KALW General Manager Outlines Programming, Training and Funding Plans to Board

KALW, the FM radio station licensed to the district, presented its annual report to the San Francisco Board of Education on April 9. Deputy Superintendent Gentle Blythe introduced Tina Pamatuan, KALW’s general manager, who provided the station’s update.

Pamatuan described KALW as “an educational and cultural resource” for the Bay Area, noting its history as one of the earliest FM stations west of the Mississippi and its role amplifying student and youth voices. She highlighted award-winning programming and training initiatives and noted that the station partners with district media academies at Burton, Galileo and Lincoln high schools to provide hands-on journalism training for students.

Pamatuan explained that KALW raises most of its operating revenue through membership and some grants, and that the station has grown sustaining monthly memberships by about 20 percent in the past year. To strengthen financial stability, she said the station plans to develop targeted underwriting for specific shows, cultivate major donors, and pursue foundation grants for operational support.

Pamatuan also described community projects, including reporting programs with incarcerated individuals — the San Quentin report and Uncuffed — where professional reporters teach incarcerated participants to produce journalism. She described the station as being at “a moment of transition” and said staff are assembling a strategic development plan for fiscal year 2020.

Commissioners congratulated the station on its new general manager and programming; no formal board action was required for the report.