism is, you never know what someone will say when you throw a question at them, especially when you preface your question with factual background information.
For example, when just-elected Rep. Scott Tipton was interviewd by KVNF Community Radio in Paonia, the host posed a question with information that may have affected Tipton’s answer:
KVNF: “Our station receives about a third of our budget from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and that’s because we are a rural station. Urban stations, it’s more like 5 percent of their budgets or 10 percent of their budgets. But there has been a proposal to cut off funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which would have an effect on rural stations in Colorado, particularly this district. Do you have a position on Corporation for Public Broadcasting funding yet?”
Tipton: You know, we’ll take a look at that. I happen to have a little more empathy, obviously, for our rural stations, as opposed to urban stations, which have resources that they are able to draw from and other outside sources. A lot of our local public radio stations do provide a valuable service and serve our local communities. Will it be at the same amount? I don’t know. We’re all going to have to tighten our belts.
Unfortunately KVNF hasn’t aired a follow up interview with Tipton to discuss why he voted to defund CPB, once he got into Congress.
So I called the station and spoke with reporter/producer Ariana Brocious, who said:
I hadn’t thought about doing that, but maybe we will follow up with him and see how he’s going to act on our behalf.
It’s also worth asking Tipton what he meant when he told KVNF that the health care system in Grand Junction and Mesa Country could serve as a national health-care model.
You can watch for interviews with Tipton and others on KVNF’s website, and Brocious told me that KVNF is now podcasting its local news show, in addition to special interviews and programming, so it’s accessible to us flatlanders and anyone else who’s interested.