Latino Public Radio reaches out to Government Officials for support to save the Radio Station

CRANSTON- Reynaldo Almonte, CEO, President and General Manager of Latino Public Radio (LPR) is making a direct appeal to Elected Officials in Rhode Island to support the station’s efforts to stay on the air at 1290 AM. The station is slated to go off the air on the radio after negotiations with Rhode Island Public Radio (RIPR) and the prior board members fell apart.  He states “Latino Public Radio is a vital tool for our community to stay informed on important information and for our government leaders to disseminate that information to Latino listeners.”

Latino Public Radio is requesting that the Attorney General intervene in this situation by invoking the Public Radio Conversions Act, which was enacted in Rhode Island in 2004, to prevent the sale of a nonprofit public radio to a private, for-profit or commercial organization.  They are also asking other elected officials throughout Rhode Island for their public support and for them to call the Attorney General to encourage the implementation of the Act to stop RIPR from removing the station from the radio.

Almonte is appealing directly to Governor Gina Raimondo to “Prevent RIPR from destroying the only not for profit Latino radio station serving our community.  Latino Public Radio is an essential member of our community, it would be disastrous to lose their station of choice.”

Since Latino Public Radio is based in Cranston, Almonte is also requesting that Mayor Allan Fung also support the station by personally calling the Attorney General to voice his support to save the station.  “Mayor Fung is a frequent guest on our station and he understands the value of using our station to get important information out to our community.” said Almonte

In addition to these efforts, the situation has attracted the attention of Rhode Island’s Black and Latino Caucus at the State House and they have convened a meeting this afternoon to discuss on how to save the station.

“Together we can make our voices heard and ensure that future generations of Latinos have access to quality public media.”  concluded Almonte