Mediacracy: KPUP 100.5 FM - Patagonia

Our first radio station: KPUP in Patagonia, AZ.


Patagonia is an odd little town - about 800 people, maybe, an hour or so southeast of Tucson. Another one of those artsy small communities which are way more common in the US than I ever realized. Kinda progressive - especially for Arizona - and mostly white, just like other "progressive" communities. Although, in many ways, my values match those of what´s considered progressive in the US, I´m starting to develop a critical view of this on racial/cultural grounds. Maybe organic food, collective decision making, and biodiesel powered motorcycles are, you know, the vision of the future society and stuff. But two things are true:

you don´t find marginalized groups subscribing to this value set (except in small ways, when it makes sense for them) - whether in the US, or in other countries.

and you don´t find too many members of marginalized groups hanging around the progressive enclaves... often, the more progressive, the more white.

It makes me think that it just might be more important to figure out how to get right with being white before worrying too much about buying organic plastics. The progressive value set seems to express privilege first (without even trying), before expressing its other values.

right, so I was talking about KPUP in Patagonia. A little one lane town, with a surprisingly decorated pub/nightclub and a sister business, the velvet elvis pizzeria. There´s also an organic cafe and spa type place. Not what I was expecting at all. And now there´s a little radio station too. Wil Hadly is running the joint, and by the time of this writing, should be broadcasting. Wil sent out a cry for help, which is what encouraged me to contact him... but he was looking for some folks more Prometheus style - like engineers. But since we were close anyway, just thought we´d stop by.



a boxy building squatting in the middle of a desert... but they had their board up, and they had made their first successful broadcast, and that made them eligible for FCC license. We took a few photos, and we´ll have them up in a few days. The fellows were friendly, and were open about their perspectives on immigration. KPUP said they were interested in being a sister station with a Latin American station, especially since there are a apparently a lot of spanish speakers around (none of whom I saw), but their main goal is to promote a little bit of that progressive culture in their local town, maybe get a little live music on the air.

I couldn´t find a direct website for them, but there´s plenty of information on the internet if you google KPUP Patagonia.









(written from an internet cafe in Santiago Ixcuintla, Nayarit, Mex)