Scoop: Miami-Dade Schools to sue WLRN management company
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The Miami-Dade County School Board could sue WLRN. Photo: Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty
The Miami-Dade County School Board gave the district the go-ahead to file a lawsuit against the management company that oversees WLRN, South Florida's NPR member station.
The latest: An item added to the board's agenda this morning claims South Florida Public Media Group, which manages WLRN, violated its contract with the district by agreeing to acquire another radio station in West Palm Beach for more than $6 million.
- The item for today's 11am meeting claimed the organization would be using funds that belonged to an endowment for WLRN, which is meant to exclusively support the Miami community.
Why it matters: Public radio stations across the country, including WLRN, are facing steep budget cuts from the federal government. State and local dollars for the arts have also been threatened.
- The district argues the money being used to purchase another station could instead be reinvested in the local station, which, per its agreement with the district, is to provide educational programming for the community.
The intrigue: The district in July filed a petition urging the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to deny the license transfer of the new station.
- The petition cited the organization's "lack of independent funding sources."
The other side: "We just became aware of the item and are looking into it," a spokesperson for SFPMG told Axios Wednesday morning.
- The organization's CEO John LaBonia told Current in July that his organization was "actively communicating with the School Board to address their concerns."
Between the lines: The school district holds the broadcasting license of WLRN.
- In 2022, it and South Florida Public Media Group, formerly Friends of WLRN, agreed the media group would be the station's fundraising arm and manage the day-to-day operations of the public radio station.
- The deal included the district reserving "ultimate oversight and control of the stations," the Miami Herald reported at the time.
Editor's note: This story has been corrected to reflect that, although WLRN has agreed to acquire another station, the transaction has not yet been completed.